Not Good Enough...

Hello everyone. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and leadership coach. Excited to talk to you. Tonight. I am in Boston. My best friend, her husband and their daughter are flying in this evening and I'm here staying at the hotel they're staying at. They know about it though. I'm not just being a creep, but anyway, we get to hang out in Boston tomorrow, but I get to kick around Boston's evening by myself. If you have any recommendations, I. I know I've been on Cape Cod for the last year and a half almost. I don't know Boston very well at all. So if you have any recommendations, I would love them. But tonight I really want to talk to you. I want to continue this theme of lame ass things that people choose to be committed to rather than making their business a success. And tonight I want to talk about one of my favorites, personal favorites that I used to do to myself and I see a lot of my contemporaries do to themselves is being committed to not being good enough. Okay, we all know where this lands us in the rest of our lives, right? So if you're committed to not being good enough, you're usually dating someone who's kind of shitty to you. You have crummy friends who don't treat you very well. You probably live in a place that is gross, dingy, doesn't make you feel good to come home to. You probably have a job that underpays you or has a manager that treats you like garbage. It's just when you don't believe you're in, you're good enough, you don't believe that you deserve things. It's a really vicious cycle and I'm not about it. And here's there are a few specific ways that it comes up for entrepreneurs. Specifically you accidental entrepreneurs. I'm talking to you coaches and consultants and some of you artists as well. You know, we're accidental entrepreneurs because we're not passionate about just starting businesses. No, like we're not out there like starting a drop ship business. We're not Tim Ferriss. We're not doing the four hour workday. We legitimately need to start a business because we want to do something that we're passionate about or we know could make a difference in the world, but no one's hiring for it. So we have to create our own thing. And so I want to go through my top five. You know, it's so funny. I do this thing where I get excited about a topic and I get on streamyard and it has you like type out what. What the post is going to be. And then you go into the live studio where I am right now, and you can't access that, especially if you're not doing it ahead of time. So I type up these things. I think I'm covering everything that I posted about. If I jump over something or add something. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm human and I have the memory of a fru. So we're just gonna roll with it. And if you want to comment, if you have any questions. I love this to be interactive. I'm streaming this to both of my Facebooks, LinkedIn and YouTube. If you comment and I don't call you out, Streamyard is imperfect. It's a wonderful device, but sometimes it doesn't work properly and I don't see all comments. So if you comment and I don't call you out, it's not you, it's just the technology. And thank you for whoever's joining. Good evening. One of my personal favorites. One of the ways that I see a lot of coaches specifically committing to not being good enough is they become addicted to certifications, okay? So they're constantly going for more and more and more training and certifications rather than actually starting their business. And sure, I don't have anything against learning. I think learning is so amazing. I just got a text message from someone. Gonna follow up on that in a second. So anyway, so I think learning is amazing, and I think it's really valuable. And I think if you are providing a service, you should be able to provide the best service possible. But here's where I think it's bullshit. I think it's bullshit when you hold yourself up from starting the business because you need that next certification, okay? And then after you get that certification, you need that next certification after that. Then after that certification, you need that next certification after that. And you're always pushing the line of when you're actually going to start your business. Okay? That is not okay. Okay? You have. You have training, you have skills. You have a lifetime of experience, okay? Yes, more certifications will help you buff out your service offering, but start flipping business already, okay? When you do this, you're literally just throwing money out the window. Okay? You're throwing money out the window and you're not getting your return on investment. And I mean, unless you're independently wealthy, like, if you're independently wealthy, have at it. Like, do whatever you want with your time. Most of us aren't, though. Most of us have to, you know, think about paying rent, buying Food, going on vacation, saving for retirement. You just putting off turning this thing into a business and going for certifications over and over and over again. Guess what? That's eating away at your retirement fund. It's eating away at your vacation fund. And I don't know about you, but I would be stressed AF if that were going on for me, okay? I want to see a return on investment, and I want to. I'm going to be a little tough on you guys if you find yourself doing this. I want to ask you, do you actually want this business? Because if you just want to go for certifications and have the personal growth, that is perfectly fine. You know, commit to personal growth. But get a job. Like, start. Start getting some income. Get a job that pays really well, that can fund this hobby of yours. And get real. This is a hobby, okay? You're not starting a business if you're not bringing in revenue. And you've been at this for a couple of years. It's not a business. It's a hobby. You need. You need a real job. Oh, no, my computer's messed up. Oh, no, see, this is traveling. Traveling also. Can I just tell on myself? I'm not like one of those tidy travelers. Like, one bed is always like the disaster area where everything lands and then I sleep on the other one. I'm so jealous of people who have those little, like, organized packs and, like, they have their socks in one and pants in the other. Like, for me, I just shove everything in a bag and hope that comes out, like, somewhat not wrinkled. Anyway, so that's number one certification. And then some explanation of me traveling and what it's like, okay, the next one is related. This is an awful chair. Oh, my God. Traveling. Why? Okay, so the next one is related, but different. I need to practice more. Okay, this is a great one. I need to practice my service more. My question is, who are you practicing on? Who are you practicing on? If you're a trained, certified professional, if you know your shit, if you are a really talented photographer, if you are a lawyer, if you are a consultant, if you are a coach, who are you practicing on? Adam Kimmel. Let me see. Excessive certifications or redundant degrees. Oh, that's another one. For the academics in the room are a form of procrastination. It's easier to recertify and build the thing. Yes. Damn straight. Well said. And you know, academics, like, oh, my God, their ability to complete projects, like, they are so qualified to be in the workplace and it. And I get it. Like, if you've only been in academia for a really long time. It's intimidating to move into the workforce. But don't let that stop you. And, you know, if you don't want to be in academia anymore, just make the jump, okay? Make the jump sooner rather than later anyway. Thank you. Great point, Adam. But yeah, practicing more. So if you've learned the thing and you don't get into the business of doing the thing, who are you practicing on? This drives me absolutely mental, okay? Because here's the thing. Especially if you're a coach and you're practicing on people who aren't actually committed because they're not a paying client, guess what? You're spinning your wheels. You are using an amazing service for someone who is not going to value it. And so you're actually not going to get the feedback loop that you need to see that the practice is paying off. Meaning you are going to pour your heart and soul into providing this amazing session for this client. And because they don't have any skin in the game because they haven't paid you, they're probably not going to go and do the thing. They're probably not going to go and change their lives, which means you're not going to see them get results, which means that you're going to think that your service sucks and that you need more practice. Okay? The practice loop is a dangerous loop and it kills your self esteem, it kills your confidence. Don't get sucked into that. Okay? The next two are my absolute favorites. And I think I say that about all of these. They're just, you know, they're different and they're like my evil children, I guess, all these crappy reasons why people are committed to not being good enough. I love to say that we have this fear around our age, right? We all have this. And I see this with entrepreneurs, and especially accidental entrepreneurs all the time, is they believe that they're too young to do it right up until that split second when it becomes too late to start. Okay? So these are two that get really tied together. It's I'm too young to do this. And this was one that stopped me for years when I wanted to become a coach because I was in my 20s, I was in my 20s, I was kind of irresponsible. Like, let's be real, the twenties, your twenties are the best time to make the best mistakes of your life. Right? So my story was, oh, I'm too young. No one will ever listen to me. I'm too young. Like, who am I to start a business? Blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah. How boring. No one's interested in what you think about what your age means for you. This also shows up later in life. Okay? You know, so many people, they get to a certain age, and this is different for any, for everyone. There's not one age that becomes too late or too old is. I'm too old to start a business. Oh, I'm, I'm too old for this. Oh, no, I can't find. Make a change now. It's like, it's like this sunk cost commitment and it's, it's so boring. It's the worst reason to think that you're not good enough to go and do this. There is this belief system out there right now, and I 100% believe in this. CEOs are getting younger mentors. They're getting younger mentors because they want that perspective. They want that perspective of someone who is coming up behind them, who's in touch with later generation, earlier generation, later in generation. You know what I mean? A younger generation. They want to know, like, what's hip. They want to know, like, what the kids are saying, you know? But it's a smart business move. It really is. It is a brilliant business move, okay? Because, you know, if you're a 57 year old guy who's a CEO, see CEO of your business and you know, you, you maybe have kids and, or grandkids or whatever. I don't know how early you had children. I'm making this person up and I'm making them, you know, have a very fleshed out family. But their kids probably don't open up to them in the same way that another younger person would. Okay? And they want that perspective because guess what? Their business probably services people of all different ages. Okay? So youth is valuable. Youth is so valuable. You know, I get hired a lot because I'm a millennial and some of my clients are older and they don't understand the tech stuff. And the fact that I do is a weight off their shoulders. It makes life so much easier for them. If I held myself back because I thought, oh my gosh, I'm too young to be doing this, where would they be? They'd be screwed. Like, they'd have to find another business strategist who'd be able to train them on the tech stuff, you know, the fact that I stepped into bravery, the stuff, the fact that I stopped being a weenie and said, you know, I'm going to do this anyway, even. The Internet here is awful. Oh, my gosh, I hope you can see me. Okay? Anyway, so I don't care how old or how young you are. Just go and do the thing, okay? Stop being committed to this thing being wrong with you. It's not. It's a gift. Both sides. If you're older, you have so much experience. Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway in the Intern. If you. If you need my point made for the being too old argument, just go and watch that. It's a great movie. Anyway. Anyway, the last one I want to talk about this evening is vision boarding without action. Vision boarding without action. And what this looks like is I'm getting ready to get ready to get ready to get ready to get ready to maybe be ready to start the business. What the hell are you doing? It's amazing the kinds of stuff that we can fill our hours and our days and our weeks and our months with to prepare ourselves mentally for actually going and doing the thing. But here's the thing about doing something that you have never done before. If you wait to be confident at it, if you wait for confidence to strike, it's never going to. It's never going to strike. You're never going to feel confident, and you're never going to go into it. Confidence in doing a new thing only happens after you've done it 6, 12, 20, 50 times, okay? And even then, they're going to be days where you're not confident. Okay? Case in point. I go live a lot. You guys see me on camera a lot. There are some days where I feel super shy, where I'm like, I really don't want to do that. Like, I don't know, maybe it's hormones, maybe it's just external factors. Maybe there's anxiety in the world and I'm picking it up. But for the amount of time that I spend live, I shouldn't be not confident at it. And yet it still hits. If you have issues with confidence, if you doubt yourself, the only thing that that means is that you're not a sociopath. So congratulations. But all humans struggle with feeling confident, okay? So if you're waiting for confidence to strike, sorry, babe, you're never going to make this happen. And if you're really dead set on just doing things that you feel 100% confident on, then whatever your last job was that you escaped to try to just try to start this thing, go back to that, Go back to that, give up on this business, you know, it's just not going to happen for you. There's, you know, when we're talking about being brave and not being a weenie. There's a thing that. A step that happens before that, and you have to be fully committed. You have to be fully committed. Like, I'm going to make this work no matter what it takes. And that's where bravery comes out. Okay, and let's talk about bravery for a second. Okay. So in movies, I know you see, like, the gladiator. The gladiator walking into the arena, and they look strong and there's that buildup of music, and you see their. Their nemesis, and it's like this thing is charging at them and they're like, ah. And they have the sword. This is my gladiator impersonation. They have the sword and they, like, go at this thing. Bravery doesn't look like that. Okay. Bravery looks like, oh, my God, I'm doing the thing. Oh, shit, I'm actually doing this. Oh, my God, this thing is coming at me. Oh, my God. Like, I have to. I have to respond. Am I doing this right? Like, can you tell me? What are you guys doing? Oh, that looks good. I'm gonna do this too. You know, it's better when it's mixed with skill, obviously, but confidence or bravery doesn't feel good in the moment. It only feels, like, puffed up. That puffed up image of bravery after the fact, in hindsight, you look back and you're like, oh, my God, I was so brave in that. Look what I did. I never would have done that before. That's amazing. That was terrifying. So if you're wa for that, like, puffed up, like, I'm brave, I'm confident feeling to happen, it's not going to. And with that, I challenge you. Go and do something that scares the crap out of you tonight. I don't care what it is. Call someone and out yourself for the business that you are. Have been getting ready to get ready to get ready. Get ready to be ready to do. Own your age. Own your age. Own that you're a young person who's starting a business and you're gonna make it work. Own that you're an old person who's starting a business and you're gonna make it work. Stop practicing. If you have a list of, like, fake clients that you're practicing on, then call them up, tell them, you know what? I'm no longer canceling. I'm no longer in my practice phase. I'm in my business phase. Do you want to be a client? This is how much I charge, and charge more than you're Confident to ask for Hamza. And Hamza, I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly. I'm too shy in video, but last night I broke the barrier and got a client. I think I'm getting confident. Yes, yes. Well, confidence comes from doing, and you're doing. That's so kick ass. Congratulations. And yeah, like, video is hard. You don't have, like, other people's mediums are not the mediums that you necessarily have to do. I love video because it's a great way for people to get to know me. But there are other ways for people to get to know you as well. You can be on Clubhouse, you can be. You can write, you can post pictures of your life or whatever. So congratulations, Hamza. I'm so happy for you. You're obviously doing this, but if you're practicing, call these people up and tell them, listen, I'm no longer practicing. This is my business, and this is what I charge. Would you like to continue or do you like to end? Done. Done. You're starting a business. That is the launch of your business. Congratulations. And for those of you who are in certifications, and you know who I'm talking to. You. You know who you are. If you're in another certification after a bunch of other certifications, and you know that you don't need to be. You know that you don't need to be, take a really deep look in the mirror and ask yourself, do I want to keep sinking my time and energy and money into this program, or do I want to actually call bullshit on myself and say, you know, I actually don't want to start a business. I want to just develop myself and be really happy, you know, I am. Feel fulfilled. Great. Awesome. Stick with the certification program. But if you're using that certification program to put off actually starting a business, this is the question. Can you quit? What's in the agreement? What's in the contract? Can you quit? Can you put it on pause? Can you actually just go and start your business and maybe come back to this later? Okay. Because this, right now, is not serving you anyway. This video, too, of crappy things that we get committed to rather than actually starting our business. And I want to pause, and I know I'm like, railing against all these things. For those of you who are actually doing the work, who are diving in, doing scary things, getting clients, building out offerings, asking for more money than you feel you. You deserve, that will actually equal a real income at the end of the year. I'm so proud of you. I'M so proud of. Like, I wish I could see you just give you a big hug and tell you how proud of you I am. You're doing a really hard thing, and it doesn't look perfect. There's no perfect way of doing it. Okay? And there are going to be moments where you think I'm not good enough and that you buy into that and you commit to it. But here's the thing. You're going to let yourself commit to it for a few minutes or an hour or maybe even a day if you're feeling extravagant. But then you're going to get over it and you're going to get back to work. Anyway, I'm Katie McManus. I'm in Boston, and I just got. I got a text from a client. I have to check something for her. One of my favorite things with my clients is that I offer on demand support. So if they have any questions in between sessions, they get to reach out to me and I get to respond and support them in between calls, which, for me, just. I don't know, it just makes me feel like I'm of service in my life and it lights me up. But anyway, after that, I get to go out on the town in Boston. I'm fully vaccinated, and we don't have a lot of food options on Cape Cod, so I am going hog crazy tonight. Also, I'm gonna show you my outfit just because I'm really excited. I'm a spiller. I can't eat or drink anything without spilling. And I'm, like, really nervous tonight because I just bought white jeans. Like, white jeans. And I've never owned white jeans before in my life, but they look really cute, and I'm really, really hoping I don't spill anything on them. But anyway, all that aside, go start your business, stop wimping out, and tune in tomorrow. I'm going to be talking a little bit more about stupid things that we commit to rather than starting our business. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and leadership coach. Have a great night, everyone. I'll talk to you all soon. Soon. Bye.