THIS doesn’t look like Marie Forleo at all.
I was on a consult call the other week with a self-employed solopreneur who was eager to grow her business and her online presence.
“But,” she said, “I don’t have a team. I don’t have good lighting for videos. I barely even have a good enough phone.” She continued to list the things she didn’t have, ”I don’t have a big following. I barely have a list. I don’t have...I don’t have…”
I had to stop her, “You do have an awful lot of excuses, though.”
That stopped her right in her tracks.
“But no one will take me seriously if I don’t look professional,” she countered, to which, I shared this…
“Actually, people will only take you seriously when you are SERIOUSLY committed to what you do.”
Here’s the thing…
YOU ARE EITHER COMMITTED TO YOUR MISSION OR YOU’RE COMMITTED TO YOUR EXCUSES.
And, look, I stumbled and fumbled so many times through Imposter Syndrome, that I sooooo empathize with it. I feel ya, sista when you feel like a fraud or like the quality of your work is “not good enough.”
I also know that most of the world will coddle you and say, “Now, now, it’s okay if you don’t do that thing, that dream, that thing that you desire to do. Rest your precious head, you TRIED.”
There’s that word again. The word that simply says...here’s a f*ton of effort and NOTHING to show for it.
Nada. Nothing. No results. Nothing actually DONE.
TRYING = NOTHING
It’s spinning your wheels in the energetic black hole of “hard work” for the sake of working hard.
Way back before my e-commerce company. Way back to ye’ olden Pilates days, I started to put myself out there on the interwebs for my private Pilates studio.
I did more than try. I did.
Here’s the first video I ever shot for my Pilates company in 2012.
I literally filmed this using a pillow as my camera stand, sitting on my bed, and I pumped out three videos in the span of an hour. The lighting sucked. The sound sucked. The content was great. The editing was pure iMovie in it’s most elementary form - meaning crap with a touch of Ken burns to make it fancy enough for me to be confident enough to release it. The style of messaging was definitely who I was back then...tame, unclear on who I was or who I wanted to be.
But I did it...and then. I stopped.
“THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE MARIE FORLEO.” I JUDGED IT.
And I stopped. Ka-put. The videos went on to live online with no up-sells, cross-sells or offers.
It also wasn’t 1000% aligned. I never wanted to be a “fitness guru” or known for just “Pilates.” Pilates never combined ALL of who I was, it was and is a part of it, for sure.
But the point is…I stopped. I held myself back. I made excuses. And that was right before everyone and their cat was on Youtube.
IF ONLY I’D HAD A COACH BACK THEN...
THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LACK CLARITY ON WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, AND HOW TO COMBINE ALL OF YOUR PASSIONS INTO ONE HOLISTIC BUSINESS, AUTHENTICALLY.
I continued to follow my curiosity though, and thought, perhaps as a CEO of a national start-up selling back stretching devices...THAT would be it.
With my e-commerce company, I was prolific. I had something to prove - my worth. And someone to prove it to - my business partner. That’s how we got results and momentum and onto the billboards of Times Square and onto the first round of Shark Tank auditions.
But then, after being bought out, the old habit of doubt and judgment came back tenfold, because now I had a failure to reinforce that doubt, fear, and all the beliefs of not being capable, talented, qualified, smart, and all the other “enough-ness” beliefs that come up when you feel like an absolute fraud.
Except for this time, I threw money at the problem. I threw money into fancy lighting equipment and cameras and WordPress websites….because of course, that solves insecurity and confidence issues. NOT.
It took getting pregnant for me to get my sh*t together and just start.
I couldn’t have excuses anymore. I had a baby to take care of. So I just started. I started making videos. I started doing live streams. I started selling my services. I started creating courses.
DID I KNOW 100% WHAT I WAS DOING? NO. DID IT LOOK LIKE MARIE FORLEO? NO.
It looked like me, going for it. Doing the work and showing up as an example of #noexcuses and just starting.
I created my first course, #RuleMyBody, all about the strategies, tools, and mindset shifts I used to reprogram my mind from 10 years of bulimia into a body that I absolutely love.
The lighting is better (that fancy lighting equipment did come in handy, eventually).
The sound is good.
I filmed it on my iPhone.
The content is fabulous.
I wasn’t comfortable speaking extemporaneously like I am now, so I scripted it.
Literally read the whole thing.
Still, it sells to this day BECAUSE it’s the content that serves.
And that’s what’s at the heart of it.
TRYING TO “LOOK PROFESSIONAL” IS YOUR EGO KEEPING YOU SMALL. IT’S YOUR SMALL SELF KEEPING YOU STUCK IN YOUR BOX OF COMFORT AND SAFETY AND IT KEEPS YOU FROM EVER BEING BIG.
SOMEONE WHO IS PROFESSIONAL DOESN’T CONCERN THEMSELVES WITH “LOOKING” PROFESSIONAL.
Looking professional comes from years and years of perfecting, tweaking, and doing the freaking work to BE professional.
Trying doesn’t count.
Doing, then doing again, then doing again, and doing again, prolifically.
Incessantly.
Obsessively.
THAT gets you results.
Through the process and practice of DOING, you get clarity on who you are, what your style is, and how you’re different from the other people in your industry.
Only by doing do you go from wanting to “look” professional to actually being a professional in your industry.
JUST START.
Remember, your reign is now.
P.S. If this time of quarantine has got you jonesing to start that thing you’ve always dreamed of starting - maybe it’s writing that book, developing that membership program, sharing your knowledge in an online course, coaching, teaching, starting an online business or community - then book a 90-Minute High-Performance Acceleration consult with me.
Let’s get you the aligned clarity you need to feel confident in starting the doing, so you can do, and do, and do again.
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