When my daughter was a little girl, she had a t-shirt that said, “This girl is going to change the world.”
Inspiring, right? It was the day I bought it for her. But something changed after she put it on once we arrived home.
I no longer saw it as inspiring, instead it seemed more of a burden.
Changing the world? That is big.
It is so big that the enormity of it daunts and overwhelms the well-intentioned mission behind this simple three-word phrase.
That is one thing I see getting in the way of many of us changemakers.
We want to change the world, make a difference, have a big impact. It can look like selling loads of books, speaking to thousands, or getting millions to buy your products and services.
It can look like a vision board with dreams of landing a book deal with Harper Collins, an appearance on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday or being selected to host your very own MasterClass on the star-studded online learning platform.
However, the problem with changing the world, is that we make it our starting point, when it is the end.
Now this may be hard to hear, but aiming this high and this big is actually getting in the way of you making it a reality. It’s fear’s way of discreetly holding you back on fulfilling your purpose and creating the life you want.
How, you ask?
When I first started my business, I too had dreams of changing the world. I wanted to believe that my programs, writings, and client experiences would reach thousands and maybe even millions. I had dreams of becoming a best-selling author and delivering speeches and workshops that transformed the masses. The problem with this dream was that I never put it into action. There was just way too much I wanted to do and way too many people I wanted to change. As a result, my brain didn’t know where to have me start.
When you want to change everything, it is impossible to change anything.
This mindset is how fear holds us back. It keeps us sitting in Dreamville. And Dreamville feels good. We never have to test our big dream to see if it will work and take responsibility for living up to the change we are seeking to make. On the other side, we can postpone the risk of failure, never having to fess up to the fact that this dream was closer to a nightmare instead. We can permanently avoid the reality that all dreams start with an idea, and come to fruition by committing to the dull, boring, and hard work of showing up day after day. No glitz or glamour, just you, standing in front of a blank page waiting impatiently for the words to magically flow out.
Over the years I’ve learned to adopt a different mindset. It was something I learned from my runs with my dog Charlie. We’d go out for a 10km run. I had a standard route. I’d run to the 5km point and then turn around to come back home.
When I would look ahead to the turn-around point, it seemed so far. My mind would tell me stories of how busy I was, I had to get back to work, get back to those emails or client requests. There was no time to get in a full run today. If that didn’t work, my mind would try its darndest to negotiate with me. Tomorrow you can do two runs or add on extra 2km to make up for the difference. Often these mind games would win, leaving me with a less than stellar running track record.
It wasn’t until I stopped looking at my destination that things shifted. Instead of looking at how much longer till I got home, I focused on the three feet in front of me, my eyes and attention on the first, second, and third step. Then after that, the first, second, and third step that came next. Every now and then I’d look up to make sure I was heading the right way. But immediately as quickly as my eyes glanced up, they swiftly turned downwards to my first, second, and third step.
This method worked miracles as I embarked on building my business, developing programs, writing a book, and producing a podcast. There is no magic pill, formula, or secret path to success. It’s just the willingness to show up, put your head down, occasionally looking up to see if you’re still heading in the right direction, and then once again looking three feet in front, taking your first, second and third step.
This perspective was recently validated as I read the first chapter in Will Smith and Mark Manson’s new autobiography Will. On page IX, he says “When I focused on the wall, the job felt impossible. Never-ending. But when I focused on one brick, everything got easier – I knew I could lay one damn brick well….” He further adds…”Are you paying attention to the wall? Or are you paying attention to the brick?”
If I could offer you one thing today – get your bricks lined up: the first, second and third one you are going to lay today. Tomorrow wake up and do it again. Then let’s talk in five or ten years.
Show me your wall. Show us all how you changed the world.
PS: Are you struggling to finish the year off strong or are you feeling overwhelmed with so much on your plate that you are losing site of your goals.
Or are you looking to improve your sales and revenue results but seem to be hitting a glass ceiling and can’t seem to breakthrough.
Let’s talk. Go to : www.sellfromlove.com/discoverycall to book your free call so we can talk about your business and set you up to finish 2021 strong and inspired with a plan of action for a successful 2022.
With love,
Finka
