I did a dumb thing. I did the thing where you go looking at old acquaintances and see that, from all online indicators and based on external factors, they are kicking your ass in every way possible. Oh, your program has X graduates, meaning you’ve raked in millions of dollars since last we spoke? NEAT.
Your empire gets larger and larger at every moment, while my own influence seems to be the same as it was a few years ago? AWESOME. I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU.
The thing is…it’s my own freaking fault. One: I decided to go looking. And two: when I decided that I was going to go my own way, I also decided that I wasn’t going to measure success by the typical standard. That means I’m not tracking likes, views, shares, or follows as a measure of my business’ influence.
I’ve tracked the numbers and the dollars, then thrown myself into the game of making more dollars, whatever the cost, and found the whole thing to be a giant rat race of my own making.
So guys? Gals, ladies, peeps, friends, and the occasional teen who stumbles onto my blog when you’re reading about beating depression (::waves::)?
LET’S START A WHOLE NEW GAME.
Let’s see how much we can give away.
Let’s stop taking classes based on doubling your motherfucking Instagram following and start looking to our own hearts to mine its depths.
Let’s ask a new set of questions, ones without definitive answers or 6-pillar blueprints.
Questions like:
How much joy can you bring to your life through your business?
How many awesome things can you make?
How much time and money can you give away because you want to, not because you’re addicted to people pleasing?
How much can you help people grow, or change, or see themselves in a new light?
How much fun can you possibly have while also earning a remarkable living?
Those are the FIRST questions to be silenced in the race to more, bigger, and better, (which is often disguised as specific, direct, and concrete).
It’s easy to fork over a bunch of money and follow a set of guidelines. You do the worksheets, you watch the videos, you work and work and work and work and WORK and you make all those people who want more followers and likes and comments insanely jealous. But.
What of your heart?
What about the small, deep bits of your soul that get left behind or ignored when you round off your own corners in the name of “going pro” or taking your business to the “next level”…?
What are you bringing to the table that only you can make?
Because it hasn’t all been done.
Really. It hasn’t.
No other Kristen Kalp with pink hair and a killer sock collection has had a business program called Dominatrixing and used it to help clients show more of their true selves to others in business while increasing both business profits and satisfaction.
No other [your name] with [neat attribute] and [other, killer attribute] has made a [thing] and used it to [awesome action verb].
Maybe you’ll end up jealous of those making millions, and maybe you’ll become one of the ones making millions, but me? Kristen Kalp, of the pink hair and otterly adorable socks? THEY HAVE OTTERS ON THEM SHUT UP I LOVE THOSE SOCKS.
I intend to give away a million dollars before my time on Earth is up.
It’s the biggest, highest most fun goal I can dream up, and it might take a lifetime to achieve. I’m okay with that.
For serious. That’s my goal. It’s huge and fun and lovely and light and it means more to me than a million [insert social media platform here] followers ever could. By my calculations, I’m 2.6% of the way there.
So um…YES! I am crushing it(ish)!
Here’s to your finding a goal worth giving your life to; and to your heart opening so wide that only dreams bigger than you ever imagined possible can find their way in.
P.S. This was an episode of That’s What She Said! Binge-listen to the whole podcast right here.
