Welcome to my first featured guest blogger, Laurie Foley. I loved her post and wanted to share it with my community. Think of yourself as your own brand.Enjoy!
I’m not making progress.
I’m overwhelmed.
Everyone is making more money than I am.
I call that thrashing. We look around at everyone else’s business and sink like a stone when we start playing those competitive head games.
I’ve done it. I’ve felt green with envy to my bones.
The worst part about thrashing is what comes next: the grasping. We change course to ride in the draft of the people who are making us green. They are all too happy to dangle a “pay now” button that feels like touching a lucky totem when we click it.
We think if we just do what they do then our story will look as flashy as their story.
Except…
It’s not our story. We’ll always look like a watered-down copy, or worse, just plain confused.
I’ve been there. My brand was as weak as church coffee. You’re not alone.
After the grasping comes a very interesting moment: the choice. Lots of people quit. They equate all that thrashing and grasping with trying. “I tried, but it didn’t work,” they say. The thrashing and grasping is exhausting. Quitting their business feels like a relief.
But others simply choose to quit thrashing and grasping.
They get very quiet. They go into their core. They get clear on what matters. They start to focus on value.
They stop looking at their business as what it can bring them and look at it as what it can bring others.
What wildly valuable thing can you bring others? You’ll never find that while you’re thrashing or grasping. So go ahead and choose: quit your biz or quit thrashing and grasping.
Either way you’re going to feel better.