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Losing your way when you’re running an expertise business is easier than we’d like to think…
You take on a client for all sorts of made-sense-at-the-time reasons, but your work together takes you down a slippery slope.
You tweak your sales and marketing messages over and over again, losing your voice and, well, you, in the process.
Or perhaps worst of all, you feel like you’ve lost the connection with why you created your business in the first place.
So what’s the antidote?
Solitude.
And luckily, you don’t have to go to Tibet—or even hop on a plane—to find it.
It means quieting all the outside voices telling you what you should or shouldn’t do, and reaching inside yourself instead.
To excavate your past to help you design your future.
Been in business for a while? Go back and re-read your earliest musings on what you wanted to create. Inventory your client experiences and study—really study—your triumphs and disasters.
Which ones would you repeat over and over again if you could? What did you learn from the disasters or even the small missteps?
Consider what’s changed for you since those experiences—your dreams, the market, your wallet, your life.
And then start matching them up.
“Sylvia” stopped hitting her head against the wall the moment she gave up on designing corporate training and focused on her real talent (and first love)—coaching executives of color.
“Kyle” ran a highly successful firm and yet still felt something was missing. It wasn’t until he decided to fully tackle his emerging personal big idea that his mojo came flooding back. Side bonus: that extra energy also juiced his core business.
“Ryan” had a series of uninspiring sales conversations with CMOs who balked at paying his not-small fees. The problem? His genius zone is working with business heads, but his sales and marketing were attracting the CMO crowd. Shifting his focus made work fun again (and bumped his revenue).
Sometimes you just need to write yourself a big ‘ole permission slip when you feel things start to go off the rails.
To say no to what isn’t working and embrace what will suit you better.