Melissa Jeffcott

This month, I was very happy to interview Kirsten Roberts aka The Radical Life Mentor. She works with chicks to uncover their Inner Genius and create a business and life filled with joy, balance and abundant reward. She thrives in helping chicks lead their Radical Lives with the knowledge that their long held limiting beliefs and life’s expectations don’t define them anymore. Their life is exactly what they choose.

Kirsten is an incredibly passionate person who 100% is true to herself with no apologies, I hope you enjoy reading her take on living your most fabulous life on the other side of forty.

HOW HAS LIFE CHANGED FOR YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FORTY? 

I turned 40 a year ago, and I have to say I am loving it so far. It has been a great opportunity to pause and reflect and choose who I really want to be. I have moved from the corporate world into starting my own business, and feel I have given myself permission to trust, love, and believe in myself. Shedding the corporate layers and who I always thought I ‘should be’ and stripping it back to the core ‘me’ has been one of the most amazing things I have ever done for myself. I have dyed my hair purple, I got my first tattoo, and I show up loud and proud in what I do.

WAS IT A DIFFICULT PATH TO MOVE FROM A CORPORATE JOB TO RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

I feel I made it more difficult, by not having an adequate cash buffer behind me, so I put pressure on myself to be really successful from the very start. I would suggest looking at a way of still bringing some money in (e.g., part time consulting) while working to set up a new business so as you still have some cash flow. I just resigned and went for it. I’ve always had a strong sense of self belief, and I’ve always had the support of my husband and family in the quest to find out what it is in life that really fulfils me. The key thing for me was having really good mentors. I am a massive advocate of mentors no matter what stage of your business you are. I make sure I find the best mentors and I pay the best, as I know the results are so worth the initial outlay and help me grow so much faster, both personally and within my business.

YOU HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES IN YOUR PHYSICAL WELLBEING IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS, CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT THAT?

Last year I was very focussed on starting up my business, and self care fell by the wayside. I was putting on weight, feeling constantly tired, and drinking alcohol every night. I knew it wasn’t just a matter of eating less and exercising more, a lot had to do with my mindset, so I sought out a coach to help me unlock some of the things going on in my mind. Looking back, I always felt like I was in crisis mode, and I didn’t feel joy at a deep level. By working with my coach Marci Lock, I have lost 10kgs in 3 months, and I’m the happiest I’ve been in my whole life. I have unlocked so many self limiting beliefs about what my life ‘should’ look like.  I now see that our life is what we choose to make it. By taking the focus away from the future, and making everyday decisions about wanting to feel happiness and joy in my life, I am living my best life every single day. Losing the weight is a side effect of this and I feel amazing.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE DEMANDS OF RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS WITH THAT OF RAISING A FAMILY?

Two of my three kids are on the Autism spectrum, so we have a lot of management to deal with. What I have come to understand, is that where I am best served is in two areas: having quality time with my kids and family, and working on my business. Therefore, I have let go of the other roles I always considered a part of being a good mum, e.g., running the household, cooking meals, doing the shopping, paying the bills, buying birthday gifts etc. I now outsource all these tasks to an assistant/household manager who is like part of the family, therefore when I am home with the kids, I am fully present and engaged with them.  My thoughts are if you don’t enjoy it, then why should you do it? Paying for this is factored into my expenses in order to support my family and so I am happy doing what I am doing. Many women find this a really difficult concept, as most of us are raised to feel fulfilment from these roles.  However for me, I make it a priority to be able to afford to outsource these tasks that don’t add value to my life, therefore I am less stressed, and my family is happier.

WHAT ARE SOME SIMPLE THINGS THAT YOU DO FOR SELF CARE?

I am much better at this than I used to be. Now I journal every night in order to take all the jumble of thoughts out of my head and get them down on paper, so I can sleep well. Also writing the things that I am grateful for, means I am ending the day on a positive note, which is simple yet so powerful. Also, having all the support around the household that I mentioned before, really allows me to be better mum and person.

ANY ADVICE FOR WOMEN THINKING OF MAKING A BIG CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES?

Just FUCKING go for it! Life is what you choose it to be, if you aren’t living to your true authentic self and if you aren’t doing what inspires you every single day, then I believe you are slowly dying inside.  If you reach deep inside and tap into your ‘inner genius’ and create a life and career honing those skills, then you can live in inspiring fulfilment every day. Many women feel they have no choice, e.g., ‘I have to do this’ or ‘I should do this’.  Instead, you can say ‘I choose to live in joy and happiness’.  We can all change our lives and create a life that we want. Every decision we make is a choice, we can keep feeding the beliefs that leave us feeling unfulfilled or we can choose to create and feel joy in our life.

Kirsten Roberts aka The Radical Life Mentor can be found at http://www.kirstenroberts.com and http://www.facebook.com/kradlife