Everyone knows that to grow a business, a strong marketing plan is so important and part of a strong marketing plan includes social media and that may mean live streaming on Facebook Live. Well, for me, this was a big pill to swallow … realizing I needed to take a bit of my own “medicine” and push myself out of my comfy zone.
My coach and colleagues have been nudging (ok, I admit it, pushing … envision a foot to the butt here) me to step out and start doing Facebook Live. It’s something I know I’ve needed to do to get myself and my message out there in front of the women I want to serve.
It really was quite simple, hit “live’ and talk about what I’m passionate about. It. Just. Wasn’t. That. Easy. (read more about simple vs easy here).
My fear had me by the ankles, but the funny thing was, I wasn’t even spending much time thinking about it … I was simply, unknowingly, being busy “over here” and ignoring what was going on “over there” in the live streaming world.
Moving through fear into action is rarely an easy thing. It can be a tad uncomfortable, and vulnerability hasn’t always been something I’m comfortable with.
Well, with some transparency here, I’ll admit, vulnerability is not something I’ve become comfortable with, it’s just that not allowing it space in my life (business AND personal) has become far more uncomfortable than avoiding it.
“You can’t get to courage without walking through vulnerability.” ~ Brene Brown
I didn’t know what it was that was holding me back from jumping on Facebook Live, but I eventually became aware that I was busying myself with all sorts of other things that took my attention … and at the end of each day I hadn’t done it and it got put it on my list of things to get to tomorrow. Can any of you ladies relate?
And the fact that I can stand up and confidently speak to a room full of women made it even easier for me to look the other way and not own my “shit”—my fear. How could I be fearful of Facebook Live when I would happily stand on my soapbox and share my passion in front of a room full of a hundred women? Crazy, I wasn’t fearful. Ha. Then I looked in the mirror.
Ugh. I realized it was time to get a clear view of what the hell was going on.
Was it comfortable? Nope. Necessary? Oh, hell yeah.
And, “That which we resist, persists,” Damn—that Carl Jung was onto something….
I had reverted back to my old ways of being busy doing all sorts of things that appeared to be moving me in the direction of my goals, but were not. Well, to be totally truthful here, those “things” were moving me closer, just at a snail’s pace.
Moving at a pace that kept me within my comfort zone.
When I “saw” this it was waaay more uncomfortable to stay put then to push myself out of the king sized pillow topped feather bed comfort zone I was snuggled into.
We have to be willing to do something poorly in order to figure out how to do it well.
I had to be willing to fail in order to succeed. For more on our fear of failure click here…
And I certainly had to be willing to let go of my firm grip on perfectionism if this is something I guide the women I work with to do.
Did I fail on my first Facebook Live? I don’t think so. Did I crush it? Umm, no, definitely not. BUT, I moved through my fear, learned a beautiful lesson, and here I am today writing this blog, sharing my growth, and not a scratch on me. Huh, who woulda thunk. Check out my live stream video by clicking on the photo below and tell me what you think.
And that medicine that I needed to take … tasted more like a gummy vitamin.
- Where might you be unknowingly “hiding” in your business?
- What vulnerability may be keeping you from pushing beyond your comfort zone?
- And what one step are you willing to commit to, to move closer to your goals, your dreams?
I’d love to hear your comments. Are you ready to start getting comfortable with the uncomfortable and pick up the speed on success? Click Here to download an application for a free Clarity Consultation with me … let’s get you intentionally moving towards the life and business of your dreams, now!
Great article…thanks for sharing your journey and normalizing fear for us.
Thank you for checking out my blog Fay! Great comment too, fear really is a normal emotion. When we can stop working so hard to avoid it we can start to learn from it! Thanks again Fay.
Ayup. I can relate with everything you’re saying. Although I’m sorta different in that I did put myself out there in a sorta scary way to busy myself from getting the REALLY scary thing done. Thus I can’t be al that proud of doing my version of your “facebook live” because deep down I know it was partly to avoid doing scarier stuff.
Essentially we’re all looking for ways to avoid the scary 🙂
Congratulations for taking your fear by the horns and jumping in!
Thanks so much Alexis! I appreciate you sharing your insights. I’ve often done the same thing as you…busying myself with something that seems big in order to, as you said, ‘busy yourself from getting the really scary thing done’. Our minds can trick us up…but our fears truly do have much to teach us if we’re willing to slow down and look them in the eye.
You’ve been making some pretty big bold moves with your career, kudos!!
Thanks for reading and commenting Alexis.