Sometimes, as a conscious entrepreneur, you can spend SO much time trying to figure out the essentials of your Authentic Message.
This exploration can sometimes feel a bit paradoxical: you need to dive into your message, as you're clarifying that message and whom it serves.
First, let me clarify what I mean by Authentic Message:
WHO you serve
WHAT BIG problem they struggle with
HOW you help them solve it
This adventure of your Authentic Message can feel overwhelming at times and be the source of tremendous confusion. There can be SO much fretting about your market and your message! You stumble over worksheets, try different coaches and programs, and still this huge amorphously shaped ‘thing' stands in the way of you creating the change you want to see in the world. Don't let your Authentic Message become an insurmountable barrier to creating your abundant business.
I've spent loads of time engaging and exploring the answers to these questions myself. Sometimes it's filled me with frustration, sometimes even rage. At times it has propelled me into a spiral of questioning my very value.
Here's what's possible: this very frustration in articulating your Authentic Message can be turned into a powerful process. You see, you can only change what you know, and you can only know what you name. There is something magical that occurs as you continuously share your Authentic Message:
I believe in the power and mystery of naming things.
Language has the capacity to transform our cells,
rearrange our learned patterns of behavior and
redirect our thinking. I believe in naming what's
right in front of us because that is often what is
most invisible… I believe one person's declaration
sparks another and then another…I believe freedom
begins with naming things. Humanity is preserved by it.
Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
Here's what I discovered: exploring these questions intellectually isn't the shortest path to your Authentic Message. The best way to capture it is to dive into the message that YOU are passionate about and start SERVING more people now.
The subtext of this exploration is your why, and make no mistake your ability to champion this message will totally depend on your deep connection and commitment to this BIG problem. Lance Secretan calls this a terra threat, a really BIG problem, or cause, that you feel moved to champion. Here's the question to explore, “In which world threat do you feel moved to be the change?”
No more stumbling and bumbling around your Authentic Message. Get into action today. Here are 3 ways to build your Tribe by sharing your Authentic Message:
- Write! As Eve Ensler mentions above ‘naming things' is an Act of Power. Writing is a bridge between your essence and your expression. You get to ‘practice' and test out your Authentic Message with every sentence you write. Every time you write about your Authentic Message and communicate with your Tribe you are bringing awareness and possibility to it. Write journal entries and share them on your blog, write articles and distribute them to article banks and through social media. Write alone, write in a group, write in person. Write on your smartphone, write in your notebook. Write articles, poetry, prose, haiku. Write!
- Partner! Partner with others to access the collective field of quantum possibility. I like to think that when Jesus said, “When one or more are gathered in my name, there am I” he was speaking to this collective connection that we share. It is sacred and true. Nothing in nature exists in a vacuum. Everything is interrelated and interdependent. It might have been the Course in Miracles that said, “Salvation is not a solo journey.” We're not going ANYWHERE by ourselves. Everything and everyone is in connection. Partner in your writing, teleclasses, interviews, and books. Be a guest blogger on your colleagues' sites. Partner!
- Lead! In the playground of your Authentic Message, chances are you'll be saying things that others may not agree with. I think that's a good sign, you're off the beaten path and exploring something ‘new.' Every change has been preceded by visionaries. Often you must lead, where there is no path. If you can't find the community, mastermind, program, or partnership you're looking for, create it! Your ability to lead your Authentic Message into being is what will create shifts not only for you but for all that you serve. Lead!
Here's the thing… You will NEVER be crystal clear about your Authentic Message until you take action right now where you are, with what you know. Your Authentic Message takes shape as you share it and step into it! Let's get this party started!
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
Love this!
Thanks, Valerie! I loved writing it. It's all based on my personal experience.
Luved the quote, Faina. I’m a passionate advocate for partnering… period. List size is only one factor in determining a ‘Juicy JV’ and not even the MOST important one. I’ve partnered with plenty of entrepreneurs that don’t have a BIG list. For me it’s always about the exponential power and possibility that’s at play in partnership. It’s an awesome dance.
I just read the Inc article by Tom Searcy. Here is the quote: “If you want your conversations to have a real impact, you need to simplify your message.” He talks how your message has to be clear to a 9-year old (I tell my clients – 6 year old).
Adela, you are right that clarity comes with action. I deeply believe in Partnering for it’s geometric multiplying power. Unfortunately, I find many people on the Internet looking to partner Up, i.e with some one with a bigger list, bigger events, etc. I would like women entrepreneurs partnering regardless of their list size, for the purpose of better serving their clients and growing their businesses. I am thinking of starting a Facebook group for this purpose. I hope to be proven wrong and have people with big lists sign up:)
SPOT ON!
(…. and your timing today for me, personally? Spot on!!!!!)
hugs
John O
“chances are you’ll be saying things that others may not agree with. I think that’s a good sign, you’re off the beaten path and exploring something ‘new.’”
AGAIN?!! LOL
Writing, partnering & leading – on it……… thanks for the POV, Adela.
I know you’re ‘on it’ Ms. P! Yes, again and again and again, LOL!
Adela, starting with what you have and where you are is the hardest part. Only in the exploration and testing do we truly figure out what’s true. It’s so tempting to WAIT until you have more or know more to get started. Feel very blessed that someone like you has helped me get closer to nailing the authentic message.
Great post.
It takes courage, consistency and willingness to BE in the dance of your Vision. You have those in spades, Camara! Congrats for BEing the movement of what moves YOU and serves ALL.
Great article, Adela. This really hits home today. The funny thing is the more clear I get about who I am, the more clear it becomes that I want to help others find out who they are.
Don’t you love how your message clarifies as you step into it? Well done, Amethyst. It’s a powerful path to help others capture their message, you’re working with articulating their brilliance. Honorable work, indeed. 😉
Good morning Adela,
You almost make my day begin! I think I’ve got it! Well, maybe!
I serve spiritually oriented leaders who feel they are lost in the struggle to find themselves and their true purpose and wish they could somehow have a complete life makeover. You might even call me ‘The Life Makeover Expert.’
Love you!
Rachel
Rachel,
Sounds like you’re working your message. Congrats!
Yes, working on the message, working on clarity; does it ever end?! Guess not; or I would miss the challenge? 🙂
Great article, Adela! Boy does this make me feel better! I kind of felt like something was wrong with me because I can’t articulate my “Authentic Message” yet…but I am doing exactly what you say to do here…so I guess I’m on the right track after all! I do feel that it becomes clearer as I step out and DO it, BE it!
I am stepping out and doing my 1st ever TeleSummit this fall for the holidays!
Thanks so much for your encouraging words!
Congrats, Kathleen. A telesummit is a huge visibility strategy for getting out your message in a BIG way. Sounds like you’re ready for prime time.
Adela, I love this. I am doing this! Almost! Just have to capture the 2d and third even more profoundly – partnering and leading. But I know I’m going somewhere. Love what you are doing. Stay with it!
Love,
Krista
Author of “Krista’s Little Book of Miracles'”
Thanks, Krista! Congrats on the book, too.