Living Life On Her Own Terms With Amanda Boleyn
SNIPPET #091
Amanda Boleyn had everything going for herself.
She was fresh out of college and landed a high-paying corporate job. Still, in her early twenties, she was a heartbeat away from a six-figure salary and unlimited potential to soar. Not bad for a girl who was the first in her family to attend college. She’d broken out of the blue-collar, two-job lifestyle so many feel trapped in. She should have been slap-happy with her success.
So why was she so miserable?
Amanda knew she had a good thing going. She was light years away from the paycheck-to-paycheck pattern she grew up surrounded by. Her company offered excellent perks and was packed with people she admired. And yet, there she was, tears streaming down her face as exhaustion, depression, and fatigue collided within her one night.
The constant inner battle raging within her finally exploded. She was only six months into her new job and already had one foot out the door. She just knew there had to be something more in life than sixty-hour, 6 day work weeks that left her too drained to pursue any outside passions.
Was the income and stability worth the tradeoff of her time and her other dreams? Would it always be like this? Was she really ready to surrender her time to a corporation? Was she always going to feel smothered like this?
Then, on the other side of the battle, was the logic.
“It seemed like there was so much to lose in that moment,” she said.
This job was a career most people would do anything to have. She was learning invaluable skills and building an impressive resume. She was making more money than most people her age and even older, and the upward path was right in front of her. She’d be crazy to think it was a good idea to trade all that in just because she was tired, or wanted to do more things that spoke to her heart.
Back and forth that battle raged, one side gaining ground and the other reclaiming it. But that night in her kitchen, as she listened to a sermon from the Des Moines church she once attended, the battle ended within her.
She was too young to let herself forfeit her own dreams. She’d always known she wasn’t designed to spend her life in an office. With every tear that fell that night, she released the doubt. The uncertainty remained, but the certainty was stronger.
Amanda Boleyn made the decision to do her life her way.
She’d known her announcement to leave that job would be met with shock and negative -even if well-intentioned- comments.
“You’re crazy. You can’t do it. You’ll lose everything.”
Amanda understands the people saying those things to her weren’t intentionally discouraging her. It’s more about their own doubts, fears, and even envy sometimes than about her own potential to blaze her own trail.
Limiting beliefs, branded into our minds, become absolutes. If we are not exposed to potential, if we are not surrounded by possibility, we can anchor ourselves to those fears and double bolt the door in our comfort zone. But when we peep out the window and see others out in the elements, and we envy their freedom even as we snuggle deeper into our own cocoon.
“So often we talk ourselves out of taking action before we even start it,” says Amanda.
Amanda Boleyn knew she had to take massive action to find her version of success. Once the decision was made there was no going back for her. She transitioned from the steady corporate job to a contractor position. Under the guidance of a mentor, she worked that bridge job, adjusted to the significant pay cut, and moved one step at a time down her new path.
She supplemented her income with a job at a gym, enjoyed the free membership that came with it, began reading books geared toward her vision, and attended a Tony Robbins event that propelled her into the next part of her path.
At the event, she was surrounded by thousands of people who craved the same level of challenge and adventure she did. She doubled down on her strategy for success and used the sense of support and community from that event as her catalyst to step into her own passion and gift.
In 2015, Amand started her podcast, She Did It Her Way. Mostly, she says, she started it as a way to remain connected to others as she traveled for her job. But it didn’t take long for women to resonate with her message and connect with the savvy trailblazer from Iowa.
Thousands of women relate to Amanda’s yearning to not just shoulder responsibility in life, but to live a life of fulfillment, tailored around those responsibilities. Amanda does not presume to suggest that one solution fits all lives. She understands fulfillment means something different to everyone, and her community embraces that philosophy.
Amanda Boleyn is proving that it is possible to have it all.
She is building a life designed around her passions, and helping others do the same. That’s not to say it is easy – she has setbacks that still result in stress and, sometimes, tears. But she puts a cap on the amount of time she indulges in those breakdowns because she realizes the victim mentality does not serve her.
It’s about mindset, patterns, and massive action, and Amanda concentrates on all of those.
[clickToTweet tweet=”We have a lot of freedoms in this country and I’m doing what I can to take advantage of them – Amanda Boleyn” quote=”We have a lot of freedoms in this country and I’m doing what can to take advantage of them- Amanda Boleyn” theme=”style5″]
She’s doing her life her way, and helping others do the same.
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