My Sustainable PACE “It’s not just a toolkit, it’s a whole mindset change”

Client: Bec Williams

Occupation: Executive Manager Niche Performance, Suncorp

Location: Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia

foundher program: Sustainable PACE & Reset YOU Retreat

Bec Williams used to keep her work and personal lives separate until the Sustainable PACE program showed her the extraordinary benefits of bringing her whole self to each space.

Bec Williams had always considered her roles as a high-performing corporate executive and a mother as pivotal to her sense of self. 

Then in 2022, Bec found herself shifting from project management to performance management around the same time that her kids left home. The upheaval was significant enough to have her questioning her identity.

 foundher’s Sustainable PACE program came at just the right moment for Bec. “The concept of who you are being rather than what you are doing just resonated with me at the time, based on what I was going through,” Bec says. “I realised that there had been a lot of doing and not a lot of being.”

 Bec embarked on the eight-week online program expecting to learn some productivity tools that would help her be more efficient at work so she could devote more time to enriching her personal life. Instead, she found an entire mindset shift that has overhauled how she approaches all aspects of her life.

“PACE changed the way I look at myself, look at work and look at the way I tackle leadership,” Bec reveals. “So it was very different to what I expected!”

Blend over balance

The most powerful mindset change for Bec was accepting that her work and home lives are inherently intertwined, rather than seeing them as separate from one another.

This notion is key to developing a sustainable pace because it allows you to consider who you’re being and how that will affect your day and those around you. From that awareness, you can make considered decisions about how to approach the day.

“I’ve always looked at my work persona and my home persona as different people, and PACE was about bringing them all together. You can’t be two people, which is probably why we all work at 200 per cent, because we’re trying to be 100 per cent of ‘home Bec’ and 100 per cent of ‘work Bec’,” she explains.

“It’s made a significant difference to be able to blend the two. The permission to be a real person as well as the leader was probably the most profound piece that I got out of PACE.”

This shift came early on in the program for Bec thanks to PACE’s signature self-awareness practices such as the Doing Diary and morning and evening routines, which helped her understand her habits and encouraged her to consider how she’s feeling before planning the day.

“Because you spend that time focusing on yourself, it automatically flows into the rest of the day and how you’re showing up,” says Bec. “It’s strange that we need permission to consider how we’re thinking and feeling on any given day to dictate the work that we might do. But it’s really refreshing!”

Rewriting the stories

PACE is carefully planned to guide participants through personal growth without overwhelming them. A key part of the course is unravelling the unconscious beliefs that limit you.

As the program progressed, Bec began unpacking some of the stories she has long held that have impacted the way she works and interacts with colleagues and family. This had a life-altering effect. 

“Working through the course, I realised that the way that I work in the corporate world is about a lot of masculine energy. I was so off-balance,” she explains. “The self-reflection exercises and starting to work through the stories that we tell ourselves made me realise that I had gotten to the point where I thought it wasn’t OK to feel things, or sense things or use those qualities or traits in the corporate world.”

Now that she can see that she’s holding stories and beliefs that are not grounded in fact, particularly around what it means to be a female leader in business, Bec has been working on challenging them and embracing new stories.

“There have been so many stories, whether it’s family stories or societal stories, that have been core to how I lead in business,” Bec reveals. “The life-changing moment was to go, ‘Well, there are stories that are not true, that have driven the way I live my life or lead my team. And now that I know that they’re not true, then I can change the behaviour.’

“It’s set me on a path of changing my inner dialogue and making me stretch in terms of what I think I’m capable of.”

STRATEGIC PLANNING

 As well as mindset work, PACE teaches practical productivity tools that participants can implement to make their everyday life smoother. Students are encouraged to plan their day in detail, adding everything from their morning coffee to their evening wind-down to their calendar.

This is important to ensure that you’re prioritising space for nourishing habits that support your being mode, and has the added benefit of removing some of your mental load.

Bec says she was initially resistant to this technique, so she was surprised to find how effective it has been in her busy life as she juggles work, family life, self-care and a home renovation.

 “I didn’t want to be that person who planned everything,” she says. “What I realised was, I was planning it all in my brain anyway. I was holding on to all of that stuff, knowing that it had to be done.”

Bec has been able to reduce some of her stress around the different tasks she has to do because she has set up dedicated times to organise them into her life. 

Morning meetings, Sunday sessions and monthly and quarterly goal-setting and planning practices are now key to Bec’s sustainable rhythm.

From stressed to calm and happy

One of the biggest benefits of Bec’s new sustainable pace is how it’s made her feel. 

Before she started the program she was stressed and resentful as her time was geared towards servicing others’ needs. Now she’s learned to prioritise herself, which has transformed her emotional and physical wellbeing. 

“When I started PACE I was at a point where I felt uncomfortable in my skin. I spent no time on myself, it was all about doing for other people or doing for work, and I wasn’t present, ever. You get to the point where you think, ‘I wish people would just give me five minutes!’,” Bec recalls. 

“Now, I’m less worried about picking up my work phone at the end of the day, because I know the work is planned, and it will get done and I don’t have to do another hour’s work on the lounge, the phone in my hand.

I feel emotionally and physically much better than when I went in. I approach the days now with so much more lightness and energy.” Giving herself permission to take time out for herself has also helped her detangle her identity from work. 

 “I now know my identity isn’t about what I do. PACE has helped me go along that journey.”

A game-changer for women in business

Bec was surprised to find how much she enjoyed connecting with other women in the small group setting of the PACE program, as well as at the foundher RESET YOU Retreat, which she attended in 2022.

“I rarely get together with groups of women and I’m not into the whole ‘lady mentoring’ piece,” Bec admits. “But the environment was so open and supportive that it’s changed my whole way of thinking around groups of women supporting each other.”

She says that Elana’s intuitive coaching throughout the program was a real highlight as it created a safe and supportive journey that empowered her to keep progressing in her personal development.

“Elana is always open, always receptive, always available to help through those challenging times,” Bec explains. “I really enjoyed the process of curiosity and questioning and the challenges that Elana gave that just felt like I got the right push at the right time.”

As a corporate executive, Bec has participated in several personal development and leadership courses throughout her career. She says that PACE is not “a standard, run-of-the-mill leadership toolkit course” but a truly life-changing experience.

“PACE is a course that will get to the bottom of what’s holding you back and give you some simple, easy steps to become a better person and a better leader,” she says. 

 

“I think we should make it mandatory for every woman in business.”

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