We recently connected with Whitney O’Halek and have shared our conversation below.
Whitney, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Looking back, I can see that I always had it within me, I just didn’t know it. I remember always being willing to go first in school when everyone else was too afraid; I could get up and talk in front of a crowd with no problem; when others wanted to put things off, I always just wanted to knock things off the list ASAP! That said, I always thought others were smarter or better than I could ever be.
When I lost a lot of weight in college, I started to have what I thought was confidence in myself. Until I realized that confidence wasn’t real, because it was conditional: If I regained even an ounce, I was considering myself a failure all over again.
My real confidence came when I wasn’t even looking. I had an opportunity to live in Japan for a summer and teach English. Bear in mind that I had never traveled across an ocean before, never traveled solo before, and absolutely did not speak or read Japanese! As a writer, living in a place where I couldn’t even read road signs was incredibly humbling. The surprise was the confidence that came from diving into the experience anyway. I took the train all over Japan, made friends of strangers who couldn’t even talk to me, and realized that I didn’t have to know how to do something to actually do it–I just needed to go for it, because I was capable of figuring it out.
One of my favorite mantras while traveling then, and even now 17 years later, was, “People dumber than me do this every day. Of course I can figure this out!” And I can, because I do. That’s real confidence that no one (and no scale) can take away from me.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve been blogging professionally at quickwhittravel.com for well over a decade, but my latest venture is Elevation Journeys. My business partner and I started this company to operate Christian-based tours to Israel and the Holy Land. My now-partner had been looking at expanding his Egypt Elite tour company into other parts of the Middle East, and just a few months after he met me, he asked if I would be interested in starting an Israel branch with him. I was all in!
Growing my faith has been such a huge part of my travels, and I love that now I get to help others use travel to elevate their own faith. It’s the opportunity for which I didn’t know God was preparing me, and it came when and where I least expected it. Just like finding my confidence, all it took was one step toward the right opportunity for everything else to roll into place.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three things that have helped me most in my personal journey have been my faith, my team, and my willingness. My faith defines everything in my life, from confidence to appreciation of the world I love to travel. My teammate is my husband, Steve, who has full confidence in me and reminds me as needed that I can do literally anything I want to do. Even confident people sometimes need reminders. And my own willingness to take opportunities and try new things is the quality that throws everything into motion.
I saw an opportunity to live in Japan and applied–and got it. I saw an opportunity to hone my writing skills in my blog when writing opportunities I was passionate about were scarce, and it still makes me a better writer every day. I went into business with someone I really didn’t know that well, but who saw my writing and people skills for what they’re truly worth, and now I get to live my best life helping others travel for their faith. It’s a full circle that has become a virtuous cycle.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I’m a huge believer in finding ways to challenge myself. Honing one’s strengths is always important because if we don’t lean into our strengths, we become complacent and start to take them for granted. But it’s at least as important to challenge and improve yourself, even in small ways.
As an example that might seem trivial to others, I make an effort to eat my food out of “order.” I struggle with anxiety and had an eating disorder for over 20 years, so food is both comforting and anxiety-inducing. One of the ways I “manage” my food is that I finish one thing before I move on to the next–I’ll finish my veggies before moving on to my chicken, before moving on to my rice, etc. It’s so not a huge deal, but the challenge for me is to eat a bite of rice, then a bite of veggies, then a bite of chicken, or mix things together so that there is no “order.”
It’s not career-changing in itself, but it’s a challenge that I make an effort to overcome until it’s not a big deal to me anymore. Challenge yourself in little ways like that, and you’ll have the confidence and skills to challenge yourself in bigger ways in the future. Everything you do is a stepping stone (however small) in one direction or another. Make sure ALL your stones help you step in the next right direction.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elevationjourneys.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/elevationjourneys
- Facebook: Facebook.com/elevationjourneys
- Other: Also find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest @quickwhittravel, and at quickwhittravel.com!
Image Credits
Whitney O’Halek
