I'm about to drop a major truth bomb on you. Ready?
Stop trying to be like everyone else. It's YOU that will make you successful.
As a solo-preneur (in charge of myself and myself only with my business) I can find at times that my biggest opportunity, working for myself, can also be my biggest obstacle.
See, if I wanted to, I could spend HOURS consuming my peers work. Studying, admiring...and at many times, comparing and feeling less than because of how completely bad-ass a lot of their products and messages are. What at times is exciting, empowering and motivating can turn debilitating, can steal from my peace and wreck havoc on my spark.
"He said that better than I could!"
"How will I ever get to where she is?"
"I don't have his experience!"
"She's fitter than I am!"
"Omg, she's a killer writer!" ... "A better lifter!" ... "A more gifted x, y, z..."
We could do this for days, right? If you think I'm wrong, just notice how you feel next time you're scrolling through your social media feed. We can all get stuck in this comparison trap. And, too often.
In my former career, I was a Sales Manager of a major radio station. I was responsible for hiring new sales talent and then training and developing him/her into a high-performing advertising salesperson.
One piece of advice I always gave my new hires was this: "Find someone successful you respect on our team, in our building, and build a relationship with them".
Why did I give this advice? Well, despite the obvious - that rolling in a successful crowd helps you to level up (and commiserating with the unsuccessful crowd does quite the opposite) - I hoped my newbie would study and emulate the behaviors of their new mentor, noticing the things they consistently did and said that made them successful.
BUT.
There's an essential caveat to this advice and for a bit of time during my first year as a solo-preneur, I conveniently forgot it. By all means, study, research and dissect but then....
Go be yourself.
No one makes people feel at ease in conversations like you. Or, laughs at just the right times like you. Or, writes emails like the reader is in a conversation with a best friend they haven't even met yet, like you. No one explains things like you, has the same personal experience as you...has your background, your quirks, your education. No one knows how to make people feel special, included and a part of something big like you. No one has your strength, your resolve, your thick skin. No one has your competitive spirit, your drive, your courage. Use it, use all of it, to do something big, something you can't even picture right now.
I'm in awe with how much my work with Be PowerFULL comes back to this practice of authenticity, both for myself and my clients. How showing up just as we are is the truest way to drive our success long term. How authenticity is the answer to just about every struggle we're encountering and how showing up exactly as we are levels up our relationships, spirituality, business and health.
Stop trying to be like everyone else. It's YOU that will make you successful.
As a solo-preneur (in charge of myself and myself only with my business) I can find at times that my biggest opportunity, working for myself, can also be my biggest obstacle.
See, if I wanted to, I could spend HOURS consuming my peers work. Studying, admiring...and at many times, comparing and feeling less than because of how completely bad-ass a lot of their products and messages are. What at times is exciting, empowering and motivating can turn debilitating, can steal from my peace and wreck havoc on my spark.
"He said that better than I could!"
"How will I ever get to where she is?"
"I don't have his experience!"
"She's fitter than I am!"
"Omg, she's a killer writer!" ... "A better lifter!" ... "A more gifted x, y, z..."
We could do this for days, right? If you think I'm wrong, just notice how you feel next time you're scrolling through your social media feed. We can all get stuck in this comparison trap. And, too often.
In my former career, I was a Sales Manager of a major radio station. I was responsible for hiring new sales talent and then training and developing him/her into a high-performing advertising salesperson.
One piece of advice I always gave my new hires was this: "Find someone successful you respect on our team, in our building, and build a relationship with them".
Why did I give this advice? Well, despite the obvious - that rolling in a successful crowd helps you to level up (and commiserating with the unsuccessful crowd does quite the opposite) - I hoped my newbie would study and emulate the behaviors of their new mentor, noticing the things they consistently did and said that made them successful.
BUT.
There's an essential caveat to this advice and for a bit of time during my first year as a solo-preneur, I conveniently forgot it. By all means, study, research and dissect but then....
Go be yourself.
No one makes people feel at ease in conversations like you. Or, laughs at just the right times like you. Or, writes emails like the reader is in a conversation with a best friend they haven't even met yet, like you. No one explains things like you, has the same personal experience as you...has your background, your quirks, your education. No one knows how to make people feel special, included and a part of something big like you. No one has your strength, your resolve, your thick skin. No one has your competitive spirit, your drive, your courage. Use it, use all of it, to do something big, something you can't even picture right now.
I'm in awe with how much my work with Be PowerFULL comes back to this practice of authenticity, both for myself and my clients. How showing up just as we are is the truest way to drive our success long term. How authenticity is the answer to just about every struggle we're encountering and how showing up exactly as we are levels up our relationships, spirituality, business and health.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we can't evolve, grow and change into a new, improved versions of ourselves every day. Lord knows, I'm not the same person as I was 10 years ago. And frankly, I'd be sad if I was. So many life experiences have shaped me into the new, improved Jess that I am today.
And, trying to be anyone but myself is not only a disservice to myself but those I intend to help.
Go be yourself, the world thanks you.
And, trying to be anyone but myself is not only a disservice to myself but those I intend to help.
Go be yourself, the world thanks you.
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