I've got a confession to make. And I'm sure it's a confession many other entrepreneurs share with me (go on, admit it...).
I'm a complete control freak.
There, I said it.
Oh, and I like to think that I can do everything by myself from start to finish.
Before dedicating myself to building my own freelance writing business, my corporate career was plagued by my own obsession to have to control and do everything myself.
And while I was very successful, I was also incredibly stressed and not exactly the happiest person alive.
Now that I'm running my own show, I have a choice:
Choice 1: Continue on as a control freak and try to do everything myself. This could possibly lead to a breakdown at some point.
Choice 2: Accept that I don't have to do it all myself and allow others to help me on my entrepreneurial journey.
So far, just by surrounding myself with the right kind of people, I've learnt how much I can learn from others. And in particular, other women who have more life and business experience than I do.
Sometimes, opportunities come your way that are just too good to pass up.
So when women leadership mentor Anoushka Gungadin offered to work with me to help teach me how to run my business properly, I jumped at the chance.
One session in and Anoushka's guidance has already made a massive difference as to how I'm tackling my major goal at the moment: Publishing a kid's book.
I won't lie -- It's confronting to work with a leadership coach initially. The first thing Anoushka got me to do was to fill out a form rating myself on a number of topics.
While it wasn't hard for me to complete the questions that related to my career, it was really confronting to honestly rate myself in areas such as health, peace, fulfillment, fun... The personal stuff!
If you're anything like me, as an entrepreneur, 99 per cent of your time is now dedicated to achieving your goals. Work/life balance isn't really a factor anymore because I legitimately love what I do.
The great thing about working with Anoushka is that she asks me the hard questions.
The kind of things I might not stop to contemplate such as:
What are three things I'm tolerating or putting up with in my life?
Better still, she helps me to focus on one thing at a time as opposed to trying to do everything at once and spreading myself too thinly.
As they say, creative minds are rarely tidy.
Best of all, it's very reassuring to know that I'm not alone in what I'm doing. I've written a lot about being both excited and scared about the road ahead. And it all still applies as I tap away at my laptop now.
Deep down inside, I can feel a certain calmness where there probably should be a lot of stress.
I dream of the day I go to pick up a book off the bookshelf, turn it around and see my name on the cover. I can't think of a better moment as a writer.
I'm sure there will be failure, setbacks and so on, but that's all part of the ride.
And as long as I continue to surround myself with people such as Anoushka, I can't really go wrong.
If you are an entrepreneur and you don't have anyone guiding you and holding your hand, you could already be taking your first step in the wrong direction.
Be brave - It's okay to let go and allow others to help you.
Consider this line from the great T.S. Eliot:
Do I dare disturb the universe?
I do - How about you?