Sacred Pauses, Sovereign Steps: September’s Sailfesto

September Whispers: A Beautiful Warrior's Sailfesto

I've been in a season of quiet creation and release, practicing, co-authoring and dreaming new narratives and cultural assets into practice.

I've learned that our life and purpose journey is like a spool of thread, a spiral, requiring patience, curiosity, compassion and "big bravery" in micro-moments, surrendering in ways we don't always understand or expect. Some days, authoring and surrender look like stumbling, aligning, and being okay with not having answers, while on other days, authoring new narratives, uncovering wisdom, and new definitions of success feel less like something new and more like something deeply remembered.

As I embody the wisdom of Derek Walcott's Love After Love's Feast on your life", I am reminded of the multicultural feast we've inherited.

This S.E.P.T.E.M.B.E.R guidance stems from my own personal success "treasure" chest, a tapestry of ancestral whispers, lived experiences, and embodied wisdom from our research-to-practice success systems that shape how I lead, love, grow and dream.

 "What if your heritage wasn't just a history lesson, but a living operating system?"

 Introducing Your S.E.P.T.E.M.B.E.R Wisdom Code 

What if your heritage wasn't just history, but a living operating system woven into our DNA as everyday ways of knowing? Every story, ritual, and cultural thread becomes a code, a map guiding us back to ourselves and to the definition of success that feels sovereign, soulful, and true.

More whispers, more wisdom, more treasures to come; this is just the beginning of a purpose journey that is constantly unfolding. There are many more codes waiting to be unlocked, and the journey is far from over. Do let me know which letter resonates the most with you.

S - See yourself with the wisdom of your ancestors. Your heritage is more than a history lesson; it's an operating system rooted in living wisdom.

Your cultural inheritance lives within you. Your self-image carries more than you know; generations of dreamers live in your DNA. What if you looked at yourself the way your ancestors envisioned you?

E - Expand the space you take up in your life. 

Expand the "room" or energy portion you give yourself when it comes to your personal joy and creative expression. Are you allowing joy and ease to take up as much space as needed in your life? Give yourself space to breathe, to explore, to be curious about what lights your fire and sparks your curiosity. Embrace and expand the room you give yourself and your steps.

P - Prioritize your purpose practice as a ceremony. 

Each choice becomes ritual, each breath, each step, a prayer walked into reality. You are not just moving toward destiny; with every thought, energetic posture, and attitude, you create new energetic body prints, actively shaping your reality through your daily actions.

T - Trust your inner timing. Ancestral timing is divine timing. 

That feeling that whispers "now" or "not yet", honour it. Your intuitive intelligence carries ancient wisdom passed through countless generations of survivors and dreamers. No one can validate what they haven't been assigned to. Trust your guidance. 

E - Elevate your self-talk; craft your self-image dialogue. How are you courting yourself?

What's on your "woo" list? What words have you deleted from your self-image narrative? What words did you add? Self-sovereignty, authoring culture, and multicultural intelligence are words I've added to my vocabulary that feel more connected to the self-image I have inherited. How do you dress yourself (mind, body, and soul) every day? What if your inner voice became the voice of your wisest self or chosen ancestor? The one who sees not just your potential, but the prayers and dreams you carry forward? What would they say? What song would be at the top of their list and yours? Lately, Yamore by Salif Keita and Cesaria Evora has been on repeat 

M - Mind your inner garden with care, curiosity, and imagination.

What needs tending? Harvesting? What new colours/flowers or mini gardens of interest are you drawn to? Your thoughts, emotions, and actions (T.E.A.) groom your inner landscape, so tend it like sacred ground. What thoughts serve your growth? What have you learned about the last cultural space you were deeply immersed in? In the workplace, socially, and within family systems, what cultural patterns are ready to evolve? Which ones nourish you? Which ones dry out your roots?

B - Bring big bravery and the slow energy pause into micro-moments. 
Bravery often resides in the small, still moments, the sacred pauses we tend to rush through. The way you enter a room, the breath you take  before you speak, the quiet pause as you place your card on the counter, and the pause you savour as you greet the person waiting to serve you; these micro-moments hold quiet, revolutionary power. Indulge. Savour your pauses and make each pause sacred.

I was reminded of this during a Dream Big Date with another Founder. At a traffic light with a twelve-second countdown, I was confident I could make it. She calmly said, “I don’t chase down lights. Let’s wait for the next one.” That simple moment revealed how often I hurry myself, skipping over the sacred pauses that allow me to be present in the moment, moments that contain clarity, presence, and strength. True courage isn’t always bold action; sometimes it is the choice to pause, breathe, and move with intention. Revolutionary power lives in these deliberate, mindful pauses.

E - Examine the cultural narrative cobwebs, those hard-to-detect, colonial narrative threads.

Are your daily narratives uplifting, or have they emboldened practices that may have you feeling comfortable betraying yourself, your culture, your people, or maybe have you talking about your upbringing in deficit terms? Which cultural narratives dry your roots? Which ones actually nourish your self-image and community roots? By challenging these cultural narratives, you can rewrite the story and create new narratives that remind you to reclaim your power and reshape your narrative.

R - Remember, Re-Imagine, Re-Cognize Your Whole Self Intelligence. You are your ancestors' living dream and the architect of your own dreams.

 You carry the integrated wisdom of all your cultural bodies, spaces and places you've travelled through. Your remembering activates your living practice and every experience that has shaped you into the intelligence you embody. Your lived expertise is your inheritance and your power.

Remember, you cannot release what you refuse to acknowledge. You cannot leverage what you will not name. By recognizing and accepting your whole self-intelligence, you amplify your self-image, as well as your linguistic and non-linguistic skills. The presence and acknowledgment of those skills will help you step into your power and purpose in a way that transforms your practice and your life.

Your Personal Success System requires Adaptive Capacity, which enables you to tap into your Creative Capital and cultural leadership as powerful assets, alongside an Integrated Intelligence Mindset and strategic thinking. This is the foundation of your success system, one uniquely designed for your journey.

 I hope you make your pauses sacred, so your steps may become sovereign, and you can notice the whispers, the wisdom, and the treasures quietly waiting to unfold. You’ve been cultivating your Adaptive Capacity, moving beyond Emotional and Cultural Intelligence, and tapping into a deeper knowing for years. 

 Trust your knowing and your unique ways of knowing.

You were born with more than the skills to navigate life’s systemic potholes. You carry an entire operating system within you, crafted for imagination, navigation, and innovation. Your existence is purposeful. You are not searching for purpose; you are purpose embodied.

Purpose is a practice, a ritual, a conscious unfolding of each day - be bold enough to author a success system that honours, celebrates and amplifies the sacredness of your practice.

Remember this truth: “You are part of something way bigger.”

So, beautiful warrior, let this September be the month you begin your sacred rest, sovereign step practice.

You are a sovereign being who carries forward her dreams, embroidered with the dreams of generations, and needs no permission to shine. Your light is not contingent on approval or acceptance; it is your responsibility to be obedient to the whispers and lanes you're meant to shine brightly in. Your lane is already provided for. Your lane is well-lit. The clarity you seek will be revealed the second you own your lane. Vision comes with provision. So own the lane your presence commands.

You are changing the world through the radical act of being fully, unapologetically yourself.

Indulge in the being and becoming of who you are, and honour every sacred pause along the way. 

Believing in you and your dreams always, in all ways

Looking for some tools for your Self-Leadership Curriculum? Explore our  Action Plan or The Better Habits Tracker via The Success System.