5 signals and 5 tips for more fun and better results
My intuition speaks to me in words. I know I need to write about something when I find the topic crossing my path multiple times in a short period of time. When it’s a word like “aggrandizement” it’s got to be more than coincidence.
Aggrandize = to make greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor; to make something appear greater.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to increase your power or wealth. (When your definition of power is ‘being fully yourself without fear,” rather than trying to be in charge of life). The problem comes in when we focus on making ourselves greater above making a difference.
Most of my clients are interested in making a difference in the world. They are on a mission for themselves and their family, and for our society as a whole. Yet, we are human beings having a human experience, and it can be easy to get caught up in making or appearing greater, rather than focusing on our real goal.
5 Signs you might be caught up in self-aggrandizement:
- You spend a lot of time thinking about how you are going to be perceived by the world at large, rather than focusing on your ideal clients, even at the expense of serving the clients you have.
- You are writing your website copy, articles, or blog posts in order to sound smart or use the right buzzwords for the “experts,” rather than writing from your heart about what YOU BELIEVE makes a difference.
- You are analyzing the “competition” and get disappointed when you discover or believe that your offering has “been done” or is not unique.
- You are never satisfied with your results. Whatever business you create for yourself is not enough, generally as a result of comparing your business to how you think someone else is doing. They SEEM to be bigger than you.
- You are attending every networking event or function possible to become seen and known, to the point that you are highly ineffective at follow-up, and even sacrificing self-care. Everyone knows you, but you are broke and sick.
So, if you’ve got the sinking feeling that this could be you… First, breathe.
Next, recognize that you are not alone.
In our culture of information, it is easy to get caught up in a desire to be “on top,” and also easy to perceive others as more successful because you see them everywhere, or they have a nice website. To top it off, many of us are programmed with subconscious belief systems about the need to be unique or special to be valued.
So here are some new thoughts to keep in mind to REALLY make a difference:
- Think small. (Strange coming from me, I know.) Focus on serving the clients right in front of you. Overdeliver on your promises to them and trust that word will get around. Give up the need to be famous. Be famous among your tribe – however small. It only takes a dozen committed clients to build a 6-figure business. Seth Godin built his tribe one person at a time.
- Write your website, articles, etc. to ONE PERSON, your ideal client. You are here to make a difference with that audience, not the whole world. Keep your focus on them and your message will ultimately gain more traction.
- By the nature of being the only YOU on the planet, you are unique. There is no competition if you are being true to yourself. There is nothing that hasn’t been said, thought, or done before in one way or another, (unless you’re in a new technology) so give up the need to be original. Then remember no one else can do it exactly like you.
- Celebrate your results, focus on one “sale” at a time, and refuse to speculate on the results of others. Just because someone appears successful, it does not mean that they are, or even that they define success in the way you do. I do a happy dance every time a new client allows me to serve them in my business. Every time. That will ALWAYS excite me more than being “known around town.” I regularly meet well-known entrepreneurs who are making very little money, and therefore very little difference.
- Take action to meet clients, but follow-up is key. You must have a strategy and a structure to your potential client process so you can easily follow up with people and invite them into your tribe. While systems make this efficient and less personally time-involved, you cannot leave this to chance. Just being seen and known is not enough.
Be teaching potential clients how to work with you, and make it easy. Always.
So why am I choosing to write about this?
Because I get it. I’ve been there. At one point I had “making a difference” (a.k.a. Saving the World ) all laid out as a vision in my mind that looked like I speak and the world listens. That kind of desire is paralyzing, and completely unrealistic. And I see it stop people in their tracks. In big “throw in the towel” ways, and in little self-defeating thought processes. The fastest path to being well known for who you are? Be well known for who you are! Starting with the people right in front of your nose.