It's Not Lonely At The Top

In April 2020, I found myself sat in the shower, tears pouring down my face.

The realisation had hit that I was going to have to attempt to launch my latest book,?Be Brilliant, in the middle of a pandemic where the majority of us weren’t feeling spectacularly brilliant at all.

Traditional book retailing and marketing channels had slammed their doors shut. And with international borders closed, my plans for a Global Book Tour became a fading dream.

The thought of previous 18 months of research and hard work, the endless (and lonely) early mornings and late nights of writing and the many missed functions with family, friends and my children because I had to meet a publisher’s deadline – all potentially going down the drain – it was heart-breaking. I was feeling all the feels.

But I also knew that I had to do something.

Sitting Wallowing in My Own Self-Pity Wasn’t Going to Get Me Anywhere.??

I needed to dig deep, to be brave enough to reach out and ask for help.

Later that day, I jumped on to a call with my good friend,?Shane Hatton– and wow did he give me a reality check. (ps check out his new book Let's Talk Culture)

"Janine, you have to use your own IP",?he said.?"Your IP in your book, It’s Who You Know. You have to practice what you tell everyone else – you have to reach out to your network and ask for help."

Duh!

But wait, it gets worse…

"But why would they want to help me, Shane??What’s in it for them?"

"Seriously Janine, you have helped so many people over the years, you’ve given so much and impacted so many others.?Plus, you talk about value exchange, well now is the time to see how this works".

Double duh, swiftly followed by facepalm and rapid berating of self.

The Quest to be Brave

So, I rose to Shane’s challenge, dug deep, recorded a video asking for help and with a significant amount of nerves and trepidation I pressed send and my vulnerability and fear was sent to the ‘interwebs’ for all to see!

The response blew me away!

Hundreds of people from across 4 continents – many of which I didn’t know – came together, on one zoom call, to be part of the Be Brilliant ‘Cheer Squad’.

The results of this collaborative effort speak for themselves. Be Brilliant achieved…

?#6 globally in the self-improvement category

?#2 in Australia in the self-improvement category

?#14 globally in business books…

….and this is all because of the combined collaborative efforts of the Cheer Squad.

This living and breathing experiment in the power of connecting and collaborating in the right way was incredible.

It reminded me of what can be achieved when you have one clear goal and a collective energy to succeed.

Of what can be achieved when you are brave enough to create the space to allow others to unleash their brilliance, to use their individual skill and ideas to achieve that goal.

Are You Really On Your Own or...

Is It More About the Choices You Are Making?

Are you perhaps choosing to not reach out, to not connect, to not ask for help?

Are you choosing to not trust those that care about you and your success?

And why are you trying to go it alone?

Maybe it’s up to you to ask for help.

Maybe it’s time to bounce ideas around about what’s next.

To talk through the various ways you could push through roadblocks\.

To unlock the opportunity to achieve more.?

And maybe it’s time for all of us, as individuals, to think about how much quality time we are really gifting the key people in our network. Good quality time to chat openly, to explore, to debate, to ideate, to simply hang and enjoy each other’s company.

We All Need a Personal Cheer Squad

During these times of uncertainty and challenge, of unknown and ongoing questioning, of disruption to existing plans and strategies it’s not about hiding or playing safe.?

It’s about embracing the power of a collective and shining brighter together.

Open your eyes and ears because your Cheer Squad is right in front of you.

You simply have to be brave enough to reach out.

In the words of Audrey Hepburn,?"Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it’s at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others."

If you are curious about how to build the right network of you to support your now and unlock your next reach out and let's have a conversation.

Janine x