Iconic lives aren’t reserved for celebrities and legends. There’s an icon in every woman, and it’s the everyday icons that the world needs most.
Some people might call it their higher self or authentic self. Maybe for you, it’s God or faith or source. Or it could simply be intuition, gut instinct.
Whatever you call it, we all feel it at some point in our lives.
For me, that elusive inner knowing is a little different than the soft, wispy voice of a “higher self.”
In fact, my inner voice is a little bit of a badass. She’s resilient and determined. She’s a fighter, a disrupter. And she creates her life from a place of love and truth.
The more I get to know her, the more I realize she is unstoppable.
She’s an icon.
And there’s an icon in every woman who chooses to believe it.
Meet My Icons
The first woman I ever considered to be an icon was my grandmother.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer back when it was an almost certain death sentence. But I watched her face her illness with a kind of strength that would become my model for overcoming challenges for the rest of my life.
Out of sheer determination, she willed herself to survive it. She didn’t stop fighting until she found a way through the pain, struggle and sickness. And she did it. She survived.
Though my grandmother was my first example of iconic strength – she wasn’t my last.
Decades ago, my mother was diagnosed with brain cancer and was told she had one year to live. But she ended up living 26 years past the life expectancy they gave her.
Her strength literally defied what was medically possible.
You know how she did it? She visualized the life she wanted and never let go of that vision. She held it in her mind and her heart like a truth until it became one.
At the time of my mom’s diagnosis, my sister was in elementary school, but my mom visualized herself at my sister’s high school graduation. She visualized years into the future, an entire lifetime of moments and memories before they even happened.
Both of these incredible women could see their futures before they manifested them.
Yes, it meant they’d have to face intense challenges along the path to healing. They’d have to endure hardship as they fought for the future they knew was possible.
But they also trusted that inner voice that was deep inside – that part of them that could see something the doctors couldn’t. They never wavered. They never doubted. They never believed anything else than the truth they felt inside.
Years later, I asked my mom how she beat the odds. She simply said: I knew I would be there. I can’t explain it to you, but I just knew. No matter how many times the doctors told me this was it, I could see that it wasn’t.
That’s when I realized these two women, like so many others, had tapped into something truly transformative. They had connected with a part of themselves that made them unstoppable.
And because of that, they became my icons.
How I Found My Inner Icon
It was around that time that I decided I would spend my life cultivating the kind of inner power and faith my mom and grandmother had accessed to beat all odds. I may not have known it then, but I was searching for my own inner icon – a journey that would take me 20+ years.
Thankfully, I have not had to fight a life-threatening illness, but I have survived many situations that made me question if I could go on at all. I survived the kind of loss that shatters your heart into unrecognizable pieces. I’ve endured abuse, deceit and lies. I’ve watched what I thought was a forever love fall apart on more than one occasion.
But I’ve always remembered my mother and grandmother in those moments. Over the years, their iconic examples have helped me remember the truth.
I am not broken.
I might be bent by the weight of my pain, but I will not break. I will rise again. I will stand. And I will face this.
Though I had witnessed their examples, if I wanted to find my own inner icon, I knew I would have to discover it in my own right. Their example would be the lighthouse that guided me to shore, but I would have to navigate through my own storms to reach it.
Through that journey, I discovered something truly incredible.
Defining The Everyday Iconic Woman
On my way to discovering my own inner truth, I realized that all women had the potential to become an icon.
You see, it’s easy to look at a celebrity or famous person and say: She’s an icon. Maybe we admire her talents, distinct style, or unique way of being that allows her to captivate the world. Her fame sets her apart and makes her a cultural icon.
But I’m talking about everyday icons.
The kind of woman who doesn’t need a spotlight to be a force in her own life. Who learned to love and embrace herself without judgment but with conviction. She trusts her heart, believes in her own capabilities, knows her values – and stands up for it all with strength and grace. Whether the world notices or not, she lives confidently in alignment with her truest self.
Because here’s the thing. Even though the everyday iconic woman has so much to contribute and share with the world, the world will most likely overlook it. That’s why it’s so important to find your way back to the truth of who you are. To tap into that inner icon. Because when you find her, you’ll no longer need others to agree or approve or validate your path.
In fact, you’ll commit to living in your power and sharing the best of you with the world. You’ll unabashedly connect with that part of you that wants more. If you feel so inspired, you’ll create from a place of purpose and divine connection.
But most importantly, you’ll find the clarity, connection and will to manifest anything you can envision. Why? You’ve already created it in a spiritual, emotional place – you’ve seen it in it’s completion. When you envision outcomes from that internal space, it’s so much easier to manifest them externally. All you have to do is take the steps to get there.
You can call it whatever you want – higher self, authentic self, God, intuition, faith – but there’s something indescribably powerful about connecting to that real, authentic you.
To your Inner Icon.
Why I Believe You’re One Too
When I talk about finding your inner icon, some women say: Well, I don’t feel like an icon.
But I think most women start off thinking they can become one – they just lose sight of it along the way. When we’re young, we dream of the biggest, boldest future we can imagine for ourselves. But it fades over time.
Someone tells us we can’t. We’re not strong enough or smart enough. Or they’ll say, What are you thinking?
Our true passions get lost, buried, forgotten. We let those words and experiences from the past keep us from reaching our potential in the future.
Until … someone reminds you what’s really inside. Someone sees the woman who can hold onto her most iconic vision for the future and bring it to life no matter what.
That woman is an everyday icon.
And that woman is you, too.
How do I know? Because that kind of power is in every woman. Including you.
And it doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to take years. That’s why I designed a community to provide all the education, tools and support to unlock the inner icon in you.
Because, honestly, the world needs that iconic version of you. We need you to step forward and give your best.
I want to see you in your fullness and boldness. I want to see your talents reach their highest potential. And I want you to show me without any apology for your greatness.
Even more than that – the world needs you to do it now.
Because we need more everyday icons.
Ready To Take Action?
I’ve been working on this practice for over 20 years, and I’ve learned quite a few tools, techniques and mindsets along the way.
I share all my best strategies for navigating life’s toughest moments inside of my membership community. You can even find a video course on this exact topic that includes everything you need for self-discovery and empowered action.
All you have to do is show up for the journey. `Melissa Hull
Melissa Hull is E360tv’s Creative Content Producer, an inspirational speaker, author, entrepreneur, business strategist consultant, and award-winning artist. She has shared the stage with Mitch Carson, Bill Walsh, James Dentley, Kevin Harrington, Joel Bauer, Forbes Riley and several other notable speakers. She is the author of “Lessons From Neverland” and is regularly sought out as a business consultant and mentor to several small businesses.
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