What do you think about people who keep taking selfies and posting them online? Shallow? Vain? Self centered? Well, that hurts. I’ve posted 100 selfies in the past 2.5 years. Let me explain. My selfie obsession might actually be a positive one.

In May 2013 I was scared. We were about to launch a women’s network and I had no idea where this journey would take me. Back then I was known to my peers as a successful branding consultant. And here I was, rounding up women into a room to talk about their dreams and struggles. I could only think of two words to describe my feelings at the time: embarrassment and discomfort.

Feeling outside my comfort zone I could have backed out. I could have stopped this madness and retreated back to my consultancy cave. But it wasn’t really an option as I had discovered some fundamental truths about myself and I couldn’t ‘un-do’ that realization. I wanted to make an impact and I believed in my cause.

So the second option could have been to go on building DrivenWoman half heartedly. Start it but not really tell anyone about it. Or simply hide behind the brand and not associate myself so closely to what we were doing. But that wasn’t going to work for me either.

I had to go all in or not do it at all.

I decided to throw myself into the deep end and not give a toss what my smug marketing peers with proper jobs would think about me.

I was going to show up and be seen!

I started taking selfies before every DrivenWoman meeting outside our lovely venue in Soho. I wanted to capture the moment of my commitment to what I was building.

I linked my Instagram to both Facebook and Twitter to what felt like ‘coming out of the closet’ moment, for a lack of a better expression. I was terrified for ‘Likes’ and wasn’t even sure if I wanted them as that meant someone had seen my picture.

Of course all this fear of judgement was only happening in my head. Mostly people were very supportive or they didn’t care.

Real friends will always support you. And everyone else are so busy doing their own thing that they don’t really have time to follow what you are doing. It’s funny how we can trick ourselves thinking all eyes are on us. I’ve got news for you honey, I’m not and you are not that important! So everyone should just do what the heck they really want and not worry what other people think.

Slowly I got over my fear and discomfort and I started owning my journey. I started becoming more and more proud of what we were doing. I started getting support and positive feedback. And of course all of this was only possible because I was sharing my journey very openly and reminding everyone what I was doing and that I thought this was important.

I was consistent and committed.

Exactly what DrivenWoman is all about !

Consistently taking small steps, moving forward and sticking to what you want to do even when it doesn’t go to plan. I wanted to live my own rules and show everyone I was doing my part, regardless of the outcome.

Have a look at my Instagram account and discover how I slowly got more confident. I started to smile, I even made funny faces! This, to those who don’t know me, was quite difficult as I tend to take myself a bit too seriously. Other people started to join in my selfies too – DrivenWoman members and women who host our workshops or events.

I warmly recommend selfie-therapy.

This is what I’ve learned:

–       Showing commitment to what you are doing

–       Gaining confidence

–       Showing consistency

–       Stop caring what other people think

–       Start taking yourself less seriously

–       Advertise your business, brand or cause

We’ve now reached a milestone of 100 live DrivenWoman  events. I thought I’d stop my selfie habit here, but a friend of mine asked me to continue. She said she gets encouraged every time I post my selfie as my picture reminds her to stick to her own journey and to show up.

I can see that our new Group Leaders are also adopting this habit and taking a selfie each time they are about to chair a DrivenWoman meeting. Perhaps this is something we will become known for as a group.

What can you do this week to show commitment to your goals?

Girls, let’s all start showing up and be seen!

Miisa