Any chance you've seen the movie, Jaws.
This movie scared me so much that this frizzy haired little weirdo would only ever go snorkeling
in the bath.
But it taught me a very valuable lesson about success because when there's blood in the
water, sharks swarm.
A similar thing happens when someone achieves success.
See, when someone achieves success, everybody wants to take a bite out of it.
Everyone wants to figure out how they get there and how can I do the same thing?
All of a sudden the water gets so bloodied and so competitive that it's really hard to
even see you.
Good example of this.
This YouTube channel, I started it five years ago.
When I started this channel, I was talking about YouTube marketing.
I was talking about social media and building an online business.
At the time there really weren't that many people talking about it.
Over the years, more and more people have been talking about the same topic.
For me over the last five years, my business has evolved so much and I've evolved so much
as a human and I've been through a lot in the last five years.
I got to a place this year where I realized, you know what?
I think it's time for me to show up authentically as I am now and stop trying to be like everybody
else.
Now it's time to show up authentically as me, teach the lessons that I've learned over
the last five years.
Still talk about YouTube, but talk about it in a different way.
Here's what I've learned.
When you show up authentically as you are, you eliminate the competition.
The water becomes clear, and that makes you unbeatable and the go to person that people
want to follow.
There's a really great book on this called Blue Ocean Strategy, I highly recommend it,
and I'll link to it below.
But how do you show up authentically as you?
I have learned that there are four keys to truly uncovering this and building the audience
you've always dreamed of and attracting the kind of clients you want to work with.
Attracting the kind of relationship you want, attracting the kind of financial freedom that
really makes you feel fulfilled.
What are those four questions?
Give me one sec.
This might sound weird.
First question.
What were you made fun of for?
Or what are you made fun of for?
For me it's things like my big curly hair.
I was made fun of so much as a kid.
What else was I made fun of for?
My name.
I was also made fun of because I was so ambitious and I was the little weirdo who would sit
in my room and make movies.
I loved being creative and putting on shows.
What did I learn?
The things that I was made fun of for, and the things that you're maybe made fun of for
are ultimately your super powers and they're the things that they make you unbeatable and
uncopyable.
Next question.
What qualities are you attracted to in other people?
For me, those are things like honesty, kindness, credibility, courage, abundance, thinking
big longterm thinking, legacy thinking.
I could go on and on and on, compassion, generosity.
There's a lot of things I'm attracted to in other people.
One of the most valuable things I learned about that is the things that I'm attracted
to in other people ultimately became my values.
These values that you're attracted to in others are the things that you ultimately need to
show up as.
Because when you do, then you're going to attract the right humans in every aspect of
your life.
Write down a list of the things that are valuable to you in others, the qualities that you seek
out and ask yourself, are you being those things, are you showing up as those things?
A really good thing to do is keep that little list with you at all times.
You can even put it in your wallet, put it in your pocket, put it in your purse.
Keep it handy, so you never forget what your values are.
Because success without values is like going on a hike without a map.
You're going to get lost eventually.
The next question is what policies make you really mad at other people?
For me it's mean, selfish, narcissistic, abusive.
There's a lot of things.
Those are just to name a few.
Dishonesty, not being transparent.
Those things ultimately become polarizing.
You may notice that in every single superhero movie, the hero has a villain.
You need villains too.
Because when you show up with your true values, you're going to repel these people.
That's a really good thing.
You are not meant to please everybody.
You want to have people who love you and get you and are there for you and you also want
to have people who don't like you.
Because if you're vanilla and in the middle, you're never really going to do anything that
amazing.
You're meant to do amazing things.
Make a list of the things that you really don't like in other people.
Ultimately those are your values that you need to ensure that you never go towards and
you never become and you never show up as those things and you never compromise your
credibility to do those things just for a quick hit of fame or love or whatever it might
be.
What makes someone a hero?
I mean, I know that a hero is somebody who overcomes adversity.
If you've gotten this far in this year, you're a hero.
We've all overcome some sort of adversity.
Ultimately what makes you a hero?
I've shared these questions before, but they are so powerful and they really hold the key
to how you're meant to show up in this world and ultimately what you're meant to share.
If you're trying to build a business or you're trying to figure out what to share on social
media, which might seem like small things, but they can create a big impact, ask yourself
these questions.
Here it goes.
The first question is what's the hardest thing you've ever been through?
Because some of our best lessons and the things we can teach come from the hardest things
we've been through.
What's the most painful thing you've ever been through?
What really hurt you.
There was growth out of that.
With growth comes things that you can share and have an impact on others so they don't
have to go through it.
What's a problem you've solved for yourself or somebody else?
Because entrepreneurs are problem solvers.
Creatives, problem solvers.
You've solved a problem, whether it's for you or someone else, think about that, journal
on it.
Next thing is, what do people come to you for help with or constantly are asking you
for help with?
That shows you where your genius zone is.
People were always asking me to make videos for them growing up, and it never clicked
that that was ultimately something I was good at and probably was meant to do.
It's obviously the things that we take for granted that oftentimes are our genius zone.
The next thing is what makes you unique or different?
Those are oftentimes the things that are going to help you stand out and not have to compete
in the sea of sameness.
The final question is what are some of the best lessons that you have ever learned personally,
professionally?
Whatever it may be, write them down.
Now, you've got this whole list of things, this whole list of lessons, whether you see
them as lessons or not.
Those are the things that you have experienced individually, and you can teach in a way that
nobody else can.
You could be talking about the same subject as somebody else, you could cover the same
subject to somebody else, there could be a business you want to create that somebody
else has already created or a million other people have already created but if you show
up as you to do it, that's where the real magic happens.
That's where you show up in clear waters and you're the only person there, and you become
the immediate leader and the person that people want to follow.
When you accept your differences and honor them as superpowers, that's when you show
up as your authentic self and you become a mirror for what you want to attract, whether
that's YouTube subscribers like Dory, who commented and said, "Thank you for sharing
this side of you.
Thank you for being a mirror.
When we do this especially here on YouTube it gives so many other permission to do the
same.
You're holding space for me to go deeper too."
Or maybe it's a relationship, the partner you're trying to attract, or it's the job
or the boss that you want, or the clients that you're trying to bring into your realm,
whatever you want to attract, you have to be at first to create that mirror.
I can tell you right now that you being you and you showing up authentically as who you
are, is more important than ever.
You matter.
Representation matters.
Your voice matters.
When Chadwick Boseman passed away recently from Black Panther, there were thousands of
kids that were pictured with his action figure.
Because in a sea of white superheroes, a person of color in that role was long overdue and
it gave these kids a mirror for what they could become.
When you show up as you imperfectly, you become a mirror for other people.
Someone needs you to be a hero.
Quite frankly, if you just choose to follow someone else's path and try to compete in
the bloodied waters, it's selfish because no one's able to see you as a hero.
You just start blending in.
Whatever your goals are, whatever you want to achieve, ask yourself those questions first.
Or if you're already doing something that you're really excited about, tune in and ask
yourself those questions because it could make all the difference to you and how you
grow and making sure that as you grow, you're aligned with who you are the whole time.
Because I can tell you success without fulfillment is not success at all.
Are you with me?
Watch these videos next.
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