#064 How I Found My Inner Authority by Burning It All Down with Amanda Parker
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Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is walk away from the success you worked hardest to build. In this vulnerable and honest solo episode, Amanda Parker explores exactly that, sharing her own story of walking away from a business that looked like success to find one that actually felt like it.
Read the full Show Notes below!
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“Inner authority isn’t a one-time decision. It’s an ongoing practice of listening, of adjusting, of honoring what feels true even when it doesn’t make sense to anyone else.”
Today's Guest
AmanDA PARKER
Amanda Parker is the host of the Don't Step on the Bluebells podcast and an intuitive guide that helps people to deeply trust their inner wisdom, quiet the external noise, and intentionally create a life fully aligned with their true self. She is a Certified Professional Coach (ICF PCC, CPCC) and spiritual guide using a unique blend of shamanic and energy healing practices to support you on your journey towards inner knowing and deep self-trust.
Amanda is a Reiki Master Healer and a member of the UK Reiki Federation, and has trained in psychic mediumship with the College of Psychic Studies and shamanism with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
Amanda has worked in the field of leadership and personal development since 2017 - supporting clients from organizations such as World Bank Group, World Economic Forum, UNICEF, Zalando, Nestle, and LinkedIn. She previously worked in wildlife conservation with the World Wildlife Fund - supporting projects in forest and wetland protection across South America.
Amanda is a native New Yorker who has been living in London for the last 4.5 years, after over a decade in Berlin, Germany. She now lives in North London with her husband and their two cats, Zaki & Oreo.
How to get in touch:
Website: www.amandaparker.co
Inner Authority Lab: www.amandaparker.co/inner-authority-lab
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amandamparker/
Instagram: @amandaparker.co
Podcast: www.dontsteponthebluebells.com
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Show Notes
What if the thing standing between you and real success — is the success you've already built?
Amanda had the contracts, the clients, the credibility. A leadership development business that ticked every box she'd been handed. And she walked away from all of it. Not because it was falling apart — but because it was working perfectly, and she still felt nothing.
What followed was three years of rebuilding from the inside out: investing in deep coaching, resetting her nervous system, and learning to trust herself again. The result wasn't just a different business. It was a completely different relationship with her own knowing — one that eventually led her to launch her highest-tier package at £47,000 and build something that felt genuinely aligned.
Amanda also shares the story of a client who made a similar leap — twice. From corporate to entrepreneurship, and then from that first business into something truer still. Rocky at first, yes. But guided by an inner sense that they were finally on the right path. Together, these two stories reveal something powerful: inner authority isn't a destination. It's a practice of listening, adjusting, and daring to honour what feels true — even when no one else understands it yet.
If you've ever looked around at your life, seen everything that's supposed to make you happy, and still felt something missing — this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways
Success built on someone else's script will always feel hollow.
Inner authority is built through action, not certainty.
The leap often has to happen more than once.
Who you surround yourself with shapes what you believe is possible.
Growth is not the same as endless fixing.
What We Talked About
How Amanda built The Courage Factory from scratch in 2018 — and why she walked away from its biggest version
Working as lead faculty with the Center for Creative Leadership inside C-suite tech companies in Germany
The government contract, the big-name proposals, and the moment she realised it all felt empty
The terrifying decision to leave B2B leadership development and become a transformational coach
Three years of deep investment — in herself, in coaching, in finding her centre of gravity again
Launching her highest-tier £47,000 coaching package including four private retreats to sacred sites
A client's story: leaving corporate, co-founding a business, leaving that too — and finally finding alignment
Why inner authority isn't a one-time switch but an ongoing, evolving practice
The 5 core practices for building inner authority
The Inner Authority Lab — a four-month group mastermind launching June 9th
Guest Quotes
"I had literally built this business exactly how I thought it was supposed to look… but I was not feeling fulfilled in what I was doing."
"I couldn't keep following that script that someone else had given me about what success looked like."
"I decided to go out on my own, trying my luck to be a transformational coach."
"I was able to find my own center of gravity again — to reset my nervous system — to really come back to trusting what I knew and trusting that what felt right for me was the right decision for me."
"Inner authority isn't a one-time decision. It's not a switch that you flip on and suddenly you find yourself and your happiness and your career forever. It's an ongoing practice of listening, of adjusting, of honoring what feels true even when it doesn't make sense to anyone else."
"Here's the deeper truth: inner authority is about knowing and trusting that you can do what you say you'll do, knowing that you can figure it out even when you don't know how, and trusting that even when it's hard or unclear, or even if you feel pressured to get it right… you can give yourself the space that you need to wait until it's clear."
"You become the leader of your own life."
"You want to be growing in a way that helps empower you. And you need to learn how to stop that process when it becomes just endless procrastination via fixing and healing."
"Remember that you have everything you need to begin now."
Resources to Learn More
Inner Authority Lab — Amanda's four-month group mastermind for mission-led founders. Launching June 9th. DM "LAB" on LinkedIn or Instagram, or use the sign-up link in show notes.
Terms & Tools to Dig Deeper
B2B (Business to Business) — A business model where services are sold to companies or organisations, rather than individual consumers.
B2C (Business to Consumer) — A business model where services are sold directly to individuals.
Centre of gravity — used metaphorically by Amanda to describe an internal sense of grounding, stability, and self-trust that had become lost and needed to be reclaimed.
Inner Authority — The capacity to trust your own knowing, make decisions from within yourself rather than seeking external validation, and lead your life from your own values and truth.
Lead Faculty — The senior facilitator responsible for programme design and delivery in a leadership development context.
Mastermind — A peer group or structured programme in which members support each other's growth, accountability, and goals — typically led by a coach or facilitator.
Mission-led founders — entrepreneurs who are building businesses driven by a deeper sense of purpose or calling, not just commercial goals.
Nervous System Reset — The process of calming and reregulating the nervous system, often through somatic, spiritual, or coaching practices, so that a person can reconnect with their own inner guidance.
Transformational Coaching — A coaching approach focused on deep personal transformation — shifts in identity, beliefs, and ways of being — rather than surface-level goal achievement.
Thanks for listening!
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amanda Parker: I had the perfect blend of the coaching, the leadership development, the facilitation, and [00:00:05] then on the back end of a lot of that leadership work, a lot of my clients would come to me for private [00:00:10] coaching. So the business was really, like, running well, and people were taking notice. [00:00:15] But there was this challenge because I was not feeling [00:00:20] fulfilled in what I was doing.
[00:00:21] Amanda Parker: I was feeling, like, out of touch, like I had [00:00:25] really built this success based on what everyone told me success looked like[00:00:30]
[00:00:34] Amanda Parker: Welcome to [00:00:35] Don't Step on the Bluebells, the podcast where personal healing and transformation take center [00:00:40] stage. I'm your host, Amanda Parker, and I'm a fellow seeker on the journey of personal [00:00:45] growth. Join me as I delve into the stories of gifted healers, guides, and [00:00:50] everyday people who have experienced remarkable transformations.
[00:00:53] Amanda Parker: Listen in as they share their [00:00:55] practical wisdom to enrich your everyday life. And don't forget to hit subscribe [00:01:00] and never miss a new episode.
[00:01:04] Amanda Parker: Welcome [00:01:05] to today's episode of Don't Step on the Bluebells. I am so happy to be here with [00:01:10] you today. We have taken a turn for summer here in London, so [00:01:15] it's feeling really beautiful and nice just to have that heat and [00:01:20] warmth and sunshine. So today, we're going to be talking about something [00:01:25] that I have been really circling for years, and if you've been following my content, [00:01:30] you will have seen me talking about this a lot lately.
[00:01:33] Amanda Parker: But I wanted to really go [00:01:35] into a deep dive today on what exactly is inner [00:01:40] authority. So today, we're gonna be talking all about what it is, why it matters, and [00:01:45] how to actually build it, especially if you're anything like me [00:01:50] and you might have spent a good portion of your life looking outside of yourself for the [00:01:55] answers.
[00:01:56] Amanda Parker: So I'm gonna be sharing my own story. I'm gonna be sharing the story of a client of [00:02:00] mine, and I think it's really important that you just have an understanding of [00:02:05] what it feels like to not have inner authority or to not [00:02:10] trust your inner authority, and then what can actually shift for you when you do.
[00:02:14] Amanda Parker: So [00:02:15] it's gonna click in a way that a simple definition never could. So a few years [00:02:20] ago, uh, when I had just started my business, I had this idea of what [00:02:25] the perfect business should look like. I had been working previously in [00:02:30] leadership development, so I was on the end of designing leadership programs. I was [00:02:35] helping to facilitate them.
[00:02:36] Amanda Parker: I was working together with all of our coaches and facilitators to bring [00:02:40] them into the projects and make sure that we were delivering what the client actually [00:02:45] needed. And through those relationships that I built with Other [00:02:50] coaches, other facilitators, I was able to learn what it meant to [00:02:55] build a really successful business in the leadership space.
[00:02:59] Amanda Parker: So on the one hand, I [00:03:00] was working on the consulting side, on the other hand, I had all these connections to coaches and [00:03:05] facilitators who had been doing this professionally, some of them for 10, 20 years. [00:03:10] So these were really pros. They had been around the block. And the [00:03:15] consensus that I learned from all of them was that you never wanted to build a business that was dependent [00:03:20] on just one thing.
[00:03:21] Amanda Parker: So the ideal mix was always to have the [00:03:25] coaching along with the facilitation, and in some cases even [00:03:30] consulting on how to design these programs so that they'd have the most impact and the most benefit [00:03:35] for the company, but also for the leaders. So as I started my business in [00:03:40] 2018, I started The Courage Factory.
[00:03:42] Amanda Parker: It was a leadership development company. I still [00:03:45] run The Courage Factory. It just looks a little bit different now. When I began The Courage [00:03:50] Factory, my focus was on supporting leaders, supporting organizations to grow their [00:03:55] leadership. I had this whole philosophy for myself on what it would look like [00:04:00] if companies could just build leaders that really knew what they were doing, that had their [00:04:05] own authority and awareness and self-leadership, that they could actually be building out their [00:04:10] teams and the business in a way that felt really great.
[00:04:14] Amanda Parker: As an [00:04:15] employee previously, I always wanted to feel good in the work I was doing. I was super [00:04:20] motivated. I loved the projects I was on, but there was often something that fell short in [00:04:25] the leadership side of things that usually felt like what was making me [00:04:30] unmotivated to stay in the company. So when I began the business, my goal was [00:04:35] simple.
[00:04:35] Amanda Parker: We're gonna, like, make better leadership, make bet- make better organizations. People are gonna [00:04:40] love coming to work. And so I started building, and I had a lot of a backbone [00:04:45] behind me because I already knew how to design, deliver, price, propose, [00:04:50] pitch leadership programs. I had already been doing it for over a year, and when I started my [00:04:55] own business, I had that leg up.
[00:04:56] Amanda Parker: Within a year of launching The Courage Factory, I also [00:05:00] became an associate of different leadership organizations, namely one [00:05:05] in particular, which was the Center for Creative Leadership. Anyone who has ever worked in [00:05:10] leadership development or has hired leadership organizations has probably heard this name.
[00:05:14] Amanda Parker: [00:05:15] It is probably the foremost organization in leadership development [00:05:20] across the globe. They've been around now probably 55 years. I used to know this [00:05:25] information much more closely when I was, um, actively an affiliate. So through [00:05:30] that work, I was really able to touch into [00:05:35] organizations at the senior level.
[00:05:37] Amanda Parker: I quickly became a lead faculty on [00:05:40] one of the programs that we were running, which meant that I was sitting in the [00:05:45] C-suite of leading tech companies in Germany as we were [00:05:50] discussing their leadership needs and how our programs were going to support them. [00:05:55] So as the lead faculty, I was the one that was responsible for making sure that the program [00:06:00] design actually fit the needs and that we were able to deliver on what we [00:06:05] said that we would.
[00:06:06] Amanda Parker: And beyond just delivering on what we said we would, we wanted to make sure that people are actually [00:06:10] getting the value they need to increase the leadership in the organization, et cetera. I [00:06:15] had clients in the tech industry, in fintech, in [00:06:20] cryptocurrency. I worked with fast-moving consumer goods. I worked with e-commerce.
[00:06:24] Amanda Parker: I was [00:06:25] working with established organizations and businesses [00:06:30] from across the globe and across sectors, helping them to create [00:06:35] leadership development programs that would support them to grow into the future. By [00:06:40] this stage, I had a blend of my business. It was B2B, so [00:06:45] I was working with a lot of businesses in an associate role.
[00:06:49] Amanda Parker: So I was [00:06:50] representing, for example, Center for Creative Leadership. I was representing T-Minus, which was [00:06:55] another organization. There were different organizations I was partnering with, and then at the same time, [00:07:00] I was going out and pitching and proposing my own projects. And then I was [00:07:05] hiring either other facilitators or other leaders to be able to come and deliver the [00:07:10] projects with me.
[00:07:11] Amanda Parker: So most notably, I had, um, a government [00:07:15] contract with GIZ, along with another colleague of mine. We did an amazing job [00:07:20] on the pitch. They had reached out to me because they had seen what I was doing. They were [00:07:25] previously, um, working with me in my role in World Wildlife Fund or Worldwide Fund for [00:07:30] Nature, depending what country you're based in.
[00:07:32] Amanda Parker: And so we won this massive government [00:07:35] contract to train senior government officials in Brazil, and I was working on [00:07:40] proposals with space tech organizations, with Deutsche Telekom. So there were a lot of [00:07:45] big names that I was supporting or in conversations with over months. [00:07:50] By all standards, I had made it.
[00:07:53] Amanda Parker: So I had [00:07:55] literally built this business exactly how I thought it was supposed to [00:08:00] look. I had the perfect blend of the coaching, the leadership development, the facilitation, [00:08:05] and then on the back end of a lot of that leadership work, a lot of my clients would come to me for private [00:08:10] coaching. So the business was really, like, running well, and people were taking notice.[00:08:15]
[00:08:15] Amanda Parker: But there was this challenge because I was not [00:08:20] feeling fulfilled in what I was doing So there was a part of me that as I was running the [00:08:25] business, I was feeling like out of touch. Like I had really built [00:08:30] this success based on what everyone told me success looked like. [00:08:35] I had the big contracts, I was designing, I was facilitating, I [00:08:40] was bringing people on board, but I was feeling empty and [00:08:45] like something was really missing.
[00:08:46] Amanda Parker: So even though the money was coming in, I didn't feel [00:08:50] aligned with what I was doing. And it took me years to be able to reconcile [00:08:55] that I had spent years building up this whole engine that was supposed to be [00:09:00] exactly what I wanted, and in the end wasn't feeling great. [00:09:05] And it was a really difficult choice that I had to [00:09:10] make, but I decided to stop doing leadership development.[00:09:15]
[00:09:15] Amanda Parker: And so despite the fact that I was in as an associate in these top [00:09:20] organizations, that I had active proposal processes going on [00:09:25] with different businesses, I quit my role as an [00:09:30] associate. I handed over these proposals and like prospective [00:09:35] clients that I had been building relationships with for a year or years [00:09:40] in some cases, and I decided to go out on my own, trying my [00:09:45] luck to be a transformational coach.
[00:09:47] Amanda Parker: So really working together with the people who [00:09:50] wanted that personal transformation in their life. So rather than focusing on the [00:09:55] B2B relationships, I moved completely towards B2C. [00:10:00] And I Was in for quite a culture shock. [00:10:05] So really what I was trying to do was buy back my own [00:10:10] freedom to do the work that I knew I was meant to be doing, that felt really [00:10:15] aligned.
[00:10:16] Amanda Parker: And I decided that I was going [00:10:20] to instead do the work that was gonna be more [00:10:25] volatile. And B2B, there's always this level of, you know, companies have money, they [00:10:30] have a budget. In B2C, that's not always the case. You're speaking to individuals. So imagine [00:10:35] yourself, are you willing to invest a few thousand or, in some cases, tens of thousands [00:10:40] of dollars to be able to support yourself to grow?
[00:10:43] Amanda Parker: And that's really the challenge that [00:10:45] I was facing as I was moving into this new territory. So I was terrified [00:10:50] to say the least. I had no idea what would come next. I didn't know if I was making the [00:10:55] most foolish decision in the world or the best one, but I knew that I couldn't keep [00:11:00] following that script that someone else had given me about what success looked like.[00:11:05]
[00:11:05] Amanda Parker: Over the next three years, I made big [00:11:10] investments in myself. I hired a coach who was phenomenal, [00:11:15] still is phenomenal. He's coming on the podcast soon, so stay tuned for that. But at the time, that [00:11:20] was the biggest investment I had ever made in any kind of personal development, [00:11:25] and I was hiring him because he could see me.
[00:11:28] Amanda Parker: He could see the [00:11:30] dreams that I was trying to work towards and the challenges that I was up against. In the time that [00:11:35] we worked together and through all of the spiritual work and just that deep inner work I [00:11:40] was doing on myself, I was able to find my own center of gravity again, [00:11:45] to reset my nervous system, to really come back to trusting what I knew and [00:11:50] trusting that what felt right for me was the right decision for me [00:11:55] And I started offering my coaching package at five and a half [00:12:00] times what I had been offering it at before.
[00:12:03] Amanda Parker: It was a few years [00:12:05] back that I launched my highest tier package, which was [00:12:10] 47,000 pounds, which also included four private [00:12:15] retreats to sacred sites, and began to build my trust in myself [00:12:20] and my trust in my business and ability to be able to bring an [00:12:25] income at a level that felt good for me and that actually felt [00:12:30] aligned to the goals that I had, and I was able to support individuals [00:12:35] in leading their best life through doing that work.
[00:12:37] Amanda Parker: So that doesn't mean that I have that same level [00:12:40] of self-trust every single day. You know, there's always these different wobbles that I [00:12:45] have where I'm questioning if I'm doing things right or I want someone else to [00:12:50] help me to understand if I'm making the best choices or to see more clearly things, like [00:12:55] decisions that I'm making and what the impact of those might be.
[00:12:58] Amanda Parker: So that still happens. [00:13:00] It's not that I have perfection. I don't think any of us ever really does, and I think the [00:13:05] more successful that you are, the more that you're going to be finding these questions you don't [00:13:10] have the answer to 'cause you're doing what you've never done before and you're probably doing what no one else has ever [00:13:15] done before, at least no one else that you know.
[00:13:18] Amanda Parker: So on average, I, I [00:13:20] am on the right path, and I know that, and I know that as I continue to grow and I continue to [00:13:25] expand my own offerings and the ways that I support people, I am more and more and more [00:13:30] aligned with who I am and what matters most to me So I wanna share another [00:13:35] story with you as well, because inner authority shows [00:13:40] up differently for each of us, and this was a client of mine who came to [00:13:45] me after trying to build a business for a number of years.
[00:13:47] Amanda Parker: They had left the corporate world behind. They had a [00:13:50] successful corporate career, great income, and they left because they wanted to build something that [00:13:55] felt more aligned and truer to who they were. They started a business with a co-founder, [00:14:00] and they had all the tactics right, so it was kind of a similar story, honestly, [00:14:05] of leaving behind this corporate space, trying to hack it alone, f- looking [00:14:10] for that, that freedom and fulfillment that you couldn't quite find in the corporate space [00:14:15] but you're hoping you'll be able to do it your own way and differently and find that [00:14:20] satisfaction on your own when you open your own business.
[00:14:22] Amanda Parker: So this client of mine had done just [00:14:25] that. They started this own business with a co-founder of [00:14:30] trying to build out programs that they weren't really able to deliver on in corporate, [00:14:35] but that felt much more aligned. But the truth was that after a couple years, the business was [00:14:40] struggling, the money wasn't coming in, and they were trying and trying and [00:14:45] trying, so much trial and error, so much energy and effort was going into the business.
[00:14:49] Amanda Parker: They had [00:14:50] trickles of clients coming in. There was some income there, but it really wasn't feeling like [00:14:55] a fit. And so after years of this trial and error, and they still didn't really [00:15:00] find exactly what felt good to them, they decided to [00:15:05] leave the business behind. It wasn't an easy decision at all, but [00:15:10] they knew that they needed to find a way to build something and to live a life that was much [00:15:15] truer to who they were.
[00:15:16] Amanda Parker: They had taken that, like, halfway leap out of [00:15:20] corporate into entrepreneurship, but they had to still take another leap to [00:15:25] be able to find something that was much more aligned with who they were. The first years of [00:15:30] their own projects, of their own business were rocky. You know, I'm not gonna [00:15:35] sugarcoat it.
[00:15:35] Amanda Parker: There was definitely ups and downs, but they knew that they were building something that was [00:15:40] true, and they knew that they were on the right path. So even though it looked [00:15:45] so different on paper, and it was the same for me, the whole business just looked [00:15:50] completely different on paper, but the inner feeling of knowing they were on the right [00:15:55] path and building towards something that's much more sustainable and true, that was the same.[00:16:00]
[00:16:00] Amanda Parker: In that process of really getting to learn and understand [00:16:05] who you are, what matters to you, learning how to trust yourself that [00:16:10] you can actually achieve what you want to, what you say you will, that you'll [00:16:15] follow through and be able to bring it to life, that's what builds that foundation of [00:16:20] inner authority and that self-trust.
[00:16:23] Amanda Parker: You might see that pattern [00:16:25] there. You might have even experienced that in your own life, that something looks perfect from [00:16:30] the outside, like you have the perfect career or your business looks amazing, [00:16:35] or maybe even the perfect relationship, and everyone tells you, "This is, this is success. You did [00:16:40] it.
[00:16:40] Amanda Parker: Congrats." And yet on the inside, it doesn't feel aligned. [00:16:45] Something just feels off, and you learn that there's a point in time you [00:16:50] have to let it go, and you have to be able to [00:16:55] find what that next truer dream is for you. Inner [00:17:00] authority isn't a one-time decision. It's not a switch that [00:17:05] you flip on and suddenly you find yourself and your happiness and your [00:17:10] career forever.
[00:17:11] Amanda Parker: It's an ongoing practice of listening, of adjusting, [00:17:15] of honoring what feels true even when it doesn't make sense to anyone [00:17:20] else, and sometimes it also means leaping multiple times, [00:17:25] certainly more than once. How do you actually build inner [00:17:30] authority? So I wrote out a really long list of things that I have done and have been [00:17:35] building over the years and what I've helped my clients with, but I'm gonna distill that [00:17:40] down so that there's five core practices that actually help [00:17:45] you to be able to tune in and build your own inner authority.
[00:17:48] Amanda Parker: The first piece is to [00:17:50] really know yourself deeply. So to do this, you wanna get clear [00:17:55] on your vision, on your values, on your goals. You wanna be clear for [00:18:00] yourself of what you want, so not what anyone else wants for you, not what anyone else [00:18:05] tells you you should be doing or should be looking for. This is actually what you [00:18:10] want and understanding what it is that actually [00:18:15] lights you up and energizes you, and what it is that drains you.
[00:18:18] Amanda Parker: So this is all about [00:18:20] doing that inner work to see what's keeping you stuck, to see what's that vision [00:18:25] you really wanna hone in on, and to clear all of the blocks, energetic and [00:18:30] otherwise, that are standing in the way The second practice is building [00:18:35] trust through action. So this is all about doing what you [00:18:40] say you'll do, making regular progress towards your goals.
[00:18:44] Amanda Parker: So [00:18:45] not just looking for perfection, you're looking for movement, just taking [00:18:50] action, taking steps. Sometimes we can get stuck in our heads and thinking and [00:18:55] processing and planning, and then we fail to do the only thing that will actually push the needle, [00:19:00] which is taking a step and a forward-going action.
[00:19:03] Amanda Parker: So this requires you [00:19:05] to believe in yourself and believe in what you're building before you have any evidence. [00:19:10] And when you fail, because you will, you're gonna make mistakes, it's a part of the [00:19:15] process, you know that you'll get back up again. So you keep those promises [00:19:20] to yourself, and you keep building that foundation of trusting yourself by [00:19:25] acting The third practice is creating supportive structures.[00:19:30]
[00:19:30] Amanda Parker: So this is all about developing rituals, routines, and [00:19:35] habits that help you to show up as your best. So you're taking time to be [00:19:40] offline, to be with yourself. Maybe that's being in nature, developing those morning routines that help [00:19:45] you feel like your best self when you wake up in the morning. It's [00:19:50] curating your digital diet, so not just going on Instagram and aimlessly scrolling for [00:19:55] hours, but being really careful about what's the news and information and [00:20:00] social media and, you know, outside perspectives that you're taking in, cutting [00:20:05] out all those things that really drain you.
[00:20:07] Amanda Parker: It's helping you to capture those lessons [00:20:10] learned and letting them shape how you're moving forward. So [00:20:15] every time we have an experience, we're learning something about ourself, and the more that we're [00:20:20] able to really pay attention to the things that we're learning, the more that we're able to make [00:20:25] conscious choices to change our life based on that information.
[00:20:29] Amanda Parker: The fourth [00:20:30] practice is surrounding yourself with the right people. So this is about [00:20:35] finding your champions and your cheerleaders, the ones who remind you that [00:20:40] you're capable, the ones who remind you of your power, finding those peers who are in [00:20:45] it with you. We're not talking about the peers who are 85 steps ahead or the ones who are [00:20:50] back where you started five years ago.
[00:20:52] Amanda Parker: You wanna find people who are in a similar place on the [00:20:55] journey as you, and who are actively working towards bigger goals that [00:21:00] align with the goals that you're also working towards. 'Cause the more you see them succeed, the more you cheer each other [00:21:05] on, the more you're all gonna grow and succeed together.
[00:21:08] Amanda Parker: So you wanna find people who are in it with you, who [00:21:10] are navigating the same terrain, and you wanna let go of any people or [00:21:15] projects that don't align. And this might also include any [00:21:20] courses or programs that you've signed up for or have been thinking about signing up for, where there isn't [00:21:25] really full alignment.
[00:21:26] Amanda Parker: So you wanna give yourself permission to just let these things [00:21:30] go, to consciously protect your space so [00:21:35] that you're only surrounding yourself with the people who are gonna help lift you up towards your goals and [00:21:40] who are not actively draining or bringing you down. You also wanna get [00:21:45] coaching that actually helps you hear yourself more deeply.
[00:21:48] Amanda Parker: You'll see me talking [00:21:50] about this a lot because I have a lot of opinions on what good coaching is and bad coaching. [00:21:55] So I am a coach. I believe coaching works, and I think powerful coaching [00:22:00] is 1,000,000% worth investing in. You just wanna make sure that the [00:22:05] person you're finding has, in their practice, your best interest at [00:22:10] heart So you wanna make sure that you're working with someone who really wants to help lift [00:22:15] you up and who isn't just trying to sell you a model that doesn't actually fit [00:22:20] where you are.
[00:22:21] Amanda Parker: So you don't want someone who's just telling you what to do. I promise, promise, [00:22:25] promise that's not gonna get you where you wanna go. And then the fifth practice is to [00:22:30] calibrate and reflect. So you wanna celebrate your wins. You wanna [00:22:35] celebrate the big wins, the small wins. Practice gratitude for everything that you have and [00:22:40] everything that you've accomplished, and you wanna take time to reflect on your [00:22:45] progress so that you can actually see how far you've come.
[00:22:47] Amanda Parker: At some point, you don't wanna be [00:22:50] working on yourself endlessly. Probably at any point you don't wanna do that. It's okay to [00:22:55] grow, I believe in this fully, but not for the purpose of fixing yourself [00:23:00] endlessly. You wanna be growing in a way that helps empower you, and you [00:23:05] need to learn how to stop that process when it becomes [00:23:10] just endless procrastination via fixing and healing.
[00:23:14] Amanda Parker: So you need to [00:23:15] trust that you're ready, that you can do the things that you need to do, [00:23:20] and that you can stop perfecting the system whenever it feels that you, you've [00:23:25] completed what you needed to complete. This is a high level of what [00:23:30] It looks like when you actually start to develop that inner [00:23:35] authority, and these are the practices that I use every day and what I use with my [00:23:40] clients as well to be able to build that inner authority.
[00:23:43] Amanda Parker: So what actually [00:23:45] happens when you've done this? Well, you trust yourself. You [00:23:50] know that you will do the things that you say that you're gonna do. You know and [00:23:55] believe in yourself to do whatever it is that you set your mind to. [00:24:00] You stop looking for other people to tell you what to do or how, and you know that no matter [00:24:05] what, you'll figure it out.
[00:24:07] Amanda Parker: You are capable of figuring out how to move forward. [00:24:10] You're not afraid to fail or to make mistakes, and because of that, you take bigger [00:24:15] risks and you trust yourself fully. You're brave and you're courageous, and [00:24:20] you become the leader of your own life. Here's the deeper truth. Inner [00:24:25] authority is about knowing and trusting that you can do what you say you'll do, knowing [00:24:30] that you can figure it out even when you don't know how, and trusting that even when [00:24:35] it's hard or unclear, or even if you feel pressured to get it right, because some of us, [00:24:40] like myself, will pressure ourselves to get it right, you can give yourself the space [00:24:45] that you need to wait until it's clear.
[00:24:47] Amanda Parker: So that is the gift and the freedom that you're [00:24:50] giving yourself. This is the backbone of all the work that I do about inner [00:24:55] authority, the way that I work with my clients, and it's the foundation of the Inner Authority [00:25:00] Lab, which I'm launching on June 9th. So that is a space where [00:25:05] we're coming together to really deepen these practices in [00:25:10] self-trust that helps you expand and grow in every single area [00:25:15] of your life So the Inner Authority Lab is a four-month group [00:25:20] mastermind.
[00:25:20] Amanda Parker: It's for mission-led founders who are done outsourcing their knowing, are [00:25:25] ready to stop looking for permission, and are ready to start leading from within. [00:25:30] So if you have been in business already for a few years, you've already [00:25:35] seen a certain level of success, but it's not quite feeling how you hoped it would, [00:25:40] and you've tried all the frameworks, you've tried all the courses, it's just not fitting, this is the [00:25:45] space for you.
[00:25:46] Amanda Parker: You can send me a message. Come [00:25:50] find me on LinkedIn or Instagram. You send me a message with the word lab, [00:25:55] and I will tell you all about it, or check out the show notes and you'll get the [00:26:00] link to be able to sign up right there. Thank you so much for tuning in. I would [00:26:05] love to hear your own experiences of developing your own inner [00:26:10] authority, and maybe you have a story similar to mine or to my clients about [00:26:15] ways that this self-trust and this pursuit of something [00:26:20] truer has shown up in your own life.
[00:26:22] Amanda Parker: I would love to hear it, and I'd love [00:26:25] to support you on that journey as you're moving forward. Remember that you [00:26:30] have everything you need to begin now. Thanks so much for [00:26:35] tuning in, and I'll see you next time. Thanks for [00:26:40] tuning in to today's episode of Don't Step on the Bluebells. If you enjoyed this conversation, [00:26:45] please give the podcast a five-star rating wherever you listen.
[00:26:48]Amanda Parker: And don't forget to hit [00:26:50] subscribe and follow along so you never miss a new [00:26:55] episode.