When it comes to money, finance and accounting, I have ideas! Ideas I love to explore, build into new systems and tools and share with others.
My ideas arise from two places. One, bringing seemingly unrelated disciplines together. And two, taking things that we in the profession make unnecessarily complex, and boiling them into a simple and easily digestible language and format.
And for my ideas to have legs, to really matter in the world, requires I take risk and put them out there. Unless I am willing to share my ideas, what is the point?
So over the last 30 years, I have published 2 books, lots of blogs and white papers, developed and taught courses, delivered 100’s of speeches, and workshops.
When I publish a new idea, or speak it in a keynote, I risk external criticism. And in the past, I pretended this externality was my biggest challenge. But the honest truth? For most of my life, my worst critic has been inside me! Me!
I have lost count on how many times I walked off a stage, and my first thought was what I did wrong.
I’ve also lost count with the compliments I’ve received, like, “you’ve given me a new perspective” “you’ve changed my life” I LOVE hearing that my work makes a difference. This is why I risk criticism and write and speak anyway.
For years, I have peeled away the layers upon layers of old baggage that held my inner critic front and center in my life. Until finally, last week I hit a major breakthrough.
This time, as my week facilitating at MEA came to a close, instead of my critic running wild in my head, I sat back and soaked in the beautiful compliments I received from participants.
And the best part? Inside of me, where the inner critic used to be, I discovered a well of JOY. Pure Joy. Joy that wasn’t coming from anything outside of me. Instead, it was bubbling up and out. I see now it was always there. Waiting for a space, an open moment in time to make its presence known.
And now that it has arrived, I am not going back!
-Mackey
Mackey McNeill, CEO, Author, Speaker, and Nature Advocate delights in helping others change their relationship to money, in business and life. Learn more about her at www.MackeyMcNeill.com