It isn’t easy.
A decision so obvious I couldn’t see it.
Or perhaps I didn’t want to see it.
But I had to kill it.
This weekend I killed my longest running, most profitable, highest level revenue stream forever.
I wanted to hold on… to keep it running. To nurture it, give it CPR, and pretend like it was still working, but it wasn’t.
Now, in fact, this is great news.
But just like everything we bring into our lives to love and nurture and hold and grow, letting go is hard. And sometimes you can’t quite see how necessary it actually is to do so.
I’m going to share the details leading up to this decision today, because I’m always genuinely committed to bringing you the Truth, and shedding light on things that others may not be willing to let you see. So hold on!
But first, let’s talk about you…
If you had to guess, see if you can name some of the things that you are doing in your business or your life, that you’re hanging on to or holding as sacred, that maybe just maybe have started holding you back.
Do you have certain offerings in your business feel like things you MUST offer? They may be working or not working, but you’re doing them out of obligation and your energy might not be as high as it could be when delivering these things.
Do you have people in your life who are there because, basically, you keep giving them a pass and not holding them to the standard you now hold for yourself? You know that the ‘old you’ selected them, and yet it feels impossible to let them go. After all, they are such a nice person, and it’s not THEIR fault you’ve changed, so how can you blame them for bringing you down?
Do you have income streams, or even whole businesses, that represent and old version of yourself that you have outgrown, yet cutting bait on them feels absolutely terrifying?
What is your sacred cow?
I have experienced each of the scenarios above. In my client retreat last week, I watched clients grapple with each of the scenarios above as well. Declaring boldly, “This relationship will change or I will leave,” and, “I’m going to sell this business,” to name a few.
So what about me?
To share how spirit has been leading me, and seemingly f(&%-ing with me, this year let me take you back to March 2014. I hosted my first ‘big’ event, Align It Live: Own Your Truth. It was FANTASTIC. And challenging and painful and frightening over and over again leading up to it. But at the end of the day it was fantastic.
The theme was OWN YOUR TRUTH, and let me tell you there is nothing like hosting an event to help you own your Truth! I made many discoveries, the biggest of which was the degree to which, with a half million-dollar business to my name, I was still ultimately hiding out.
And I saw this reflected in decisions I made leading up to the event, in my audience at my event, and even further in my ideal clients. We’re a bunch of recovering hider-outers. Wow.
This insight has allowed me to refocus my business mission (or crusade if you will) from “be you get paid” to being an unshakeable stand for business owners to LET THEIR SELF BE SEEN.
So here’s the funny thing. I teach that once you get clear, the exact right next action will appear. Truly.
And then I got this new clarity, and nothing happened. In fact, it’s been the HARDEST YEAR SO FAR IN BUSINESS.
It’s not that anything was particularly WRONG this year. And in fact, that’s the worst of it. Nothing was wrong. But it also wasn’t exactly feeling right. And over time, my revenue began to reflect this lack of alignment.
I also teach that when you get to the source of a result (e.g. slowing revenue), you can change it on a dime. So I wasn’t worried. But I was uncomfortable. And each time I’d attempt to discern the source of the result, I’d come up with an explanation that just didn’t fit. Until I became willing to look at EVERYTHING.
Here’s what I recently discerned as the source:
- To stand for people to be seen, I must be seen. While I certainly don’t hide in my office, I had set myself up with structures and support in my business that ultimately didn’t serve the goal of being seen. (More on that in a later article).
- I wasn’t willing to kill the sacred cow.
See, in March 2014 something else happened. I made a decision to launch a brand new program, AMPLIFY. It’s a retreat-based yearlong coaching program with group support in between. Scalable. Powerful. Accessible. (In other words, not the same investment as my private coaching program).
I made the decision in alignment with the whole reason I created the event to begin with. I wanted to reach more people. And I wanted to create a place where people could get massive transformation, innovative business strategies, in an environment where they could either choose to be seen, or choose to hide out, based on where they were in their own personal alignment journey. A dynamic, empowering community of loving and butt-kicking support.
I’d learned that not everybody was really ready for big time alignment. And that is A-OK. I wanted to give them the opportunity to get in the energy of it anyway. AND, I wanted to give them the CHOICE to transform based on their commitment, not mine.
Align It Live was a huge success. (Mark your calendars for Align It Live: Make Your Business Captivate this spring; March 12-14). I launched the new program and 14 people registered. It was an exciting time.
Only I’d never brought on 14 new people into my business at one time before. And while they did not have private time with me, I felt just as concerned for their success as I did for my private clients. And I forgot for a bit about the intention of the program – to empower them to choose and give them resources as they do. And the energy of all these people began to weigh on me.
Then people began to drop out – they stopped making payments, and they never even started taking action. (Yes, this even happens for me – it happens in all programs, but folks don’t talk about this). And the weight of the program became heavier. It started to affect my desire to bring in more clients, and while I was still doing all the things I’d done in year’s prior, the results were not the same.
I’m sharing all this for a reason, and I really want you to get this because in some area of your world this happening for you as well.
I wasn’t conscious to what was happening in the moment.
I began to blame the new program for diverting my attention and making my business twice as hard for roughly half the result. Only I also loved the new program, and felt really right. If it was right, why was it so hard? And why was I now spending time tracking down payments from people who were less committed to their success than I was?
And then I saw it.
I’d created this whole new vision and mission and desired outcome, but I hadn’t fully committed. I hadn’t taken a FEARLESS INVENTORY of my world or RECREATED ALL THINGS to align with the new energy of what I’d seen possible when I created the program.
The new program rocks. The clients who are working it are PHENOMENAL. I love it and every day I unfold exciting new ways to build it.
It was the OLD program that had to go. My four-year profit center and epicenter of client transformation was now holding me back.
I created it (my Profit Acceleration Circle – you can still find it on my website but don’t try to register!) from the energy I was in nearly four years ago. It served people for a long time, and helped them to be seen. But it was created from an energy of almost forcing people to be seen… something the people I’ve worked with in that program over the years have really benefited from, no regrets. But the me who honors my newly revealed vision LET’S people be seen, and it’s a whole new world of self-responsibility, and courage.
I could hardly believe the excess fun I had in my most recent client retreat coming from this place – and it’s the tip of the iceberg.
Here’s the lesson. When you shift into a new energy, EVERYTHING around you must shift to align with it. You can’t shift part way.
I pointed for the fences with the vision of the community of folks who are actively choosing support on their journey to big visibility, and willing to go where the journey takes them. And I forgot to actually live like it was true!
Yet, funny how the Universe guides us. When I looked around the room at the current clients who were in the ‘old’ program, they were a small group, but mighty, and they were the EXACT right people that I knew I’d like to take to the next level with me.
Not everybody can hack the alignment journey. Truly. Not everyone is ready. Because it requires killing sacred cows – regularly. Not all souls will practice alignment in this lifetime. But Aligned Entrepreneurs provides a safe space to dip your toe in, and the perfect community to rise to the top and develop mastery of self and spiritual commerce at the same time. Our new programs will help you to Align, Captivate, Amplify, and Prosper!
If you’d like to learn more about our NEW offerings, or you’re brave enough to discover your own sacred cow, I invite you to book a call with Coach Michelle by clicking right here: www.alignedentrepreneurs.com/coachmichelle