Women Unlimited Inspiration, lnnovation, Collaboration
Today I was supposed to put a video post up on the Women Unlimited site, and I sat in front of my computer trying desperately to squeeze out an idea that would inspire or educate you guys. And everything that I came up with just wasn’t good enough. It was too boring, too bland, too unfocused, too blah.
So, I looked online at one of my favorite websites and felt like anything I would write wouldn’t be as good as what she writes.
I went to You Tube and watched a couple of my favorite vloggers (video diaries) and wondered how they could seemingly create fresh ideas and fresh content out of nothing.
I went to Slideshare and read this interesting presentation on how content marketing is ruining content marketing. And I could feel what little inspiration that I had disappear completely.
And then I realised something; sometimes we don’t have to be amazing, unique, extraordinary… legendary.
We don’t need to be awesome all the time.
In our businesses and in our lives often we judge ourselves by those that we admire and get discouraged when in that comparison, we find ourselves falling short.
And the spiral takes us further and further away from our intention.
But it’s the small things that matter. Remember why you started in the first place. Remember your purpose. Remember the impact that you want to make. Remember your why.
By focusing on the areas where we don’t feel we measure up, we often miss the areas where we excel. Where we are doing everything right.
Celebrate your rightness.
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Tomorrow (Thursday January 17th) Seth Godin is speaking at the Mermaid Theatre in London about his new book The Icarus Deception. If you’re free, you should definitely get yourself a ticket.
“Art isn’t a result; it’s a journey. The challenge of our time is to find a journey worthy of your heart and your soul.” Seth Godin
Photo credit: girish_suryawanshi
Hi Julie, I love this. You’ve tapped right into one of my limiting beliefs ie. I mustn’t say or write anything, if it’s not ground breaking. Truth is, it may not be groundbreaking from perspective, but someone somewhere might still find it interesting and might find a gem of learning that affects their life. Now, your blog Julie, has become my piece for the day. It doesn’t matter what I have to say, I’m still good enough to say it. Thank you.
Thanks, Julie – This really resonates with me on my journey as a business owner. I know there have been times when I’ve held myself back and compared myself unfavourably with others. And I’ve often put off writing blogs and videos because I feel that I don’t have anything interesting to say. Thanks for the reminder that we all have our own unique purpose & gifts and it’s that which makes us stand out.
Thanks Valerie. I think we can be our own worst enemy sometimes
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Wow Julie, thank you. I knew I wasn’t the only one but you spelled it out perfectly. In the beginning, no one read my posts so I just wrote whatever I could, but now I feel if I just ‘put it out there’ I’m letting people down.
Thanks again for the virtual camaraderie.
You’re welcome Sherry! I figured I couldn’t be the only one that felt that way
I love this Julie – not needing to be awesome all the time! A great reminder, that ‘just’ doing ok and being ok and writing an ‘ok’ blog, is… well yeah, ok! Feeling the need to be CONSTANTLY inspiring, awesome, fabulous, focused etc. – it’s such a modern affliction! It’s EXHAUSTING! And frankly, it’s too easy a trap to fall into.
My ok, might be your breakthrough!
Thanks for the reminder
I loved your description Evelyn – yes it definitely is a modern affliction – the new stress perhaps? I saw Seth Godin last night and even he said that this is his greatest fear – that he is not up to the job and he more than anyone seems to be in a position where he needs to be awesome / amazing every day.
A motto I try to live by is: Look into, not up to, people you admire. Because that’s when you see how they live, learn, grow, mess up, get inspired, get confused, get things right and get things wrong. You see how they turn frustration and lack of inspiration into something that inspires others. Beautifully done Julie
Thanks Grace
– I really appreciated the tweet on Tuesday as well!
Good point, Julie! It is definitely useful to draw attention to the fact that sometimes we get so involved in comparing our business with those who appear to be more successful than us, that we forget the focus of what we should be doing. And once we get our focus realigned back to where it should be, success happens naturally.
I could not agree more – it is so easy to focus on what everyone else is doing that you lose sight
and focus on what inspired you in the first place. It is all about drive, attention to detail and hard work.