Glennon Doyle recorded a podcast on turning 46 that catalyzed some big conversations around success. She claims to be pumped about middle-age and is celebrating her success, saying she has “done her best.” She feels she is in “intermission” at this point, with the first half of her life dedicated to striving and building; but she’s satisfied with her success. She’s achieved everything she set out to achieve and so much more. Many of her peers – Oprah, Elizabeth Gilbert, Brene Brown – say they’re just getting started, but Glennon is bravely looking within and is just looking forward to being the youest you she can be (the me-est me she can be, might be more accurate)… But that growth for the sake of growth is no longer on her agenda and peace and stillness and slowness is.
I’m the same age as Glennon. And, very much feeling my intermission as well.
I too have achieved everything I set out to and more.
I have had two multi-million dollar companies that I personally grew from the ground up. I invest in many more. I have been the catalyst for so much change in people’s lives. I have written books. I have spoken on some incredible stages. I have a platform where I can truly influence. I earn more every year than I envisioned I would save in lifetime.
On a personal level, I have two remarkable children and the most incredible husband I could imagine partnering with in life. I have homes that are beyond my imagination as a child – stunning views, expansive space, beautifully appointed and luxurious in every way. I have dear friends. I have the money, time and space to travel. I am able to give to my most important causes.
And for the first time in my life, I have been questioning my “winning” hustle. I am self-made in every way. Surrounded by love and support from family, friends and especially my ever-patient husband, I have pushed and pushed my way to the top. I have sacrificed sleep, health, quality time…
And some would say I’m “lucky,” though I would say I have been one of the very, very, very hard workers who took great risk and got “lucky” through sheer grit.
So, like Glennon, I have been thinking deeply about this. Now I effectively have everything… do I need to “win” any more? Do I need to grind and hustle and sacrifice sleep and health and quality time?
Or is there another way from here?
The Second Act
My intermission has been one of peace and quiet, like Glennon. Though, much less about sitting on beaches or in spas or yoga classes contemplating my existence… I have instead been quiet with my family, my clients and my team. Covid has assisted this immensely by forcing me into a cocoon of contemplation. Moments of quiet sitting watching the pelicans glide past on the water. Snapshots of peace walking miles and miles along the beachfront and tree-lined parks.
In those moments of peace (which believe me, never existed before the last couple of years at all), I decided to choose flow. I decided to pay very close attention to when I am in flow. To when I experience flow. To when I do my best. To when I am being the best.
I misunderstood flow for most of the last couple of years as I have been trying to “find” it for myself. It isn’t in the quiet or the relaxation for me. It’s in the doing. It’s in the producing. It’s in the building.
But it’s a different kind of building to the one of my 20s or 30s. It’s not frenetic. It’s not “win at all cost” building. Instead, it’s a state of doing my absolute best work pushing into scary and big. It’s always edgy. It’s always huge.
I’ve realized that the best is very much still to come; and that my Second Act will be driven by mission, not by my ego.
This is Iconic. This is epic. This is true Empire-building.
46 to Legacy and Beyond
Creating from a place with literally nothing to lose is true freedom. The level of innovation and creativity I am catalysing now as I drop my ego and do the work of my legacy from a place of mission and passion and bigness is intense and epic beyond imagining.
I work closely with some of the most exciting Icons on the planet to help them to create their Iconic Empire, and now my mission has become clear. It is BEYOND being the catalyst for change. It is BEYOND being a business coach or strategist. It is BEYOND being a simple investor in great ideas. It is BEYOND being a great leader to my team.
I am here to shift the paradigm of greatness.
That sounds big. It sounds scary.
But, it’s sitting beautifully in my heart and feels real and in flow and perfectly edgy.
Beyond Influence. Catalysing Change. Bringing together the Greatest Greatness Community of all. Leading conversations of great change and consequence in a collective of the greatest self-made brands.
That’s how I will flow. That’s my mission.
And in stating it, I am dropping my ego and fear and intend to do the best work of my life.
Work my children will be proud of. Work that will be infinitely useful.
The Iconic Kathryn Porritt
My work up until now has been to create Icons. Now, I step into my own Iconic work. Like Glennon, I am doing it my way.
Come with me. Play big. Become Iconic. Build your Iconic Empire.
Kathryn
P.S. Want to dig deeper into your Iconic brand and building an Iconic Empire? My new Masterclass, “Beyond Influence” is live right now. Here’s the link.
