Success doesn’t come from a one size fits all

That sentence from Jay Shetty’s book, Think Like a Monk immediately resonated with me. He speaks truth.

Despite all the hype on social media and elsewhere, the get rich quick schemes are just as mis-leading as any other time in history.

That’s not to say that the people offering programs haven’t found success, but they’ve either forgotten or chosen to put aside all the skills and knowledge they’ve picked up along the way.

It’s possible you might get rich more quickly working their program than without it, if it builds on things you already know.

But, if you have limited knowledge or confidence in sales for instance, their sales funnel is going to be harder for you to put in place. And, it might not even be the right thing for you to do.  Instead of “the answer” to all your problems, you’ll be left feeling stupid, wondering what’s wrong with you that you can’t recreate their “instant” success.

The stage of your business matters as does your expertise in what you are delivering. In the startup phase, you’ll be doing a lot of tweaking figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

When my husband and I operated a rustic garden furniture business, our 2 year “overnight” success was backed by several years of our combined skills. He’d spent hundreds of hours learning the craft of how to build beautiful, functional garden furniture and décor.

Likewise, my writing skills and knowledge about customer service, and marketing, among other things positioned us to gain faster traction than others who might be brand new. 

And we still invested 2 years before we were able to turn a real profit.

It’s so easy to get swept up by the alluring promises of how to go from zero to hero overnight. Who doesn’t want to have the money flowing in just by using this “one simple formula”?

The truth is, that slow and steady does win the race.

The more you develop your skills, understand your customer, become proficient at managing the changing economic conditions, the longer you’re likely to be around for the long term. 

There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to business, simply because each of us comes to what we do with different backgrounds, knowledge and perspective.

If you try to do it the experts’  way, and it doesn’t align to who you are, you risk feeling more uncertain, scared and embarrassed that you can’t get the results that were promised.  

Knowing that, you may find it easier to reject the elusive “overnight success” and instead honor your journey.

Allow yourself  time to explore your business and your relationship to it so that you can choose your next best steps correctly.

That doesn’t come from a template but rather your willingness to be open to learning what lights you up, where you are blocked and the strategies for dealing with the inevitable challenges. This is where having a trusted mentor comes in.

A good mentor looks at your business from the outside and can fill in the gaps of what you don’t know you don’t know, without imposing their one-size-fits all strategy on you.

They help you see who you really are and design your plans to fit YOU.

When I work with my clients, I help them see the smoke and mirrors of the stories they tell themselves, so they can build something they feel good about… and so can you.

I’ve been called a truth seer and a truth teller because I see what’s behind the excuses, procrastination and stumbling blocks to the truth of what is blocking you, and I help you clear it.

If you are ready to take a stand for your work, to claim that you matter and your work matters, contact me.