How one hour of reflection can change your life. Sarah’s story.
Do you know what your life vision is? It’s a big question, and one that so many of us struggle with. One of the greatest challenges we see women face when it comes to getting clear on their vision and purpose is not having the time or space to even consider what they want for their lives. The struggle is real. And this is exactly what Sarah Bowden was struggling with when she joined the Women Rising program:
“My greatest challenge when I started the Women Rising Program was finding time for me and giving myself the ability to carve time out of my crazy diary and dedicate time for myself. Not my kids, not my husband, not work, but for me.”
Sarah needed to create the space to be able to reflect on what really mattered to her, and when she did, she experienced a breakthrough:
“My breakthrough moment in the program was the day I took some time out for myself and took the playsheet for my vision and purpose down to the beach and sat down there, waiting for the family to turn up in an hour. I needed my “me time”. I started looking at the sheet and the questions that it was asking me, and I found that it was asking questions to my heart and my soul, and it was really confronting. I had this breakthrough moment where I realised I was on the wrong path and that I love my career at Microsoft so very much, but I really wanted to do more things in sustainability.”
But as Sarah continued to reflect on this, she realised she didn’t have to leave her career to be able to fulfill her newfound purpose. Sarah describes it as her ‘pivotal moment’:
“From that moment I pivoted and thought, what can I do within my current day job, within my career, using Microsoft as my platform to live my purpose and be more sustainable and help businesses, organisations and other people around the world to be more sustainable?”
By Sarah making the commitment to take that one hour for herself and reflect on her vision and purpose, everything started to change. She began taking action towards her new purpose and completed a 6-week course with the University of Cambridge on circular economy and sustainability. She used that knowledge to set up a team of 35 people who are working to help ANZ businesses across their small, medium and corporate customer base, to be more sustainable, more efficient and have greater impact in terms of what they're doing for the environment.
Hear from Sarah yourself and read the stories of hundreds of other women who have also done the Women Rising program and experienced extraordinary results.
Sarah said the impact the program had on her was profound and as a leader of the business, she decided to put all of her women across the small, medium and corporate business through the program. She was thrilled with what she saw them experience:
“They've got clarity on who they are and who they want to become. They've got a better work-life balance in terms of how they're showing up at work and what they need to do to balance their family and their personal wellbeing. I've seen this unbelievable confidence unleash across the women in the small, medium and corporate business. They're more confident, they have more clarity and they're excited about what their future holds.”
If you’re a business leader who has been considering the Women Rising program for your team, Sarah has some powerful words she wants to share with you:
“For all the business leaders that are out there, this course has helped so many of my women unleash their full potential. Helped them to understand what's in front of them and given them the confidence to try new things, to explore new ideas and take our business to new realms that we haven't unleashed before. And we've created amazing communities where women can come together to learn from each other, to support each other and grow and grow and grow. Think about the amazing impact that this could have not only in Australia, in New Zealand, in Asia, but on a global scale. This is a phenomenal course, a phenomenal program. One in which you're going to get immense benefit from. Don't hesitate. Get your team signed up now.”
We’d love for you to join us in our Women Rising Program, and get access to the same tools and strategies that unlocked Sarah’s purpose and transformed her career.
