Sometimes as entrepreneurs in the pursuit of your greatest desires it can be easy to forget how to show up as your true self. When there is a disconnect between your energy and your art things start to fall apart. Learn how reconnecting to your art and your true self is actually what helps you and your business.
“And who knows? Maybe what you’ve written will help others, will be a small part of the solution. You don’t even have to know how or in what way, but if you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
The Disconnect
I read a post on Facebook this week that broke my heart.
A very talented, intelligent entrepreneur shared her incredible frustration and sadness over not getting traction in her business. She said that she had done all the right things and followed the advice of online marketers down to the last detail. She had also poured hours upon hours and invested enormous financial resources into her book launch (which fell flat).
She was devastated, exhausted, and broke.
I looked at some of her marketing and spotted the problem immediately. This deeply soulful, wise, and gifted woman was nowhere to be found in her social media posts, sales pages, or website. Your true self must be present.
Sure, there were lovely, professional images of her everywhere. But she was not there. That is, her authentic self was missing.
And we could all feel the disconnect. Something was off. When we feel that divide, we do not buy. When your true self is missing, we all feel it.
As entrepreneurs and creators, we often believe we should be engaging in relentless “push” marketing efforts, running all around the island looking for boats to save (as Anne Lamott would say). What you may not know is that when you reveal your true self, speaking your truest words with visibility and vulnerability, you pull your market right to you.
We attract our ideal clients with ease, flow. By being your true self.
I wrote about the power of discovering and revealing our authentic selves in my book, BUOYANT:
“We entrepreneurs and creators make the same mistake, over and over: we forget that our best marketing elixir and magic maker is us. The unvarnished, unfiltered us. We forget that our creative self-expression and our businesses at their best and worst—our art—are mirrors of who and how we are—the many ways we choose to fill our hearts and souls with song, poetry, and beauty; the time we offer our ragged bodies to rest and recover; the gentle yet firm boundaries we keep to protect our sacred energy; the quiet in which we can hear ourselves think and remember what we have forgotten or pushed aside; the time we spend moving our bodies or making something.
You can smile at me through tired eyes that do not lift and crinkle, and I will not trust you or believe you are happy or sincere. You can talk fast and push bonuses and deadlines to entice me to sign up, and I will not give you my credit card number. You can hustle and holler, but if who you are and what you are saying are hollow or do not ring true, I will walk on.
In the same way, your creativity, your unique, competitive edge, will get up and go too. It’s not because we can’t afford it or aren’t interested that we are not buying from you. We are not buying from you because we cannot see you. The real you. Your art. Who you are is what you create. And it is in that reflection that we fall in love with your art as you.
We entrepreneurs can believe only in business mechanics, amping our platforms, and finding productivity hacks. But our time and attention are much better spent in discovering the center of our broken hearts and showing that to the world.
And when we forget who we truly are, we feel the nauseating awareness of having made it while lying to ourselves. Somewhere buried in our subconscious, we know we are on borrowed time, and that the ghost of our true self will soon come calling, bill in hand.
When there is a disconnect between our energy and what or who we want to engage with, our efforts will fall flat. We can furrow our brows and white-knuckle an effort all we want, and all our toiling will be to no avail. Our energy always, always precedes us and our desired outcomes.“
So how do we dig into the rich soil of who we truly are, and find your true self? How do we, for once and for all, get beyond what has always held us back?
By doing the deep work of getting to the core of who you are and reclaiming your innate creativity.
Reconnecting to Your True Self
When you boldly embrace and fully express your imagination and intuition, you can…
- Break free of the limiting beliefs and unhealthy habits holding you back
- Tap into the gold mine that is your innate creativity and your true self
- Become a magnet for ideal clients
- Be propelled by your natural talents and skills
- Drop into states of flow and ease
- Leap right over censoring yourself without the fear of “getting it wrong” or being judged, free to be your true self
- Live and work in an inspired state of playful possibility, joy, and curiosity
Introducing: The Sketchbook Entrepreneur Masterclass®
The Class for Entrepreneurs
The Sketchbook Entrepreneur Masterclass® is a LIVE six-week online course (we meet via Zoom for an hour on Mondays and Thursdays at Noon Eastern) designed to help entrepreneurs like you access your innate creativity and artistic talent to move into freedom in ways you never dreamed possible. Learn how to discover your true self.
Would you like to join us?
The Sketchbook Entrepreneur Masterclass® will help you…
- Gain creative confidence—Tap into the power of vulnerability so you can stop doubting and start thriving.
- Discover & articulate your unique voice—Find the language you need to communicate your vision and shine in who you are. Your true self.
- Learn the art of business—Navigate business challenges with creative solutions and strategies.
- Become a magnet for ideal clients—Uncover what brings you alive and attract ideal clients with offerings only you can deliver.
- Unblock your imagination—Blast through limiting beliefs and dissolve them through art-making.
- Get clear on your “why”—Leverage the powers of your left and right brain for clarity in your entrepreneurial vision and strategies.
Let’s attract our ideal clients with ease, flow.
Remember: no previous art experience is needed! I designed this experience with busy folks in mind, so the classes and time requirements for the assignments are easy to fold into your schedule.
Join us in The Sketchbook Entrepreneur Masterclass®!
