QUIT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD.
Whitney Sullivan is a leadership coach, enneagram practitioner, keynote speaker, and team building. Her professional training and coaching business is designed to help rising leaders breakthrough barriers to thrive, help professionals increase purpose, peace, and performance at work and help teams thrive at work with more bravery, belonging, and ability to increase the bottom line.
After spending 10 years in higher education as a health and wellness instructor, Whitney experienced a significant shift during the pandemic. She faced unique challenges when her workplace crises coincided with the global crisis, prompting major professional and personal changes.
Whitney had always identified herself as someone who never quits and thought she needed to stick things out. However, the events of 2020 made her consider the possibility of quitting her job. Before seeking guidance from her sister, also a leadership coach, she wrote down what she was feeling: high fatigue, low morale, and feelings of discouragement and doubt. These emotions did not align with how she wanted to feel about her career. She left that call with her sister, realizing her attachment to the “I'm not a quitter” identity was hindering her.
In January 2021, she started her side hustle, and by October 2021, she transitioned to full-time in her business. The journey was not without its challenges, and a touch of culture shock. Throughout her process of transformation, Whitney discovered the three G's that helped maintain resilience and create a life she loves which is what she teaches today.
In This Episode:
- Quit is not a dirty word
- Quit vs. Grit
- The Three G’s of Resilience
- What to ask yourself to stay in the game and continue to grow
- What is a truth diary? And the power it holds!
Grounded
The habits and mindsets that keep you connected to your vision, values, and your inner voice.
Stress is when life picks up at a pace that we can't maintain or cope with. So when we think about being grounded these are the things that slow life back down. For Whitney this includes exercise, getting outside, time with friends, and a journaling practice. Also creating space in her day – not staying booked up down to every second.
The Truth Diary
Whitney had to learn how to be a good quitter in order to keep going and stay grounded in her vision, values, and inner voice when she first began this journey of entrepreneurship. One day amongst her visible stress, her husband gave her this idea of a truth diary.
In this diary, she just wrote down the very radically honest truth. There were no accommodating edits made to these feelings and thoughts. This practice helped Whitney to understand what she was really feeling, and helped her to identify her inner voice.
Whitney does note that sometimes this was painful. It was hard to do this and be this honest with herself. But it helped so very much.
Grit
Staying gritty is all about the mindsets and habits that keep you connected to your passion. That sense of perseverance and personal power and agency. In order to have grittiness we need to have boundaries in place to protect our energy.
You also have to know when to grit and when to quit. You can't do it all – don't be afraid to take things off the todo list. It's important to focus on the right things, and keep your energy protected.
Grow
Staying connected to a learning mindset and keeping your world bigger. Someone once told Whitney this and it really stuck with her – and this quote really resonated with me too. Ready for it?
The smaller your world is the easier it is to shake. The bigger your world the harder it is to destabilize.
Whitney says that first year of entrepreneurship was challenging so she would always try to bring it back to identifying what she was learning through the challenges. There are also three questions Whitney thinks of when it comes to growing that comes down to pride, progress, and process.
- What are you most proud of since the beginning of your business or this year or this quarter?
- What progress have you made since the beginning?
- What habits are supporting your growth?
These things are your growth habits and will charge your resilience battery even more.
This conversation was so right on time for me, and I hope for you as well. I can’t wait to hear what you think about this episode either on Instagram or a comment on Youtube. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
Connect with Whitney
HIGHLIGHTS:
05:11 Quit is not a dirty word
08:14 Whitney’s journey in starting her business
14:26 “What do we grit, what do we quit”
16:03 Learn about the 3 Gs of resilience
17:11 Defining “Grounded”
19:37 The Truth Diary
26:04 How editing can lead to burnout
32:18 Find out Whitney’s focus and specialty during her time in higher ed
33:28 What do you need to do to stay gritty?
36:52 How growing is connected to a learning mindset?
39:30 “The smaller your world is, the easier it is to shake. The bigger your world, the harder it is to destabilize”
43:27 Where to start with Enneagram
44:26 How to stay connected with Whitney
