Hello gorgeous!
When I started my blog I didn’t know it would become a business. I loved helping people and I wanted to make it a full-time job. Though I had no idea how to do that, my gut told me to try anyway. And so the adventure begins…
But like most great adventures, I was lost in the beginning, and when you’re lost, it’s natural to seek guidance. Well, I went a little overboard with my need to gather opinions. In fact, I collected so many confusing recommendations that I got totally overwhelmed and almost quit.
Today I want to share some of the worst advice I’ve ever received and how you can benefit by not listening.
Hands down, my biggest mistakes came from not believing that I had the ability to figure it out. And truth be told, I wanted someone to save me, to do the work for me. I think this is called Prince Charming syndrome. Whatever it is, I desperately wanted to be taken care of, not surprising since I decided to change my career in the middle of a huge health crisis.
As a result, I listened to potential investors, business partners and advisors. “Launch a non-profit, create a school, be a reality TV star, design state of the art tongue scrapers.” Oiy, I’m getting tired just remembering this stuff. I listened to consultants, agencies and think tanks. I listened to well-meaning friends and family (who had never launched a business). And oh boy did I listen to the media, critics and especially bad reviews.
Then one day, I stopped listening.
I remember the afternoon I took my entrepreneurial life by the ovaries and said, everyone OUT. I got this! Now mind you, I still didn’t know how exactly “I got this” but I was tired of the noise and I knew that I’d be fine if I got laser focused and listened to my inner wisdom.
Sometimes the only person who can save you is you. I’m not saying we shouldn’t get advice from others. Useful advice can be the difference between success and failure. But more often than not, too much advice kills our mission and mojo. There’s no way around rolling up our sleeves and doing the work. You may need some training (I did). You may fail and fall (I still do), but if you have the passion and vision, the path to success is easier than you think.
What can you offer the world? Hint: plenty!
What message do you have to share? Why is that message important to you? (This is essential because when you forget, your work suffers). Where is the need for your service, product or expertise? How can you deliver it in a unique way?
Hint: Be yourself and test your crazy ideas. Are other people charging for the same knowledge or talent you have? If you can’t answer these questions yet, no worries. Just allow them to get the wheels turning and the creativity flowing.
This isn’t the moon landing, there’s no need to overcomplicate your vision.
No matter what we’re struggling with, the more we look within for solutions, the clearer the path becomes.
Needing to take action is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be aimless or confusing.
When it came to my health, I ultimately decided to tune out the fear mongering noise and start taking care of myself. Not everything I tried worked, but the more I checked in with my inner guide, the less likely I was to waste my time with the latest fad. As for my business, my focus became clear and simple: write useful-fun-awesome stuff, give lots of it away for free, and occasionally charge for the rest. This allowed me to support my readers, my family and a whole bunch of other families—my Crazy Sexy Team.
Peace & you got this,
That’s Great and Amazing
Yes, it’s extremely important to stop, be quite and listening to your minds. As I’m trying to develop my own blog, I’m kinda in the same situation like you in the past but yes, I’m sure I will do it right, partly following your great advices 🙂
– Natalie
Hi Kris 🙂 Thank you for this wonderful and inspiring article. I mostly get stuck or hindered from what I’d like to experience because of the inner voice that usually tells me that I won’t be able to solve a specific problem or that I’m not capable to reach a specific goal. I’m truly an outside oriented person, so up till now I mostly depended on other people’s advices. Now I’d like to change that and would love to deepen my connection with my inner self and to trust myself.Your articles as well as you meditation album help a lot to strengthen that connection. I am waiting and hoping for you to eventually publish a book about all your self help ideas like this article and your inspiring thoughts 🙂 I guess lots of others would love the idea too 😀 Thank you and all the best Edith