Best way to figure out what you’re made of? Slow down and find out.
Folks, the buzz word of social media is authentic and there’s no way you can become authentic unless you’re actually taking time to find out what it means. What do you like? What do you get angry about? What soothes you?
If you’re scratching your head wondering what that has to do with social media, stop! Social media is not just about making money or pushing your agenda on others . . . no! It’s about becoming a more rounded authentic person, someone that people want to know more about. How do you think Oprah and Martha Stewart and Donald Trump make millions? Not because people don’t know anything about them, but because people know everything about them! And if you’re not prepared to be real with people, you’ll soon burn out on this social media thing.
I did. I burned out in May. I was attempting to prepare for a big trip to Europe and finish all my work and still blog and still write and still edit and I lost it. There was just no way to keep all the balls in the air at the same time.
Some would consider that a failure. I certainly don’t. I consider it progress. Now I know what I really WANT to do and it’s not keep a lot of balls going in the air. I want to come to work with passion and the ability to relax even in the most stressful of days. I have since rearranged my work schedule to better accommodate that.
How?
1. I put my favorite things first. I love my day job, crazy as it can get, but nothing better than a day when I’m caught up except for my work and I can just get lost in it.
2. Do the fun stuff as much as you can. I love sitting down with a pen and paper and writing longhand about whatever is in my head. That sounds crazy to some people, but I LOVE IT.
3. Fire the irritating people in your work life. There is no reason to keep them around just for the money. They bug you. Let ‘em go.
4. Drop the R&D that you really aren’t that keen on. If you aren’t ready to develop a business sales funnel around a new service or product, wait until you are ready.
5. Take time off and develop boundaries around that time. If you’re working, work. If you’re relaxing, relax. Simple, right?
All of these I will be expounding on in more detail next week. I’m also preparing an ebook on being authentic and will offer it for just 7 dollars (I’d rather folks be authentic and still have a few dollars in their pockets than mad at me and broke) and hope to have it up shortly.
It may sound crazy, but bear with me. Being authentic IS the way to social media success. If you aren’t real, no one cares.
Have a great weekend!
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