Hey Reader, This morning, my friend Devin held nothing back. "Erica," she said in an I'm done f*cking around tone. What she said next stung but was precisely what I needed to hear: "Your very basic problems are solvable.
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You’re the only thing getting in the way. Your pessimism and negative self-talk are blocking you from getting what you want. Whenever you think of something you want, you immediately tell yourself a story about how impossible it is to get it.
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But you’re making up obstacles that don’t exist. And you’re not even considering asking for what you want."
Damn. She was spot on. I have been complaining a lot to her lately. I need to delegate basic tasks in my business but I need to write email funnels but I need a website designer, but designers are expensive, and I have debt, so I'm scared to invest my money into anything that will grow my business. GAH. Devin's right — I'm turning tiny molehills into Mount Everest-sized obstacles, which is doing nothing for my business (and personal growth) except slow it the f*ck down. This isn't to say I'm not successful or privileged. I've only been a solopreneur for a year and am making much more money than I did in-house. But I'm still getting in my own way. UGH. We can get so caught up in trying to perfect, plan, and protect ourselves from failure that we forget one simple thing—nothing happens if we don’t invest in our growth. You’ve got ideas. Big ones. Ones that could change your life, business, or even industry. But what good are they sitting in your head? What good are they gathering dust because you’re afraid they won’t be “good enough” or that someone else has already done it? What good are they if you're too scared to spend the money, do the slightly annoying thing, or take a risk? I know what you’re thinking: “But I’m doing everything I can!” Allow me to pull from Devin's energy here: Are you, though? Or are you busy doing everything but the things that scare you or make you leave your comfort zone? I always see this happen with solopreneurs, marketers, and creators. You tell yourself you’re being “strategic” by planning, researching, tweaking, and preparing...but you’re just procrastinating. You’re afraid of stepping into the unknown and terrified of what happens if you take that leap and it doesn’t work out. Myself freaking included. But here’s the thing: Growth doesn’t come from staying comfortable. It doesn’t come from perfect plans or waiting for the “right time.” Growth comes from pushing past your own BS, getting out of your way, and doing the damn thing. So, what do you do? How do you actually move past this? Well, here's what I've done in the past (and what I'm forcing myself to do again now): 1. Invest in things that help you growSometimes, that’s a course or a coach. Sometimes, it’s tools or tech. Sometimes, it’s as simple as paying for a coworking space where you can’t hide behind distractions. Invest in whatever gets you closer to action. What I'm doing: Rob Lennon (my course collaborator in crime) has built himself a bunch of amazing AI systems to automate things. I'm in his community and will finally complete his course so I can do the same for myself. 2. Ask for help when you need itToo many of us think we’ve got to do it all on our own. That asking for help is weakness. It’s not. Asking for help is one of the strongest things you can do as a solopreneur or entrepreneur. You don’t have to carry the weight alone. Get a mentor, join a community, hire help if needed. What I'm doing: I hired an accountant three months ago. I hired a designer last week. And I met a conversion copywriter at SparkTogether last night that I'm gonna hire to write my email funnels. I 3. Take imperfect actionDone is better than perfect. Seriously. You’ve got to ship that product, launch that service, put yourself out there even when it’s not flawless. Waiting until it’s “perfect” means you’ll be waiting forever. What I'm doing: I'm actually pretty good at this. But I suck at circling back and optimizing later. So I'm gonna refresh past courses, update my Content Sparring landing page copy, automate more things, and all that good stuff. And let me remind you of something important that Devin reminded me of this morning: You’re capable of way more than you think. The moment you get out of your own way, invest in the right things, and ask for help when you need it... that’s the moment you start growing. That’s the moment your business starts thriving. So what’s your next step? What’s the one thing you can do today to get out of your own way and move closer to your goals? Go do that. Then keep doing it. You’ve got this :) Erica PS. Rob's family has Covid, so we need to delay the Launch Content Playbook release until Monday. This will give Rob time to:
I'm so sorry for the delay. But I'd rather get you a fantastic product that's 100% done than a rushed one with weird mistakes because of Covid brain. Thanks! ​ |
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