Women on Boards or lack of them is still a current topic - women in leadership represent 12 % of total global companies worldwide. Are you a woman who wants to progress in your career and become Board Director? Or do you? Do you know what you want, what you really want, and why you want it?

Success means so many different things to so many different people; a recent survey carried out by LinkedIn showed that 4 out of 5 Britons have a different definition of success. So what does success means to you? The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs (often represented by a pyramid) is one of the motivational theories trying to decipher what drives “ human beings”. Maslow advocates that people need to first realise the most essential needs before proceeding to the advanced ones at the top of the pyramid ( as in the main picture). Similarly to Maslow, Tony Robbins, in his programs and many books, talks about in a more fluid & less hierarchical way the same drivers of human behaviours:

• Certainty and security
• Uncertainty and variety
• Significance
• Love & Connection
• Growth
• Contribution

My point here is that on top of the infrastructural belief system based on cultural, religious (or non-religious) & family paradigms, there are basic human needs that need to be fulfilled; success is a relative thing: what is your why? Remember: everyone pays the price - men, women, everyone: what is the price you are prepared to pay? Leadership requires 100% commitment. I can hear the noise, the mumbling rising... STOP IT! Stop making excuses; it is all BS...

The barriers women face in a corporate environment and as business owners are the same ( societal, religious, patriarchal and family paradigms), including childcare; nevertheless, women business ownership makes up 25-33% of total business owners compared to 12% of women on global boards ( source Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2017 - MIWE): when the why is big enough you can achieve anything. And, as a business owner/founder, the buck stops with you: yes, you have a choice over flexibility, but there are no big corporate support ad/or benefits, and the customers/suppliers keep on knocking on that door and what needs doing, needs doing. So, decide what you want and what you really really want and then go for it - silence your inner critic - do what works for you but stop external forces controlling your life. It all starts in your head. Remember: Wonder Woman does not exist if you are juggling motherhood with a boardroom/ascending career! True feminism means accepting both the reality of motherhood and celebrating its real value to society but also have equal opportunities to choose how you would like to deal with your career and motherhood without having to apologise if you are ambitious and want to go back to work asap or take a few years off. Perfection is boring; be awesome instead. But, then, tell me what you want really really want. This blog is an extract from my book "STOP IT! It is all in your head"Part II: Tell Me What You Want, What You Really Really Want. To read an extract from Part I: Blah, Blah, Blah. To see how the book was developed/written: What is the best way to write a book in 30 days.