Step Up Power Breakfast: How to Stay True to Yourself

I recently had the pleasure of participating in a Step Up Women’s Network Power Breakfast with my good friend and client, Garcelle Beauvais.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Step Up, they are a national, non-profit membership organization dedicated to connecting and advancing women and girls. Step Up bridges communities of professional women and underserved teen girls through mentorship, networking and advancement.

I have personally been involved with the organization for more than a decade, as a volunteer, mentor, board member and contributing blogger.

Step Up hosts Power Breakfasts on a regular basis, offering professional development and networking opportunities for their members.

Hosted at the Christopher Guy Showroom in West Hollywood, the topic of last week’s Power Breakfast was, How to Stay True to Yourself in a Mixed-Up, Noisy World: The Pressures of Business, Body Image, Babies and more!

We had a candid, intimate conversation with about 60 women about what it means to stay true to yourself in our crazy, info-saturated world.

Garcelle and I chatted at length about her experiences in the entertainment industry, how she handled going through a very painful and public divorce and how she now successfully co-parents her twin boys, Jax and Jaid, with her ex-husband.

Ultimately, we have both learned that when you are faced with the inevitable challenges of life, you have two choices: you can either crawl under a rock and drown your sorrows in a variety of addictions, or you can choose to do the hard work, face your pain and consciously address whatever needs to happen to move forward.

We both agree that there are rewards to be had on the other side of any obstacles in your path.

There were three main takeaways on how to stay true to yourself in difficult times:

1. Drop the comparisonitis – stop comparing your inside to everyone else’s outside. With social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, it’s easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing. But you’re never getting the whole picture, and the only person you need to focus on is YOU. Keep your eye on your own ball and you’ll not only be more productive, but you’ll feel better too.
2. Take time every day to connect within – for some, it’s meditation, for others, it’s journaling or a short daily walk. Whatever you need to do to slow down, connect with how you’re feeling and listen to the still, calm voice within, make time for it every day. Even if it’s just five minutes.
3. Find out what diffuses your stress and do it – As above, what works for someone else, may not work for you. Perhaps it’s a daily run, monthly massage or a weekly visit to a good therapist or coach. Figure out what helps you blow off steam and clear your head.

Before we wrapped for the morning, we heard from the lovely Stephanie Ponce, a Step Up teen-turned-teacher, who shared her story about graduating from college (thanks to her participation in Step Up’s teen programs during high school), and returning home to teach in the very same programs that inspired her.

To learn more about Step Up’s cycle of giving + inspiration click here.