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I led a few workshops this week and it reminded me of how much I enjoy teaching. The questions from attendees give me ideas for content and it’s great being able to help people in real time.
So if you’d like to attend a live event with me consider attending my upcoming webinar Start a Business or Side Hustle With the Skills You Already Have.
I’ll teach you how to refine or establish your business idea, land your ideal clients and avoid burnout. It takes place October 27th at 2pm EDT and all registered attendees will receive a recording.
And now, let’s get started.
Today at a glance:
Thought: Who’s your competition?
Time-saver: A faster way to create social media content
Tactic: Successfully navigating change
Read time: 4 minutes
Thought: Who’s your competition?
I was a bit of a hater when I first started my business. When I saw other people doing “better” than me my first reaction was envy.
These days I want everyone to win. So, what changed?
1️. I got clarity on what I wanted to do
2. I started making more money
But you can’t increase your revenue until you gain that clarity. And, you can’t gain clarity if you’re clouding your mind by comparing yourself to other people.
I often say “comparison is the thief of joy” but it’s also the enemy of progress. But once you gain clarity on what you’d like to do, and who’d like to become, you just need to compete with yourself to get 1% better every day.
So the next time you feel stuck or frustrated just keep this thought in mind;
Who are you competing with?
Hopefully this helps you focus on yourself and remember, “you should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
Just keep moving forward and keep getting better.
Time-saver: A faster way to create social media content
Social media is a great opportunity to grow your brand and attract clients. But here’s the problem; sometimes you can’t think of anything to write!
We’re going to fix that now.
A common approach to creating valuable content is to focus on the three E’s.
- Entertaining
- Emotional
- Educational
The easiest of the three is educational. So here’s how you can apply it to your content.
- Think of questions your audience has
- Answer them
That’s it. By design you’ll automatically create valuable content by providing answers to your audience’s questions.
As a bonus, ask them to add follow up questions to the comment section or message you directly. This will allow you to start conversations and generate leads.
To get started, jot down ten questions your audience has then document the answer based on your experience and worldview.
Tactic: Successfully navigating change
Change is the only constant in life. This means it would benefit each of us to better understand how we can effectively approach change, especially when we’ve chosen to take on a new challenge.
I share the image below at the start of every business development accelerator course. It not only helps me manage expectations, it also prepares students for the highs and lows they’re about to experience.
So now let’s walk through this process so you can be better prepared to achieve your next big goal.
Stage 1: Uninformed Optimism
In this stage you’re excited about this new venture and the associated outcomes.
Now is a good time to make someone else aware of what you’re up to. Reason being, according to the American Society of Training and Development, if you make someone else aware of your goal and check in with them just once a week your chance of success goes up by 95%.
Stage 2: Informed Pessimism
During this stage some of the initial optimism has worn off. You’ve moved from talking about your plans to actually putting in the work required to make it happen.
Now is a great time to start keeping track of your small wins. This will help you realize how far you’ve come even though the journey isn’t over. Remember, “you should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
Stage 3: Valley of Despair
As per the name things are looking rather bleak in this phase. You may be frustrated that you’re not making progress as fast as you may like or doubting your abilities.
You’re going to want to give up. Don’t.
Far too many people quit during this phase then go back to step one with an entirely different idea. But if you can’t make it through this dip you may have challenges with other endeavors as well.
The best way to push through this phase is to remember why you started. Keep that vision in mind so you have the motivation to push through the associated challenges.
You should also relay these concerns to your accountability partner so you can get some much needed encouragement.
Stage 4: Informed Optimism
In this phase, you’ll start to feel confident that you’ve made the right choice and can make it to the finish line.
But don’t slow down here, you want to finish strong! Take a look back at all you’ve accomplished so you can stay motivated and keep moving forward.
Stage 5: Success & Fulfillment
Congrats, you’ve made it to the end. It’s time to celebrate your success, and thank people who supported you during the process.
I also suggest creating a recap of your journey by creating a video, blog or newsletter.
You’ll get a chance to share your accomplishments with others and may motivate them to take on new challenges as well.
I hope you found this valuable (please let me know) and if you did please consider sharing it with a friend. They can sign up here.
Have a great weekend!
Whenever you’re ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
1. Learn how to start a professional service business using the skills you already have (Available now)
2. Get quick answers to your most pressing questions (booked out one week)
3. Work with me 1:1 to build your revenue and personal brand (booked out three weeks)
4. Build your professional service business with me in a cohort-based live accelerator (click to view upcoming dates)
