Most humans don’t choose to bring original work into the world.
Many humans choose to work for others, in roles that are defined for them. Some humans choose to create businesses following the mold of expected offerings, known products and services. And there is nothing wrong with that.
But a small fraction of humans feel called to bring something forward from inside of themselves, to create art, or a business, or group change based on the wisdom, the insight, the feeling, the perspective that life has cultivated in them. To create work for themselves that expresses their highest vision and calling, their life purpose, their True Spirit, the unique contribution that only they can make. (And by the way, that can look on the outside like a “normal” business, but they know in their hearts that they are using that “normal” business to create and bring forward something unusual, something extraordinary.)
To embody the deep faith that they were created the way they were created for a reason, the belief that the world (and they) benefit from the expression of who they are as souls. That they wouldn’t know, see, feel, or understand what they know if it didn’t matter.
Let’s face it. It’s not the easiest path to walk.
First, it requires understanding who you are as a soul, and what is here to come through you. No simple task. A lifetime of peeling back the layers to get to the core of who you are here to be.
Then, it requires choosing to focus your presence and efforts on expressing what you discover about what wants to come through you, no matter what. Knowing that your sanity, your integrity, your fulfillment depends on it.
And then, for some of us, it requires taking on the practical challenge of generating income and a living from that unique work. For taking on the trial and error of both honoring who you are and what wants to come through while also figuring out how and why that creates practical and elevated benefit for the people you want to serve.
It’s a lifetime path. “This is who I am and this is what I am here to do in this lifetime. I will do everything I can to make this work.”
So when I talk to people about Potent Expression and creating your Book of Language, I’m not just talking about having better marketing communication or zippier words. I’m not talking about having an attention-getting elevator speech, or how to get more people in the door (though that is often the outcome).
I’m inviting you to take on multiple layers of growth and change, if you want them:
- Articulating what is here to come through you with a certain level of precision and specificity, and through that articulation, understanding it more clearly, owning it more fully, knowing in your bones the power of who you are and what you have to offer
- Lighting the fire of your desire and commitment to bring your work to the world no matter the bumps and challenges on the way
- Becoming someone who can stand up and embody their story, their message, their energy, their spirit with every cell of their body with every fiber of their being
- Writing and speaking clearly and fluidly in the moment, and when you have more time, about who you are, what you offer, and why it matters in a way that connects viscerally, emotionally with your people beyond the level of problem/solution
- Having a vision and plan for your business that allows you to have a sane and sustainable life while bringing your work forward, being in it for the long haul not the quick payoff
- Creating offerings, programs, content that hold the DNA of your deepest wisdom and insight (not just offers pitched to what you think the market will buy), that convey with every breath your deep intimacy and understanding of what you know
- Developing marketing communication and experiences that become a joyful expression of your deepest wisdom, your cherished insights so marketing is simply another way you create the outcome you desire with your presence and efforts
I promise you those layers are not likely something you’ll get from standard marketing communication training and business coaching.
If fact, many, many models of business and marketing development do the opposite. Encourage you to mold yourself into what you believe people want you to be, rather than who you actually are. To do a “sacred bait and switch” where you say your work is about one thing (that you think is more marketable) while knowing it’s about something else. Keeping you in the swirl of worry that people just don’t want what you have to offer rather than the joy of doing the work you want with the people you want.
And many models of marketing and business development teach you to market with tricks and triggers to extract wealth for yourself by making your audience vulnerable and off-center. All while coating those strategies in the language of being “spiritual” or “selling from service” or “doing business the feminine way”. Which feels like yuck and most of my clients can’t pull off any way even if they try.
Folks show up and hang out in my world because the path of bringing original work to the world is the path they want to walk. And there aren’t that many places to be supported in doing that. I’ve been blessed to work with people over many years over the arc of their businesses as they grow and change, evolve themselves and their work, and keep walking this path.
Your distinctive presence and wisdom is more than a marketing hook. It’s your guiding light for a fulfilling life.