I have been a leader my whole life. I didn't even realise.
People have always come to me. That is not something I built, it is something I was born carrying.
And for years, all that leadership flowed outward. I held other people steady. I showed up for every room that needed me. I was decisive and grounded and present, for everyone except myself.
I was on day two of the Old Ghost Road, a mountain bike trek in New Zealand. Between the bike and the terrain, I'd been doing a combination of walking and very little riding.
At one point we stopped on a ridge. I turned and looked back at the hut we'd started from that morning, a tiny speck in the distance. I thought, wow. I did that.
And then I looked ahead. I was fatigued and exhausted, facing terrain that was well beyond my level, with still a fair distance to go.
I was given some options. Push through and more than likely injure myself, or trust myself enough to choose differently.
I took the helicopter to the next hut.
The old version of me would have pushed on. Would have finished it the hard way to avoid the guilt of stopping. Would have let fear, pride, and the need to perform make the decision for her.
The woman I was becoming chose wisdom.
I came home from New Zealand a different woman. And I am still on my own Redefine again.
I know this terrain and I am still walking it. That is why I can guide you and walk alongside you.