«Integrity matters» – what drives me
In this article, I wanted to convey professional information to you as I always do; to encourage you to think and analyse and to send you on your way with a few ideas. But then something came up.
Disappointment with one of our female politicians, who now projects her personal frustration on society by saying that as a woman you cannot have everything and you have to choose. At the same time, there is a touching video by Nicola Spirig, who shows us that there is another way. She is a passionate sportswoman. Mother out of love. If that is not a statement from a competitive athlete. She is committed to combining her passion and love. Just like many great personalities also live and lead by example. These role models have a positive influence on our society.
My “Why”
Those readers who know me already know what it was that got in my way. Yes, exactly. My “Why”. The thing that drives me. Since childhood. Integrity. Today it has shown itself in a very special form. In the form that I can decide for myself what I do and don’t do -it’s my path. Unwavering in the opinions of society about the highest possible number of roles that a human being is allowed to play in its life.
Guided by stereotypes?
Pursuing one (or more) exciting professional role is a “full-time job”. I absolutely agree with that. Switching-off is far away. In 90% of the cases, the reason is that it’s challenging and exciting.
Working on full capacity – because it is a full-time job as described above – I do not stop thinking about my profession over and over again – it’s a passion. The dream of serving clients with my own business was already present in my childhood. Of course, it was smiled at and played down many times. I should learn something “smarter”. The typical beliefs and stereotypes of my generation and the generation before. Even the so called the “smarter” things I learned were exciting and paved the way for entrepreneurship in its own way.
And there was one more workshop. The task was to write down our vision about life and present it to the others in the group of three. My vision was clear. I was also able to express it so that it would be understood. Could have been understood. I got a shake of the head. How could this vision even come close to being realized? ‘She will never bring everything under one roof’. The discussion was short. Two against one. Concretely. Two opinions against my vision.
Only one didn’t know and did it anyway
And that’s exactly the kind of people I belong to. And hopefully you, too. Just like everyone else who becomes an entrepreneur, mother or father for the first time. You simply don’t know beforehand what to expect. And that is a good thing. The fear would be tremendous. Often it would be too big. But it’s all worth!
With action, we learn. We learn to set priorities and in particular to be grateful for what we have and for what is room for. I am convinced you don’t need to choose because you are afraid of something, you just need a great deal of courage to go your way. Finding your own combination. Be it a competitive sport, a professional career, having a family, a hobby or whatever you want to have room in your own life.
What do I combine with passion? My roles as mother, entrepreneur, board member, and sportswoman.
“Being able to do this is a privilege for which I am enormously grateful.”
Every day anew. And I want to encourage other personalities to also find and combine their own roles of passion.
In this spirit your passionate
Sonja Stirnimann
PS: When was the last time you stood up for your integrity and passion? And when did you not do it? And when will you do it next time? I already know what is on my “bucket list” in this matter.
