Stop breadcrumbing yourself

Taste yo, yo, yo, yo Words I can taste yo, yo, yo I can taste yo, yo, yo Y I can taste yo, yo, yo I can taste y hello and good evening, everyone. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach, coming to you live this Sunday evening on the Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram to talk about a topic that's been coming up for me a lot, like, in my business and in my life. And it's this topic that I'm going to make make sense, I promise. If. Have you ever heard of the term breadcrumbing? Okay, so it's typically used in a dating scenario where you're dating someone and maybe you're really into them and they're. They start off pretty strong. They start off, like, being really interested in you, but then their texts aren't that fast. Like, they start, like, really doing, like, less than the bare minimum to maintain the relationship. And it's really damaging to the person that it's done, too, because, you know, you're hooked on that initial person that, like, the first person you met, right, who is really, really, really into you and. And did all the things and, like, pretended like they cared and. But that stops at some point. And then you're given, like, just like, little, little, little tidbits of that person, but, like, nothing that's actually going to maintain an actual relationship. So this concept, I see this happening. This happens in relationships all the time, right? But it can also happen in your relationship with yourself, and it can happen in your relationship with your business. And I wanted to do a little live this evening to call attention to this because there are a lot of folks out there who are bread crumbing the fuck out of themselves, and they're seeing it as, you know, being realistic about what's possible for their business. And I'm here to call bullshit. Okay? It is not what is realistic for your business, okay? It is simply you being kind of weaning with yourself and hoping that someone is going to do the brave work for you and shine the spot, the spotlight on you. And that's not how this works. So here are some signs that I. I see often when I'm talking to someone and, you know, it's probably pretty obvious that they're breadcrumbing themselves. Number one is they are undercharging. And they're undercharging with a very specific tactic in mind. They're undercharging because they want to get their first, like, I don't know, 10 clients under their belt. And from those 10 clients, they're convinced they're going to get good testimonials. And so they figure, okay, well, I will undercharge, if not give away everything for free for these first 10 clients. And based on those testimonials that I get from these clients, once I finish my work with them and they're super happy, I will go out and I will get a ton of other clients. That's not how this goes. That's not how this goes. It is a great tactic to do a lot of work for free and to do a lot of work on the cheap and to feel really, really resentful about the level of work you're doing for a client who doesn't take you seriously. All right? When you're starting a business, I know it feels weird to, like, charge a ton of money right off the bat, okay? Especially if maybe you just learned a skill like coaching or you just started consulting or you just started copywriting, right? And you haven't done it professionally before. But guys, you have training. You have training. You might have training, you might have certifications. I promise you, you charging a livable wage or a, an above livable wage for you to do that work, okay? That is not you robbing anyone. That is you making sure that you can feed yourself, okay? When you undercharge, you basically tell the whole world that your service is for free or cheap, okay? It doesn't work to get testimonials from the cheap clients to attract higher paying clients, all right? Because words carry energy, right? So when someone gives a testimonial, guess what? That testimonial attracts more of. It attracts more of that type of person. And so if you're breadcrumbing yourself with lower rates right now, you are. You are starting a very vicious cycle where you are always going to be worried about money. Okay? Another way I see people breadcrumb themselves a lot is when they are on social media and they're promoting their work. They get on work on social media and they start, like, you know, trying to show off their expertise. They want to show off how smart they are. And they think, okay, well, when I post these things, like, someone will see it and they'll think, wow, this person's really smart, right? And they'll think, okay, well, if they think that I'm smart, then, then they'll be, you know, absolutely convinced they need to hire me. No, that's not how this works. People come across other smart people all the time. It's not the smart people who get the Business. It's the people that people feel connected to who get the business. It is the people feel people that make their followers and their audience feel smart, feel empowered, that get the business. All right? When you go out and you try to prove to everyone and their mother that you are qualified, doesn't actually work to get clients. You might make people, you might make people very impressed with how, how many big words you know, but doesn't necessarily get you clients. And hello. Daniel hall, one of my favorite humans. Squirrel. Yes. You missed the live last night where I killed a moth, like on live video. That was a true squirrel moment. Anyway, back, back to the topic at hand, breadcrumbing yourself. So where it comes from when you want to prove that you're an expert is this like kind of pick me vibe, right? Pick me, pick me. See how smart I am. And it's, it really is a weeny tactic, right? Because it takes the, the responsibility to be vulnerable and brave off of you. And it puts it firmly on everyone else, on everyone else to like, look at you and be like, I think this person has it in them to be really big, right? It's a lot of work for everyone else, right? Because they don't know what you have in you. They don't know what your goals are, okay? When you lead with, oh, well, here's how smart I am, you just shove it at the world. You're not actually being brave, you're not actually being vulnerable. You're not actually going out there and making your dreams and your goals come true. You're making it everyone else's problem, okay? And when you hand that responsibility over to other people, that is so essential, breadcrumbing. Because you're making it everyone else's problem to help you get to your goal rather than you taking ownership and realizing, oh my gosh, okay, here's what I want. I'm going to go after the specific thing, right? If you're guilty of this, I don't want you to like, think that you've sabotaged your whole success. You haven't came. Most of my clients start off doing these kinds of things, okay? And it's why they end up working with me. Because they're struggling to get high paying clients. They're spending so much time trying to get the few clients that they have. Stephen Rogers. First of all, I'm never vulnerable. Lol. I got that beat out of me as a kid. I'm so sorry, Stephen. That sounds terrible. I know you're joking though. But you know what? It's Such a common thing. Especially if we had, like, boomer parents. Boomers do not like vulnerability, okay? I think there's a reason why Oprah was so. Is so famous. Because she stuck out from the crowd so dramatically, because she was so vulnerable. And she showcased people who were super vulnerable, okay? People weren't getting that anywhere else. Now we have TikTok and Instagram. Everyone's being vulnerable 24 7. It doesn't stick out anymore. But that's so funny. And when I say vulnerable. I know, I know. Like, people like, oh, I have to share all my deepest, darkest secrets and everything I'm afraid of and all that stuff. No, no, you don't. But you do have to be human, right? Like, Stephen, you post, like, really funny, like, human stuff on social media. I feel like we're friends, right? That is enough. That is vulnerable enough, right? We have to show up. We have to just be human. We don't have to be these perfect, like, automat. Automaton. Why can't I think of this word? We don't have to be Stepford Wives. I'm thinking about the automatons. Automatons. Is that the word? It's been a long weekend, everyone. I was out in the sun gardening today. Obviously, my brain's not working. Anyway. Anyway. But, like, being vulnerable, just sharing who you are and letting people feel connected to you, that is what will get you business, okay? Not proving to everyone how smart you are and what an expert you are. Okay? The funny thing about social media and, like, coming across people in the world large is if someone says that they do something, we generally just assume that they're an expert at what they do until otherwise proven, right? Until we find out that maybe they're a fraud or something. Stephen, I know you. At least I feel like I know you. You're not a fraud, Daniel Holm, you're not a fraud. I'm not a fraud. Like. Like. But we come on to social media and we think we have to prove ourselves. We think we have to showcase all of our expertise and just kind of shove it in people's faces, right? We do not. Okay? And when we do that, we make our success other people's responsibility, okay? It's. And to bring it back to the metaphor of breadcrumbing yourself, like, I want you to imagine you're dating someone, and they never initiate texting, they never initiate a date. They just wait for you to come up with absolutely everything. And you think, okay, well, you start thinking, well, maybe they're not interested, right? And then realize you're doing that to yourself. When you make other people recognizing your brilliance, their responsibility, you're basically just not texting them, not setting up dates, right? And that's not fair to you, and that's not fair to your business. Your business wants to be successful. All right? You know, we do this also when we're a afraid of stepping into the spotlight. You know, I'm doing this challenge right now. It's a 31 day posting, the social media challenge. And it's incredible. You know, some of my, my clients are in it and they're saying that it has made such a big difference in them being comfortable posting daily because like, it takes away that fear of being seen every day takes away that fear of like posting something that maybe isn't super brilliant, right? But when you're afraid to step into the spotlight, you know, it's like you're hiding in the broom cup cupboard and you're expecting people to come and find you and give you money. That's not how this works, right? If you want your business to be successful, if you want to make a lot of money, if you want to help a lot of people, babes, you're going to have to step into the spotlight. You're going to have to take up space, you're going to have to be heard. Okay. You're gonna have to let yourself be seen and you're gonna have to charge enough, all right? You know, there's, there's that whole thing of like, you know, what got you here won't get you to the next level. You know, how you've been treating yourself and your business up until this moment, this whatever level you're at in your business, this is as far as you can get with that methodology, with all those tactics, with that mindset. This is as far as you're going to get. Okay? That's it. Right? Whatever you think you have to prove, you're correct. Whatever circles you think you need to get into to be able to be successful, you're correct, right? The limitations that you've put upon yourself, they're correct. To get to this level, if you want to get to a higher level, if you want to make more money, if you want to attract better, high paying client, higher paying clients who are more dedicated to the work they get from you, it's going to take something else. It's going to take more know how. It's going to take more believing in yourself. It's going to take more being brave and not being a weenie about it. It's Going to take having the ovaries to give yourself the whole damn loaf of bread, okay? Because you deserve it. Okay? I. I don't even know. Have to know who's watching right now. I know. You deserve the whole damn loaf of bread. Stop settling for breadcrumbs and stop giving yourself breadcrumbs. You deserve a whole ton more anyway with that. Happy Sunday, everyone. If you're in the United States and you're celebrating Royal Day tomorrow, I hope you have an amazing Monday off. I actually only have one clock all. I usually forget about holidays, but. And I actually did this time. It's just people didn't book on my calendar and I got away with it. Anyway, Stephen and Daniel, thank you so much for being here. I hope this is a super useful little wake up call for you if you needed it and for anyone else who needed this. Get off your butt and go. Go get the damn loaf. Go get it. Okay? It's there for the taking as long as you go and get it. And if you need help with anything in regards to your business and your money mindset, you know where to find me. Just shoot me a DM and we'll hop on a call. Anyway, Happy Sunday, everyone. I am gonna go watch a scary show that I'm hooked on called Evil. If you have seen it, please ruin it for me because I don't like scary stuff, but I'm hooked. I need to know what happens. Anyway, I love you all. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach, and I will be live with you again tomorrow. It is today's day nine of me going live every single day for 30 days. We're almost a third of the way through. Anyway, thank you again for being here and I will see you tomorrow. Bye.