Every fall, I sit down to write my business plan for the year ahead. It’s a strategic process filled with goals, revenue targets, and initiatives. But last October, as I revisited my plan for 2025, my intuition kept nudging me to add a goal that my analytical mind couldn't justify: "Start dating again."
It felt completely out of place. I added it, deleted it, and then deleted it again. What did my personal life have to do with my business KPIs? But on Thanksgiving weekend, a quiet but firm feeling compelled me to add it back in for good. I couldn't explain the connection, but I knew it needed to be there.
That seemingly random goal became the key that unlocked everything.
Fast forward to my first business mastermind retreat. In a space of trust, as part of an activity, I shared a long-repressed memory—a "burden backpack" I didn't even realize I was carrying. The release was immediate, and that night, through vivid dreams, I understood why that blockage had been there. I had to let it go. I left that retreat with four action items: three for my business, and one deeply personal one—create a Bumble account.
My initial foray into the dating world was… an analytical disaster. The first few men I chatted with were looking for "open" relationships—not what I was seeking. My first instinct was to go back, revisit their profiles, and look for "red flags" I had missed.
But instead, I did something different. I simply paused. I didn't delete the app, though I considered it many times. That same intuition told me it needed to stay.
Weeks later, during a manifestation exercise, the vision came. I saw myself years from now, with gray hair, sitting on a rocking chair next to my soulmate. I couldn't see his face clearly, but the feeling was one of complete fullness and peace, like that beautiful scene from the movie "Up."
Then, the universe sent the clearest signal yet. Just this past weekend, after a cacao ceremony where I fully committed to putting the "burden backpack" down, I got ready for my day. The first song that played was "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman. The song that followed as I finished getting ready was Reba McEntire's "Somebody's Chelsea."
To those that don't know the song, go check it out, but for context, here's the opening:
"I met an old man yesterday
Next to me on a west bound plane
He said, I was married 60 years
He said it feels like she's still here
Then he took out her picture
Starting at that black and white
The tears filled up in his eyes
I said, you were a lucky man
He said, I feel like I still am
When he told me her name
I heard myself say
I wanna be somebody's Chelsea, somebody's world
Somebody's day and night, one and only girl
A part of a love story that never has an end
You know that's what every woman wants to be
Somebody's Chelsea"
The message was undeniable.
The signs are always there, guiding us when we slow down, pay attention, and honor them.
The most strategic business decision you can make is sometimes the one that has nothing to do with business at all. It’s the decision to open yourself up, to heal your past, and to become comfortable in your own skin. Because when you do that, you're not just ready to be "somebody's Chelsea"—you're ready for the next chapter of your life, and your business.
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