Human-ness

What does every business owner have in common?

We all want to be smart, effective and more profitable. That’s the binary answer. The logical answer. The obvious answer.

Now, this can be done with scaling up, scaling down. Increase marketing and decrease expenses. Increase sales, increase conversions.

There are many ways.

The other big thing we all have in common is hour HUMAN-NESS.

Our humanness… that many of us will hide for fear of letting too much out.

It’s the conversations I have with my own clients, that have echoed my own conversations over time, that remind me of how much we’re really all the same.

We all have insecurities.

Fear of judgement

Fear of things not working

Fear of being copied.

Fear of not being successful or as successful as we want.

Fear of competition and staying ahead of the game.

It’s in the shadows of the busyness that we create for ourselves these little gremlins.

Every high achiever I know deals with this or has dealt with this.

I remember back in 2015 when I went to a mastermind event where I knew maybe 3 people!!! And of those 3, 2 of them were people I only knew OF versus know know, you know?!

Here I was, another blonde Aussie marketer trying to make it. Oh look! Another IM-er. Yep. Another FB ads “guru” …

At the time, there were some very successful people in that room who have become, well, kind of ‘household’ names in The Industry and when I met them, some of them were well on their way.

In Australia, I was well known and followed at that point by a lot of people. It was 2015 and the hay days of Facebook marketing and advertising were still going strong (not that much has changed… just that every man woman and dog back then was not a Facebook ads expert or a funnel expert or a 6 figure coach or 7 figure coach). So it was kind of an interesting feeling, feeling like I was a small fish in a very big pond.

Around this time, too, I had decided that I had wanted to transition away from teaching pretty much how to use Facebook for lead generation and step into more what my passion back then was around, which was more of a coaching angle for business owners.

I had made millions in sales. I had runs on the board. I knew my stuff. I had the EVIDENCE that I was ‘worthy’ of being in that room, with all of those people….

But….

I felt like an imposter.

I felt like I was stepping into that room with the biggest desire for change because, oddly, I was weirdly ashamed of owning what I really wanted.

When asked what I did I said (in a very quite, apologetic kind of voice) “Oh, I help people with the marketing using Facebook ads. I teach courses and work 1:1 with people”.. YAWWWWWWWWWWW-FREAKING-WWWWWNNNNN!!

Why was I so ashamed? Why was I so hesitant to declare what I wanted?

Bottom line, because I didn’t feel like I measured up.

There were world known people in that room who were known for CRUSHING. IT. Total bro-like crushing it.

I thought I was going into that room to learn some cool things that I could use to SCALE.

To leverage.

To make more money in less time.

I thought maybe there was a secret ‘hack’ or something that ‘they’ knew how to do that I didn’t know how to do and that I could learn how to do what they knew how to do so that I could somehow make the switch to create what I really wanted…..

A month later, I was back in the USA and in an intimate event with the same person who was running the mastermind and I asked the question about what did they think I was doing ‘wrong’ around my marketing, positioning, etc, so that I could transition.

The advice was “Keep playing your hit song, Nicola. Everyone knows you as the Facebook person, you have to keep giving them what they want”.

You could hear my heart break. My face fell. The 6 other people in the room all staring at me, waiting to see my reaction…..

ME being the person that I was back then answered with something along the lines of “ok, then. I mean, really? But it’s hurting my heart to keep doing that” to which I was responded “Do you think Angus Young wants to make ‘that’ move that he makes across the stage at the age of 75?!?!!??! His hips probably hurt and given half the chance, I think not. But, he does it, because that’s what the audience wants”….

It makes logical sense, right?

To keep doing what you have been doing if it’s been working?

Logical. Sense.

It didn’t make sense to my soul, my heart or really to where I wanted to take the business, but I conceded…. Because the opinion of this person mattered and they were a lot more ‘successful ‘ than me, and I guess I was left thinking “Well, if this is what it takes……”

Things like this work until they stop working.

For me, I believe that even though I wanted to make more money...

Even though I wanted to scale…

Even though I wanted all the things that comes along with making all of the money and helping all of the people….

It was NOT worth the price I paid.

You see, being SMART AND EFFECTIVE doesn’t negate the need for things to be aligned.

Being PROFITABLE doesn’t mean you sell things you don’t really wholeheartedly and passionately believe it.

It’s like staying with a partner who when they walk in the door only wants to go on their phone, with one hand down their pants and drink beer while you serve dinner up to them…… when what YOU want is fire and passion and connection and conversation and to be challenged and thrown on the bed and…… you know the rest ;) I was going to say LOVED!!!! ;)

We all have these insecurities, doubts and sneaky little things going on in our heads at one time or another

And they honestly tend to kick back in, in a big way, when you’re about to level up.

When you’re about to scale.

When you’re about to blow the business up into the next stratosphere, doing, launching and BEING the next version of you – however that looks.

Freddie had insecurities.

Lady Gaga had issues.

Madonna worked through things.

Gwen Stefani evolved.

It’s normal….

BUT IT’S WHAT YOU DO ONCE YOU REALISE THIS THAT WILL DEFINE YOUR NEXT STEPS AND YOUR FUTURE.

1) Don’t let it rule you

2) Remember that there is ALWAYS competition. There are always things that are going to compete for your time and attention. The biggest one for this, is YOU. That person you see in the mirror

3) Always be INNOVATING. If you’re innovating, you’re always in front of the pack. Motherfucking innovate, babes!

4) You will be as successful as you allow yourself to be. Allow yourself to be limitlessly successful

5) There are always going to be asshole copycats out there. Let’ feel sorry for them rather than angry at them. Also, being copied is NOT the greatest form of flattery. It’s a fucking disgrace. But meanwhile, send them a cease and desist if it’s becoming seriously problematic. But if it’s just something similar said at a similar time…. Block that biatch and move the heck on.

6) There will be times where nothing will work. It’s life, babes. Get over it. Fail fast. Find another way.

7) You’ve got this

8) Implement like a mofo

9) Enjoy the ride and don’t take it too seriously

10) OWN YOUR STANCE. Own your positioning. You are a badass and there is no one else out there like you. Put on those lace up boots and corset and pretend you’re GWEN or BLONDIE or FREDDIE or MICHAEL HUTCHENCE.

11) Give it some sass

We’re all the same, aren’t we? I mean, I’ve gone through so many of these stages at different stages in my growth and I know that I have to – albeit a bit begrudgingly – acknowledge that I’ll probably go through it again. *eye roll!*

Most of all though, when it comes to scaling, innovating, creating the next level version of ourselves, it requires the old version of us to be gone… and I think sometimes that this can be the hardest thing to let go of – the people we once were.

For 7 figure business owners, to starts ups, it happens over and over again.

We cannot grow into the people we want to BE by being the person we ARE today.

Rock it out, babes.

The world needs your brand of awesomeness.

Nic