Don't let anyone tell you this success malarkey is always simple or speedy
Mine's been 5 years in the making!
I was just writing a little intro piece for my Living Journal®️ subscription, and as is so often the case my mind began wandering… and I couldn’t help reflecting on the journey I’ve taken to get to the point I’m at, now, in my life and business.
You see, so often these days, we’re encouraged to believe that the ‘norm’ is for success to happen overnight.
People go on The Voice or X-Factor and they’re instantly a star
Someone puts together a quick hack YouTube vid or TikTok, and 5 seconds later they’ve got a million hits and sponsorship deals coming out of their ears
There are people all over our social media promising instant results if you just pop the magic pill/follow the excruciating - sorry, powerful - workout regime; or sleep with the FacePounder Deluxe for 3 nights and watch the under-eye circles and wrinkles ‘just melt away’!
And it’s the same in the world of online business, too.
Many a canny coach/marketer has realised that if they want people to sign up for their zillion dollar packages, they’d better promise results that are:
a) BIG, powerful and
b) quick!
So much so that you could easily end up mistaken for thinking that everyone out there and their 96 year old grandmother has created a massive empire, with barely any thought or input of time, energy or money.
It’s ‘easy’! So anyone who’s not seeing sales pinging in to their Stripe account the first time they put a post out on Substack/launch their membership/publish their thing must be doing something wrooooong….
Not so.
The truth is, for most mere mortals, things still take TIME.
And often some painful, expensive lessons… and a lot of soul searching and RE-searching along the way.
Yep. R&D is still a thing, people.
And that’s ok.
The truth is… (are you ready for this? It’s shocking)…
Most people DON’T get it right first time.
Or even fifth.
Sometimes not even 50th.
Sometimes not even 500th!! (I’m not quite there, but it’s felt like it at times, believe me).
In fact many of us spend years faffing around in the weeds and getting it SO wrong before we hit on the thing that works for us. Honestly. If we’re resilient/brave/foolish enough to actually keep going and discover what that thing actually is, that is - and no shame if we’re not.
And as part of that lovely R&D phase (the one where we’re still working out what it is we’re really here for and how the hell to do this thing) - whether that be in our lives, businesses or careers - often we overanalyse, overcomplicate and overburden ourselves with ‘must haves’ that simply aren’t necessary. I’m sticking my hand firmly up for all of the above.
We assume we know.
We assume we don’t know.
We watch what everyone else is doing.
We listen to waaaay too many shoulds.
We buy into everyone else’s beliefs about what’s right for us.
We listen to all the wrong advice (and don’t listen to the right advice - i.e. what our gut is screaming at us).
We go round in circles.
We torture ourselves!
And then, so often, we come full circle - back the the simple, wonderful truth we started with at the beginning.
I’ve noticed this with many of the clients I’ve helped to unpick what it is they really want, when it’s all feeling like a big, messy tangled up ball of wool.
And this has been my journey to The Living Journal®️, too - and to creating the beautiful therapy & mentoring business I have today.
I’ve got it SO wrong, so many times.
It’s taken SUCH perseverance - blood, sweat - and had I not known how to avoid the meltdowns now, there would have been plenty of tears, too.
But you know what?
The more you get it wrong, the more you learn what’s really right for you.
And I wouldn’t change anything about where I am now - or take away everything I’ve learnt on the journey - for the world.
THAT’s the pay off you get.
And it’s worth it.
So if your journey feels like it’s taking far too long and it’s driving you more than a little crazy - please don’t despair.
Take a deep breath.
Ask what YOU feel like you want to do next.
Forget what everyone else is doing.
And just keep on going - if that’s what ultimately feels right for you.
Patience was never my strong point, by the way 😅 but 5 years of biding my time and here we are.
If you’re interested to read more about the Living Journal, here it is…
And if you’re not, then thank you for reading all the same.
It’s a pleasure to share this journey with you.
A x