The following is a guest post written by one of our writers, Ashley Jenkins.
I had a revelation today: not everyone is like me.
This is the kind of mind-blowing revelation that can only come to you as you stand, groggy-eyed in front of the coffee machine waiting for it to brew.
Really: not everyone is like me.
Isn’t it true, as I discovered just today, that as we are all so amazingly SIMILAR we are in fact NOT AT ALL THE SAME!? And what works for me in my business, may not actually work for you in yours. Your customers are different from my customers, and what your customers need is different from what my customers need.
Here’s what this revelation unfolds into…
Why am I looking for a one-size-fits-all business strategy? Those ads that promise me MILLIONS in revenue if I unlock THEIR keys to success – well I cry bull-shit. Not only because me putting on that persona will seem fake, and be fake, but because my customers might not actually respond to those tactics;
Why are any of us hung up on the competition? There is no one else in the world like me. There is no one else in the world able to deliver the product and service that I can create. Business is about building relationships, as long as no one else can show up AS ME, I have this market cornered.
BECAUSE WE ARE DIFFERENT, the out-of-the-box business that DOESN’T fit with your overall conception of life, including your values, will actually NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY.
BECAUSE one-size-fits-all does not work, you need to know the P’s that drive you, including your values. This becomes even more integral to how you build your business. Even if you just “want to make money” your mood and association with the activity that generates income for you will always be tied to how much you feel in sync with the way in which you make money.
So if you are one of those people who shouted “MONEY” when I asked, “What’s your purpose?” Let me challenge you to examine the by-products of making a living.
- Are you happy?
- Do you feel like your skills are put to good use?
- Do you feel rewarded in successes within your business?
- Is your business making enough money?
Finding your purpose, isn’t so much about putting a stake in the ground and declaring you are walking one path in life and that’s it. It’s not about choosing to put all of your eggs in one basket, to live by a theme just like having a style doesn’t mean wearing the same thing every day (though if you do, no judgment here).
It’s about tuning into the personal values that guide you, to knowing what you love to do and what you are good at, and to understanding that to stand out in the crowd, and to show up with a business model that is perfectly suited to you (and therefore perfectly poised to succeed — because frankly the world just works like that). It is to find out WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.
It has taken a lot of 6 am revelations at the coffee machine to get me to where I am today. The hard work I put in from this point forward is in gathering my tribe – it’s finding people who share my values and who see opportunity in what I am offering to them. My values center around community, collaboration, and sharing. My strengths are in gathering people together, making connections where other people see disparate pieces and in using my strongest voice (my writing) to help others.
Can you do such an inner check-in? At the coffee machine, or better yet totally zen in front of your computer one day?
Or maybe you need some help?
If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy this one: My Journey Post Business Sale as I Sail Into a New Harbor. The Next Stage, Entrepreneur Semi-Retirement, and Life Post Business Sale
