At Thrivhers, we interview successful and inspirational women, in pursuit of a deeper understanding of what it really means to Thrive and how we can strive to achieve success and happiness within our own lives.
The questions we ask are designed to shed light on how these incredible women live their day-to-day lives and how they got to where they are today. There are many aspects throughout these interviews which, as women, we can relate to or identify with. Equally however, there are countless pieces of advice and wisdom that we may not have considered or thought about – and it’s from these we stand to gain the most inspiration!
With all this valuable information at our disposal, we thought it would be fascinating to pull together some of the best takeaways and most popular responses in an easy-to-reference, quick-fire guide to Thriving!
“One wellness ritual you do regularly?”
Successful women are well aware that making time each day for self-care is crucial, not only to our general health and happiness, but also because it impacts our ability to reach our potential across all areas of our lives. We are intrigued to hear how these women devote time to nurturing their wellness, despite their hectic schedules – a challenge most of us are all too familiar with!
Thrivhers’ top 5 wellness rituals:
Regular exercise
Meditation
Getting enough sleep
Making time for ourselves
Getting outside
“How do you go about self-development?”
Every successful woman knows the importance of self-development. No matter how much success you have achieved to date, there is always room for further improvement. Remember, if you're treading water, you're not moving forward – to grow is to progress. We do appreciate it isn’t always easy to know how to do this, which is why we like to ask our Thriving women how they go about it!
Our top 5 self-development strategies:
Keeping a diary for self-reflection and to acknowledge achievements big and small.
Making time regularly for deep and honest chats with people who inspire and support us.
Forcing ourselves outside our comfort zones – challenging ourselves to try new things and experiences, purely to find out just what we’re capable of.
Continuing to learn and grow - reading books, listening to podcasts, watching webinars, attending courses, talking to mentors.
Setting both long and short-term life goals, making plans to achieve them and taking steps towards those every day.
“Who has helped you progress in your career the most and what did they do to support you?”
Nobody is an island – we all need people in our lives who support our efforts and our aspirations. The trick is ensuring we surround ourselves with the right people, those who will lift us up rather than tear us down, or undermine our ambitions. We guarantee that every successful woman will have at least one person in her life who has her back, so we ask this question to gain a better understanding of who these supporters tend to be, helping us make positive choices in our own lives.
Top 3 types of goal-supporters:
A Partner
Family & Friends
Mentors
“A fear you've had to overcome to pursue your ambitions?”
We ask this question because we know that everyone has their demons, even the most successful women (yes, even those who seem to breeze through life, oozing confidence and self-assurance)! And really, who better to offer advice on overcoming personal hurdles, than women who have done just that in pursuit of their dreams?!
The top 5 fears (in order of most feared):
Fear of failure
Public speaking
Fear of other peoples’ opinions/rejection
Not doing what society/family/friends expects
Fear of the unknown
“Life or career advice you wish you'd been given in your early 20s?”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing – but what if we could gain the benefit of wisdom learned by other women who have been there before us! We certainly value the advice offered by our successful women and find this type of guidance to be particularly insightful for those of us at the beginning stages of our journeys to Thriving.
Our top 5 pieces of advice that have helped women thrive:
Self awareness is key – understand your strengths, know what your passions are.
Do what you love - don't settle for something that will 'just' pay the bills.
Find your voice and make sure you use it. If you believe in your own perspective, you can make a difference.
Live by your values and be present in the moment – you only get one beautiful life.
Keep good people close to you and don’t expect to be liked by everyone, so stop caring what others think of you.
“For women who want to make a positive change in their life but don't know where to start, what advice would you give them?”
Very often, taking that first leap, or simply making a start, can be the hardest step when embarking upon a new journey. We ask our successful women this key question because we know they were all in this position once - unclear about their path forward, unable to see the wood for the trees. We know their answers will provide valuable and relatable advice at a time when many of us really need a nudge in the right direction!
Thrivhers’ top 3 pieces of advice for taking that first step:
Don’t wait for the perfect time, the moment is now – seize it!
Follow your heart and pursue your dreams – listen to your intuition and trust your instincts.
Be your own biggest supporter – believe in yourself, even when no one else will.
“What does Thriving mean to you?”
Thriving means something different to everyone – and each answer is equally valid! We find it fascinating how each woman we interview has her own unique take on what it means to Thrive and we believe it’s really helpful to hear these varied viewpoints when we are fine-tuning our own interpretations of Thriving.
The top 5 definitions of Thriving:
Being in your element
Aspiring to inspire
Creating the best version of yourself
Feeling passionate about everything you do
Being happy
It's clear that Thriving means something different to each of us and of course, it isn’t possible to thrive all the time. What we can learn from these incredible women who are smashing their goals is that, regardless of what Thriving means to us individually, there is no gain without some struggle. However, with commitment, perseverance and a positive mindset and by surrounding ourselves with our true supporters, we will realise that we all have what it takes to be a Thrivher.
By Gemma Coldwell - Contributing editor
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