It’s been a week now since I left Bali for Australia, but my head is still spinning a little from the experience at the Surf + Social Good Summit (in a good way !).
I started writing this post a few times over the last few days, but somehow the words wouldn’t flow, or I’d have too many different things to say and not enough time to say them. So I figured I needed to let the dust settle.
I need to remind myself that sometimes, good ideas need a little time to grow & evolve.
But there are, however, a few things I that feel pretty certain about. Three lessons, in fact, that showed up for me in Bali, that I think might be worth sharing.
Lesson #1 : imposter syndrome SUCKS
Hmm this is hard to write about. When I booked my flights to Bali, I already knew that I would be spending time with an incredible group of women. And as time went by, and I learned more about who would be attending the event, I got more and more excited about the trip. But on the launch night of the summit, at the very moment when everyone else was super psyched to be meeting one another & sharing stories, I felt like my imposter syndrome kick in.
I started questioning myself. Who am I to be here? Who am I to be running a workshop for this amazing group of people? I don’t surf anywhere near good enough. I’m not skinny/pretty/smart enough to be here. Ridiculous I know. Especially because we spent a good chunk of time at the summit exploring important issues like hyper-sexualisation of women’s surfing.
Ironic huh? There I was surrounded by strong women role models, but instead of feeling empowered, I felt my self-worth plummet and my self-doubt start to kick in.
That night, after making my way back down the zillion or so stairs to the beach at Bingin, I sat with those emotions. I questioned them. I recognised how dangerous imposter syndrome really is.
The lesson for me, played out over the next few days when I acknowledged how I was feeling but refused to let it sway how I would interact, engage & connect with this rad group of people. In fact, the more I leaned into the present moment, the less I heard the voice of that little gremlin inside my head.
And so, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe this imposter syndrome is likely to show up from time to time, and there’s not a lot that I can do to stop it. But what I can do, and what I can control is how I choose to move forward with it. And (as always) mindfulness is the key.
Lesson #2 : make it effortless
The summit brought together surfers from three very different groups: non-profits, academia & entrepreneurship. It was during one of the breakout sessions on the second day when I realised the disconnect between the three, and just how important it was for us all to hear each other's stories, share our perspectives on specific issues & learn from one another.
One of the speakers at the summit was Wempy Dyocta Koto. To say he’s a smart cookie would be a massive understatement (Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award & named by Fortune as one of Indonesia’s 40 under 40).
I was chatting with him over lunch about how best we could all come together to collaborate & maintain the momentum that we had created at the event. In some respects, the three groups were speaking different languages, and dealing with very different challenges.
Wempy said something so simple, but so important: ‘Make it effortless’. He explained that in order for any collaboration to have a real impact, it needs to feel effortless for all involved. That means each person leaning into their strengths & bringing their own knowledge & experience in one area into the project.
So often, as entrepreneurs, we end up wearing a zillion hats. But in this instance, it makes so much sense to get laser-focused on what you’re really really good at. That way, everyone feels that sense of huh-this-is-easy-for-me, the project flows and the whole team is stoked.
Lesson #3 : common threads
In the Super Stoked program, we talk a lot about finding your tribe. A tribe is such a buzz word in the world of entrepreneurship, but for good reason. It’s super important to surround yourself with the right people, but all too often, we imagine that building a tribe means ‘networking’ or going to stuffy conferences because we think our tribe needs to be made up of people who do exactly what we do.
There’s a simple answer: Find a common thread.
There were about 80 of us at the Summit. From 20 different countries and with a multitude of cultures and experiences. Some were running incredible businesses. Some were making waves in the world of non-profits. Others were professors, lecturers and researchers doing phenomenal work in their respective fields.
But here’s the thing. We’re all surfers. We speak the same language. We get stoked on the same things. We value the same things. We understand each other.
It doesn’t matter that we all find different ways to make a living. In fact, that makes our conversations even more interesting. It’s the common thread keeps us together.