I get a lot of inspiration from “stories” of how people have arrived at their success, but I use them as inspiration and not a formula.
If you follow it as a formula you are likely to fail and here is why.
You have all seen it where someone has written a book or started an podcast based on their success. Good on them, I love reading them and seeing what inspiration or encouragement I can derive from them.
But I stop there, they are not a formula for success and they cannot be and I will tell you why….
They are them and you are you. I know that sounds super obvious, but it is critical to really understand the differences. They have a different background, different skills, different resources and it was a different time. The things that led them to success might not be transferrable to you, your skills, background, experiences resources and the time we are in today. Therefore, it is unlikely to generate the same results.
The second reason is that people will buy from you, not a carbon copy of someone else. You want to add more “you” into what is it is that you are doing. The people that you are following for inspiration have put their personality, emphasis and skills, and that is why they are successful.
I have attended loads of courses, and watched people follow the formula laid out as if it was the only way, and everything they produced looked false, icky. They also did not get the success that was promised.
Probably one of the most important reasons not to follow someone's experience is that you are pretty fabulous, just the way you are. You might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but what an intolerably horrible world it would be, if we were all the same, Bleh!
The final reason, is that they are looking at their successes through hindsight. They know the decisions they made and what they lead to. They look at the decisions to go east instead of south and know that it led them to here and then here. However, you, my friend, will be sitting at a crossroad wondering which path is right for you. The times will be different, the decisions different, so you cannot follow “the do as I do” or “do as I did” to be more accurate, as it is most likely not to work.
You might be thinking so easy for you to say on the other side of a certain age. You have built your reputation and skills, it is so easy for you to show you and everything you stand for. Maybe you are right, but I had an occasion to read references from when I left school a number of years ago. The person they describe is almost exactly like the person I am today. Sure I have grown and matured and deepened some of the skills and fine-tuned others, but still fundamentally me.
Ok convinced Christina, using it as inspiration, but what do I do instead?
If you do or do not know what you want to do, then here is what I advise.
Take small, safe bets.
There is no point buying a garage full of merch if no-one wants to buy it, or you do not have the infrastructure (website, markets etc) to support it. Or purchasing everything you need to do X and realising that you actually do not enjoying doing X or with everything on your plate, it slips by the wayside.
Taking small safe bets will help you understand if that is the path to continue to go down or not. Go on a course or ask someone already doing it, what they love and what they hate about it.
My advice therefore, is to use their lessons as inspiration, create a massive list of dreams and start exploring, follow your curiousity, unearth possibilities, dip your toe in.
If you want to get an awesome kick start on whatever awesomeness you have in your brain, then join the upcoming Design Your Life on Purpose (DYLOP) program.
Ready to Go?
Book in for your free 30 min session to explore possibilities!
Wanna work with me - here is how?
Items just for you….
Book in for a free 30 mins possibilities exploration
Read more books - join the free Incahoots Business Book Club
Create a Strategic Life Map, moving you from directionless to purposeful in your career/life (Design Your Life on Purpose)
Unleash your uniqueness by knowing your Clifton strengths
Items for you and your team…
Book me as a Guest speaker
Work incahoots to design and deliver an outcome focused workshop
Strengthen your Strategy by aligning your team’s strengths to your strategy