Right about now is the time of year that folks start to feel more frustrated with the habits they’ve formed (or didn’t form) with the new year.
For whatever reason, we feel more exposed to external reasons to start a new, healthy habit of some sort.
Places are beginning to open up again. The weather is turning. School is in full swing. A new relationship has started or we’re gung-ho on starting one soon. We have an upcoming trip planned. We just feel the need to change something up and have some control in our lives.
The list can go on.
Personally, I don’t like to think of new habits as life changes, I think of them as 30 days of discomfort because it takes that long for a new habit to be formed.
And just like there is an endless list of stories we can tell about why we want to incorporate the new habit into our lives, we sure come up with a lot of stories about why it’s hard during those first 30 days.
A challenge: For the rest of the year, write down one new habit per month that you want to develop. Nine 30-day stretches to absolutely shape your life in new was.
First, there’s no reason not to reach out to every relevant podcast and pitch yourself. Reach out to blogs and influencers and brands and pitch yourself.
By all means, give getting picked a chance.
Best case scenario you get selected and you refine the story you’re telling through all of your pitching.
Worst case scenario is you get to choose yourself and you already have your story refined from telling it through all of your pitching.
When the podcasts don’t pick you up. Start one.
When the blogs, influencers and brands don’t choose you. Choose yourself by creating one, becoming one, building one.
People know what you did to. It’s part of your story. It’s tangible; they can see what you did.
But they often forget what you didn’t do – and knowing what you didn’t do makes your story stronger.
It’s a list you have to intentionally share.
Who are you not targeting? Why didn’t you do it X way instead? What shortcut was available to you that you skipped in lieu of being in it for the long haul?
What you are is as important to share is what you’re not.
There’s a quick way to gauge whether you’re personally making an impact somewhere, and it’s to answer one question: Would you be missed if you were gone?
It’s different than “could they still do what needs to be done without you?” because that answer should be yes. Rather, missing you if you were gone hints at the value you’re adding and the legacy you’re creating.
But what about gauging the impact of the work itself? Well that’s a similar question: Is it remarkable?
Remarkable as in the the guarantee that people will talk about it once you ship it? Remarkable as in is it designed to be shared? Remarkable as in is it worth remarking about?
If you wouldn’t be missed if you were gone, then it’s time to step it up.
If the work won’t be talked about once it’s out in the world, then it’s time to step it up.