let you shine through
right now, do you feel like you can be 100% you in all areas of biz and in life?
or do you feel like you need to hide parts of you, gloss over parts of you, down play parts of you, or change parts of you in some way.
perhaps you worry that some things are too “out there” or too weird or some people wouldn’t get it or it would turn some people off or you just don’t want to try to explain.
or maybe you are just simply trying to be professional, polished, logical, strategic, safe, smart (or whatever other quality it feels like we ought to be as entrepreneurs.)
i would like to encourage you to let more of you shine through.
what makes you weird? what about you is quirky? what is unusual about the way you do things? what do you keep hidden from most people? what do you “quiet” in order to play it safe? what would surprise people, if they only knew? what feels just a bit too scary to share?
try sharing that bit of you!
(i know it is scary, but maybe you could take a baby step and just see what happens?)
you could write a blog post starting with “let me tell you a secret”
you could write a social media post with “there is something you should probably know about me”
you could share a photo with “this might be a bit unconventional, but i want to show you something”
you could make a little video about “the weirdest thing about me that most people don’t know”
it could be a sneak peek. it could be “pulling back the curtains”. it could be sharing an obsession you have. it could be a secret expertise you’ve never shared before. it could be a rant about something you have been keeping quiet on.
it could simply be permission to be you in some way, more so than you have let yourself be so far.
why does this matter so much?
for a few reasons actually…
- if you have been feeling at all like you are lost, or have lost your path, or are seeking clarity or a sense of purpose… this can be a great way to find it, and find you again.
- weird is good. the stuff that makes you weird is what also makes you memorable. it helps people connect with you. it lets them know they are in the exact right place for them.
- you are the most unique part of your brand. other people can offer similar products and services, build similar businesses, but no one out there is YOU.
- this can help you feel more authentic and experience more alignment in your business. and this in turn makes marketing, and selling, and creating, and biz building less icky and way more fun (and more effective too!)
- it’s polarizing. not everyone will love what you do. and when that happens, it’s a reason to celebrate! it means you are not bland! yay! (nobody gets turned off by something bland. but nobody gets turned on either!)
there may be parts of you that you have completely embraced and love about yourself, but you still keep them to yourself for the most part. and i get that, i really do.
but something really important happens when we take a chance and actually let others see those parts of us too. that’s when we truly feel whole. authentic. purposeful. aligned. significant.
you are here for a reason. there is something you are meant to share with the world… you have a product, a service, some expertise that the world needs.
so how are you supposed to stand on centre stage, in the limelight, to get that *thing* out there, if you feel like you need to hide?
be you. be awesome. and fully share it with the world.
will you try it with me?
at the end of last year i started this thing where i was going to share 15 second videos in instagram – try to share more of me with the world. i wanted to do 15 of them, i think i only ended up making three! i started to have that feeling like “oh that is too scary to share” or “no one will care about that” and i feel like those fears are probably a sign that i need to keep going. push out of that comfort zone a bit and just do it.
so that’s my goal. that is how i will share more of me. how can you share more of you? what are you hiding or holding back that you could just let shine?