I am not one to use CAPS lightly. Today is special. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Ten years ago yesterday, I moved from San Francisco to London to follow a very cute boy. Unfortunately, ten years ago today, he told me he was madly in love with someone else. Yeah. Best. New Year’s. Ever. I was alone in our fifth floor walk-up, broken heater, every friend I had in London was gone for the holidays, and pretty much everyone I could call back home were away for the holidays too. I was like WAY alone. SUPER alone. TOTALLY alone.
That moment derailed me for years.
I didn’t trust myself or my decision-making skills for nearly a decade.
And then I got over it.
Like a year ago.
Yeah, it took me nine years to get out of my own way and forgive myself for fucking up.
I created Makeness to help people get out of their own way and Make Greatness.
Until now, that has always meant a business focus… and it still does… but for the past few weeks, I have had this nagging feeling that I was missing something.
In the last twenty-four hours three really amazing things happened to me.
First, I signed up for a completely terrible and utterly useless eClass. I wasted $40, against my better judgement, and actually let a smarmy sales page rope me in. What I learned was that I already know a lot more than I thought I did, because two years ago, it may have seemed useful (I’m being kind).
Second, on a whim, I signed up for Leo Babouta’s A-List Blogging Membership (affiliate link) site. In the first four hours, I was hooked. The shear volume and quality of information was astounding. It was by far the most useful resource I have found on how to be a professional blogger. Scratch that. It was one of the most useful resources I have ever found on how to be a professional, period. To anyone out there who is thinking about being a blogger, seriously, sign up for this. I wish I had at the beginning, I wouldn’t have wasted six months trying to figure everything out. What I learned is that authenticity is everything.
Not to say that I have been inauthentic in any way. On the contrary, Makeness represents my truest business self. However, what I realized was that the nagging feeling in my stomach stemmed from not offering enough.
Until now, I thought that I needed to wrap myself in my simple little brand and stick to it at all costs.
What I realized was that, for me, being authentic means sharing and growing with my lovely readers. My business is not my life, and I’m guessing yours isn’t either. I realized that I was missing this huge opportunity to turn up the volume on Making Greatness.
The third thing was that last night I had this awesome dream. I dreamed that I was Florence, of Florence and the Machine. I was singing my ass off that the ‘Dog days are ov-er-errrrrr’! It was awesome (read a couple more lines, then watch the video at the bottom. It will SO make your day better, I promise).
I woke up feeling like absolutely anything was possible, and that Making Greatness needs to happen in every corner of our lives.
I realized that the thing that was missing from Makeness was acknowledging that you can’t have a truly great business until you have a truly great life.
So, coming in 2011, Makeness will be growing, BIG time, because the dog days are over, baby!
I am IN LOVE with Florence! Wow! What a great way to start the New Year! I want to share this video with everyone I know and many that I don’t. Thank you for dreaming. Keep dreaming and helping your readers to do the same!
Yay illana! You go!
Thanks Susan!! What’s on your agenda next year?