Jordan
We're just vibing. We got the same vibe going on. We got band tees and lace. Band tees and lace, people. That's the movement.
Ashton
Two of the greatest bands of all time is what we're repping today. I'll go first. Fleetwood Mac, thank you, yes, mic drop.
Jordan
Paramore, thank you, yes, mic drop. Actually, did you know Paramore they won a Grammy for like best album of the year or something? And it was the first like female fronted band to win that award. I think maybe ever or in a really long time. It was like they broke some sort of record with it, which is crazy. I can't remember exactly what it was, but
Ashton
Literally so proud of them. I know Hayley is just the best of us.
Jordan
Hayley is queen. Her vocals are insane She's psycho like seeing her well like seeing them live is so cool like she she's the front man to be she's the front woman and her vocals As she's gotten older, she's just gotten so much better. And I'm just like, girl, like, how do you sing like that? How do you project like that? How do you do it?
Ashton
How are you so confident? How are you getting things done the way that you're getting them done? I know, dude. What in the world? This is a new segment. We're introducing the start of Legacy Creator, where Jordan informs us of cool facts that we may not know, aka Ashton doesn't know. Yes. Welcome back. And that segues beautifully into our topic, because you know what? Hayley didn't get where she's gone to today by watching Waiting and Hoping.
Jordan
Ooh, tea! How are we doing this? Because we are in marketing, so we know how to tie the storylines together. That's really good.
Ashton
Oh my gosh. I'm Ashton Smith. And I'm Jordan Long. And we're coming in hot. We're seventh generation entrepreneurs with a passion for fusing creative expression and business fundamentals to help entrepreneurs powerfully expand their companies.
Jordan
Legacy Creator is a show for creatives, big thinkers, and visionaries who are doing business differently. Together, we unpack topics to help you embody your creative identity, develop as a leader, and powerfully grow your business.
Ashton
In a nutshell, we're calling you out and calling you higher. Today's topic, watching, waiting, and hoping, girlfriend is making you zero dollars. Zero. Nada. Zip. Zip. Zilch. None. Nothing. Loose egg. Seriously, it's not doing anything. And this episode is really dedicated to anyone who has or is feeling stuck in inaction. You're just kind of sitting there. Maybe you're just watching what other people are doing, which let's be real. It's like the easiest thing to do these days with social media. And that often is leading you to this state of comparison and paralysis. We're not wanting to move because, quote unquote, we're not as good as they are, as she is, as that brand is. Maybe you've been waiting around for this breakthrough, for these opportunities that you've been craving, that you know you want, and you're just waiting for them to come to you. to just magically arrive at your doorstep. Or maybe you've been hoping that all things are just gonna work out. No action necessary, no risk required, we're just hoping it's all gonna come together. And if you've listened to this podcast, if you've been in our energy and our space for any amount of time, you know that we're big believers in positive thinking, in declarations, walking in faith, but we're also big believers in taking big actions.
Jordan
Amen.
Ashton
You gotta have both. If you have a big vision, you have to be willing to make big moves. And if you're an entrepreneur, I would say that your vision is pretty grand. You know, you're building something from nothing and that falls on you. You know, you're building for more freedom. You're building for financial breakthrough opportunities to fund a team, whatever it is. But if you're going to have that big vision, you got to be willing to make big moves. You got to move, you got to do something. You got to get off the sidelines and get actually on the court. I'm talking like I know anything about sports. But you gotta get in the arena, like you gotta do something. And the bigger your vision, the bigger the responsibility that you carry. So you're gonna have to embrace more growth to get there. You're gonna have to take more risks to get there. You're gonna have to develop greater resilience so you can sustain where you're going. You know how resilience is created through hardship. Nine times out of ten. So talk about some extra hardship for the people out there that have the bigger visions. Your vision demands this of you, not so that you can just attain it, so you can arrive, so you can get there, and it can be great, but so you can actually sustain it. And delaying that movement, skipping out on that movement, it's just gonna cost you in the end. I think the best metaphor for this is working out. You know, if you're working out, even with a group of people, you have a set workout, you got X amount of reps you got to get through. If you skip a few, who's really gonna know. You know, I mean, like, you know, they're not gonna catch you and just, you know, tsk, tsk. At the end of the day, you're gonna be the only one to really know. So like, what does it matter? But at the end of the day, that only costs you. Skipping out on those few reps cost you because you're losing out on building strength that everyone else is building so that the next time you do that workout, you can do it even better. You're even stronger, right? You're more equipped. So the reality is this watching waiting and hoping it's making you zero dollars. It's making zero impact It's providing you with zero fulfillment And today our goal is to just call you out from hiding and call you into powerful action And we promise you that once you get into motion, even though it will not be perfect. You're gonna feel So much better. You're gonna feel like a weight has been lifted
Jordan
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Ashton
What if you could turn your ideas into actual profit for your business? Right now, you may feel like you're doing all the right things, and yet your efforts aren't creating more money for your business. Today, that changes. Our free 90-day profit planner has helped hundreds of creative entrepreneurs transform their income goals into an actualization strategy since 2019. You can download yours for free today. Just visit myawakening.co slash profit. That's myawakening.co slash profit. Now back to the show.
Jordan
We kind of wanted to talk through these three different types of inaction as separate things. They all kind of play together, but I think we kind of wanted to break them down. So number one, watching, watching other people, watching what they're doing. Number one, that ultimately is just distracting you from your work. It's distracting you from making moves and getting things done. You might be watching someone else who's like, reaching all these incredible milestones and they've hit like seven figures in this one year and like, you just wish that was you. But ultimately, that's just distracting you from taking the action necessary to get you there. Like maybe that is something you want, but you're just, it's kind of just like wishful thinking, you're ultimately just distracted. And it's It does take a lot of work to see those certain milestones, to see them come to fruition. It takes so much work on your end. And watching also can create a sense of comparison, I feel, because you're watching everyone else and it can lead to you feeling like maybe you're not good enough. maybe you don't have the same level of success as so-and-so and you see them making all this like momentum in their business, but then you kind of feel down about yourself because you're like, man, I wish that was me, you know, and maybe I'm not good enough to do that. Maybe I'm not good enough to do X, Y, and Z when really ultimately you just have to buckle down, focus on your work, focus on your business and like make moves and create that momentum and move forward.
Ashton
Yeah, I feel like watching is one of the most harmful of the three we're going to break down today. Because when you're watching, you're just sitting in a state of like living through other people. You're in this endless cycle of comparison. You're focusing again on all that someone is in light of all that you think you're not. And that is just destructive, you know? And I think that we create all of these narratives in our head, too, around, like, what our journey should look like to get there and how fast it should be and what steps we should take based on what we see other people experiencing. But wouldn't you rather go, like, live your own story, create your own story, build the vision of your dreams versus just watching what everyone else is doing? I think sometimes we also convince ourselves that watching is productive.
Jordan
Have you ever done that? Yeah, because you it's kind of like you feel like you're learning something from them, like watching them do it.
Ashton
Mm hmm.
Jordan
Yeah. There's only so much you can learn by watching.
Ashton
Oh, that is some good tea right there. Like sometimes you've got to get in action in the arena, like in practice to actually master something to actually do and achieve and build something meaningful. You know, watching may be productive for a time. Like for example, I'm a visual learner, so I like to see a visual demonstration of something, but you're never going to master that thing until you actually go through the motions of whatever that thing is on repeat over a long period of time. So watching, if that doesn't call you into true action on your end, to me it's worth nothing. I think sometimes we get that confused with, oh, well, I'm seeking inspiration and I'm getting inspired and I'm getting motivated or I'm doing market research. Those things don't actually compel you to take action. It's not true inspiration. It's actually just comparison and it's you delaying the moves that you know you need to make. The only way to that you're going to build your confidence is through taking action. Like confidence comes through taking action. And a lot of times when we're watching, we are in so much self doubt. We are in so much questioning. We're in so much anxiety. We're wondering if we're equipped. We don't have any confidence because you're not in motion. And when you actually get into action, you build your confidence because you prove to yourself, I can do this. Like, even if it's not perfect, like I can do this. And actually it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. So we gotta break the cycle of watching, stop convincing ourselves that that's somehow inspiring, motivating, educating us, because at some point, you've gotta go get in the arena, you gotta go do the thing, get into motion to master that thing.
Jordan
Amen. Ameneth. Ameneth. Number two, next on the list is waiting. Two things that come to mind. Number one, waiting to be perfect, waiting for everything to be perfect. You or your offer, for instance. I think waiting for everything to be perfect will not get you anywhere because perfection is a myth. And it is a standard that none of us will ever be able to live up to because nothing can ever be perfect. I think you can strive for excellence in the things you do. I think we both really do that. That's like what we're always striving for. But if you're waiting for everything to be perfect, you're not going to take the action. And we always like to say messy action is so much better than perfect inaction. If you're waiting for perfection, it's never going to come and you won't make any moves.
Ashton
That is the tea. And this is like, this is the dilemma of like every creative because you always want to convince yourself it needs to be perfect. I've got to like do these three more things to make this perfect. But I think perfection is so different from excellence and we can hide behind this need and this desire to be perfect. sometimes because we want to be proud of the work, but also sometimes because we're in a state of like trying to prove and trying to impress and trying to please. And we feel like it needs to be a certain way before we actually put ourselves out there. But like, Oh my gosh, if I could tell you all of the things that I've done in my journey, that I wouldn't do today that got me to where I am, that were totally imperfect. You know, according to the standards of the online space, like we'd be here forever. I remember when we introduced one-on-one coaching and I literally didn't even have a sales page for it. I didn't have an onboarding process set up. I didn't have my like invoicing and like my contracts, like totally optimized. I had the plan of action to get those things in motion, but I knew I wanted to get in motion and sell before I had all of the inner workings, like absolutely perfect. Especially from like a marketing perspective, because yes, sales pages are beautiful and nice, but you don't actually have to have them to go and like sell and get in motion and actually put yourself in front of potential business. And that's the path that I chose. If I sat around and I waited to have all of those marks ticked off, I would have delayed so much momentum and I wouldn't have been able to hit the results that we did. Like we were booked out so fast for that entire upcoming year after I introduced coaching and what I spent the most time on was the actual structure of the coaching, the design. So like what did I want to coach people on? How did I want that to flow the client experience? And then also on the actual relationship building and connecting to make those things happen to actually make those sales happen. So I didn't wait for perfect. If you're waiting for perfect, you're going to be waiting for a whole long time and you're not ever going to get to the thing. You're not ever going to do the thing. You know, and another thing to kind of stem off of that is we wait for everything to be quote unquote figured out as if anyone has it all figured out.
Jordan
For real, no one has anything fully figured out. And if they say they do, I feel like they're lying or they're fronting. They're trying to like, yeah, you need to go listen to our episode.
Ashton
The whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Jordan
Our episode on the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God.
Ashton
Yeah. Something like that. You got to go listen to that one. You know, no one has it all figured out. We might, you know, learn, grow, develop. We have our areas of expertise. We have our wins. We have things that we know how to do really well. but no one's got it all figured out. And as an entrepreneur, you literally are not allowed to wait until you have it all figured out. I'm sorry, but you're just not allowed. Like I'm going to mother you right now and tell you that you're not allowed to do that because it's literally, it goes against your very job description. Like you're building a company from the ground up. You're taking on risks to do that. You need to be moving. You need to be acting. You need to be in motion because your business, requires you like you're responsible for moving it forward. You're not always going to have it all figured out and you actually figure so much out in the actual process. If you're delaying that, then you're holding yourself back. You're delaying receiving the answers because you won't move. Sometimes you have to move first in order to gain the clarity that you want.
Jordan
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Ashton
You're not just gonna magically receive it. It's gonna come through the action. If you keep waiting to have it all figured out before you move, you're not gonna build anything of substance and of meaning. You're gonna be stuck.
Jordan
You're gonna stay stuck. Yeah. Yeah. Clarity comes from action. You figure it out as you go and you learn a lot through the process of just working. Oh my gosh. Like I think about me starting to work with you and then where I am now, like I've learned so many things just by like working every single day, you know? So there's so much that you figure out along the way. Don't wait to have it all figured out because that's just probably not ever going to happen.
Ashton
Yeah. You think you're going to create this perfect plan, and then in five easy steps you're gonna get to this state of like bliss and beauty and unicorns and it's gonna be amazing but actually it's gonna get messy before it gets polished and the process is where you're refined the process is where you grow it's where you figure things out and you need to get in the process ASAP like stop delaying it you're not gonna be able to skip steps just just stop thinking that you're gonna skip all of the important steps and be able to do it overnight, be able to do it in 10 easy steps. That's just not what building a business is. So if you want something like that, you got to look outside of entrepreneurship because that's just not how it's going to roll. That, that is just ain't what it's about.
Jordan
That just ain't what it's about. Oh my God. The final form of inaction we wanted to touch on is hoping this is a really big one that kind of touchy. Cause I do think there's something to be said about having hope and faith and believe, but, Faith without action is pointless. Oh my gosh, you can have all the belief in the world that something's gonna happen for you, but if you're not matching that with some level of work or action, it's more than likely not gonna happen, period.
Ashton
period point blank you know i think it's easy to just kind of lean into i'm just going to hope i'm going to have faith that everything's going to magically align for me like i'm just going to attract all the things the stars are going to align like everything's going to come to me and i think a lot of this stems from the like even attraction-based marketing realm and at the awakening within our community, we always want to empower people to be in action and in control versus just waiting, hoping, you know, hoping to attract things into your atmosphere. Um, not to say that none of that is real, but we want to make sure that you actually feel equipped and empowered to like move. And not just waste your time with wishful thinking, hoping that all the stars are going to align for you, because they will, but through action plus faith, plus hope. It's not just one. Faith and hope by themselves with no action, you're not moving. You might be in a good mental state, but you're not moving. So how are you going to achieve something new if you're not doing something new or if you're not moving into a space where you can actually receive that thing? It's both. I even think growing up, something we heard in our household all the time from the Bible, faith without works is dead. And I almost titled this section that, but I was like, the Bible be bringing in some real spicy truths. You know what I'm saying? But faith without works is dead. So faith is important. Hope is important. But if you aren't acting behind that, it's nothing.
Jordan
Yeah. I think about, like, mantras and manifestations and declarations and all these things that a lot of people do. And we do believe in the power of your words. We practice, like, declarations. It's like, you know, declaring, like, life over yourself, declaring, like, positive things that are coming your way. Those things are rooted in belief, hope, and faith, but you have to match that with action. Words lead to deep-rooted beliefs, which lead to the actions that we take. Your actions are more often than not rooted in the things that you believe in. So your words are important. Your words have so much power. I do believe that they have the power to create your reality. I think if you're speaking really negatively about things, you kind of attract negativity and you start to believe those negative things and you'll start to act out of that state of negativity. Whereas on the flip side of that, if you're speaking positively, you're attracting that positivity. You're believing in all of those positive things that you're saying. and you will act from that state of positivity. We do believe in the power of your words and declarations, declaring things over yourself, but you have to match that with action. You don't want to solely rely on words like mantras and declarations to solve all of your problems and bring all of this money your way, because that probably won't really happen. Your words have meaning, but action carries even more weight. If you're not putting in any work, to back up your words, then they're futile.
Ashton
That was some serious tea. That was so good. I think so often we stop at step one. So if step one is the words, the mantras, the affirmations, That's just step one. Step two is actually developing those beliefs, which then step three leads to the actions that you do or you do not take. So if you're negatively speaking about yourself, that's informing what you believe. And therefore that might be leading to some of the inaction that you're experiencing. So you might need to go actually back to step one and start reworking the way that you're speaking to yourself, the way that you're talking to yourself, the way that you're talking about yourself. What does that dialogue look like for those of you that struggle with that? So we can develop some new beliefs about you, about who you are, about the power you carry. You know, one of the things that we love doing inside of our membership, vivid creative, identity embodiment practices, reaffirming who you are, reaffirming the identity that you carry, but we don't stop there. That's just one piece. That's just one small piece to the puzzle. From there, we have to develop those beliefs and actually get into action because you know, where all of the stamina building resilience, building goals, actualized happens. It doesn't happen when you're in your room or in your car, speaking things over yourself. It actually happens when you're moving, when you're doing, when you're acting, when you're building, when you're creating. So these two worlds really do have to come together. We're not saying that it's either or we're saying that it is actually both. You do need to speak powerfully. You need to be careful about what you're intaking. What are you listening to? What are you watching? What are you, or who rather, are you surrounding yourself with? Who is informing and what is informing what you think about yourself? Because that leads to what you believe, which leads to the actions you do or do not take. So all of that is important, but we can't stop there. We actually have to lean into the movement and the action that you have to take in order to actualize the things that you envision.
Jordan
I think the biggest problems with watching, waiting, and hoping, all three of these, is Number one, you're not taking any action to move the business forward. So you're stuck and you're stagnant. Number two, you're not owning the responsibility as the leader of your business. So you're not growing in your ability to lead the business or to carry the weight of the abundance that could be coming your way. And number three, you're relinquishing a lot of control. Control over things that you actually have control over.
Ashton
That's so good. You're like putting yourself in this powerless state. You're going to just, and again, it's, it's more of this passive state of being waiting for someone or something to somehow rescue you or come to you when actually like we want to empower you to step into more ownership, more control. that you actually have access to. And the truth of the matter is that in entrepreneurship, there are going to be a lot of things that are outside of your control. So if you are uncomfortable with that, again, we need to go reassess, you know, the business path, because you're not always going to know the things there's going to be a lot of areas that you are not in control of. And that's just a part of it. But there are things that are within your control.
Jordan
I was thinking about waiting for customers to just come your way, kind of like the attraction-based marketing we were talking about. I think when you do this, when you're just waiting for customers to come your way and you're not putting any action in to get in front of those customers, you are relinquishing a lot of control in the process, when in actuality, you have control over that process. You have control over finding new customers and selling to them. You are giving up so much control when you do that. You're in control of your marketing, your sales process, your products and services. I think if you have an excellent product with really good marketing, a tried and true sales process in place, you've thought through your customer journey, etc, all of those things, then you have the tools you need to get in front of more ideal clients and get new customers and turn them into buyers. It ultimately boils down to are you determined enough to put in the work on the things you can control so that your business can grow? Are you driven enough to take the reins and actually take control of your business? You don't have to wait for customers to come your way like you can be proactive and get in front of people right now You just have to take control get in the driver's seat and actually like steer steer the car forward Absolutely
Ashton
I even think about like the economy. A lot of people are super stressed. You know, it's really bad out there right now. You know, I think things should just kind of like even out level out before, you know, I make these big moves or I do these big things. But like today, like this is the time. This is the perfect time. Like this is actually the only moment that you're guaranteed. and you need to move like you don't need to wait for things to just even out level out opportunities to come your way actually that's a part of your job description to innovate at every turn in your business when the economy is amazing when it's tanking when people are knocking down your door when there's no one there when it's super quiet when you feel like it when you don't feel like it that is what is required of you. Like we have to find this level of drive and determination and discipline to press in, to actually move and take action in our business. When things don't actually feel good, when things don't look good, you have to go sometimes create that opportunity. The worst thing you can do is wait for opportunity No, actually you can go and create it. That's within your power. That's within your control. Every single moment of every single day. And we can talk about refining the way in which you do that. The nitty gritty of how you go and do that. There's so many marketing techniques, sales tactics, there's, you know, outbound marketing, uh, best practices. There's so many things. But again, today we just really want to boil this down to like, you got to move, you got to like get out there.
Jordan
You have to find the drive and determination within yourself, like honestly, and it is about discipline. Like that's a really big thing. I think a lot of people, and I can get swept up in this. I feel like you can too. It's not just everybody else, you know, we can all fall into this sometimes, but I think a lot of people struggle with the whole discipline thing of like actually disciplining yourself to like get the work done, you know? I don't, I don't want to like step on anyone's toes, but I feel like a lot of it's just based in feelings of like, I just don't feel like it today. Like there are so many days for me where I just don't feel like it. Oh my gosh. Like last week I was having a rough time and I was like, I just don't want to do this anymore. Like I want to just like stop work. I need to do something else. But like I had to get some stuff done and it just was a matter of discipline of like, I'm going to sit down and do the work anyway. Like even though I really don't feel like it.
Ashton
It's so, so stinking true. I think some of this stems from a lot of people start their business in our world today, in our online space today, because they were very unhappy with where they were at before. So maybe you have someone that's come from corporate America, you know, a really bad work environment that maybe was like totally burning them out. It was unfulfilling. They didn't have the freedom that they wanted. They swung so far to the other side where their expectation for their career is more of a fantasy than actual reality because they're trying to create the opposite of what they came from. So, you know, in corporate they were unfulfilled. So they want everything in their business to feel fun and glamorous and exciting all the time. They didn't have freedom in corporate America. So then with their business, they want to take all the time off. They want to work, you know, one day a week and take the other four off. They didn't make the money that they wanted in corporate. So then they swing to the other side and maybe you go to like complete burnout, trying to build so much, create so much money, and then you end up in that cycle of burnout again. But what I'm trying to get at is like, your career is not going to feel like a fantasy at all times. It's not going to feel amazing at all times. That is such an unrealistic expectation. If you think that you aren't gonna have to exercise discipline, patience, sacrifice, in your business because it is your business you are sadly mistaken like it's going to cost so much more than even what would be required of you in corporate America.
Jordan
Oh my gosh. We've talked about this like a lot. I think you've touched on this a lot as well. It's like you are refined by fire. And I think when you're in the work, you are refined through that process and you grow so much in your skills and you learn so much from that. There's so many rewards that actually come from taking action and getting the work done. I think when we're in motion, we feel like we're actually getting things done and it feels good. Like it literally makes us feel good about ourselves. I think that something literally happens in our brains with like the chemicals when we achieve something. It's like the dopamine release. It feels good to us to feel accomplished. It's rewarding. It makes us feel satisfied. It makes us feel satiated and full and fulfilled and happy. So there's so much reward that can come from action. And, you know, I know for me when I'm not getting things done, like there was a time of like several weeks ago where I was just like, I don't feel like I can actually get things done right now. Like I was really in my head, I guess. I don't know. I was just having a rough time when I'm not working, when I'm not getting things done or making progress on my tasks that need to get done. I do not feel good. I don't feel good about myself. I feel really unfulfilled. I feel dissatisfied. I feel down about myself. Cause I, it's like, I'm just frustrated with the fact that I'm just simply not moving like that. I'm simply not in motion. And I'm like, girl, just like get it together. Like do the thing that you need to do. But it's like, I get so in my head and it makes me feel like such crap about myself. Cause I'm like, I'm not getting anything done. Oh, woe is me. You know, I just feel so sad for myself. And I'm just, it's like a pity party, you know. Ridiculous when in actuality like I just have to like get up and do something and I think when I do when I cross over into action and I start Getting some things done and moving the needle forward even if it's like small progress. It feels so much better I feel like I'm actually doing something. I'm contributing. I feel like I'm showing up I feel much better about myself and I just feel happy that I'm actually getting work done when you act on the things that are within your control You're actually making progress on things You're putting in the work on the important parts of your business, and that will actually create some momentum in your business. You'll be more likely to see more money coming in if you are taking action, if you're showing up and doing your part. You have to show up, you have to do the things, you know?
Ashton
Yeah, it's like, what do you have to lose? if you're not doing anything right now, like what do you have to lose by getting up and getting moving? You know? Yeah. Like you might get uncomfortable. It might be risky. You might not know what you're doing, but all of that is going to fade away when you actually get into action and you get into doing the things. I think about all of the anxiety that I feel when I see all of these things that I want to do, all of my lists piling up And you can just sit in that anxious state of like, Oh my gosh, I have all of these ideas and I don't know how to get started and I don't know how it's going to work out and like, how am I going to do that one thing? But if you actually go and like get in the work, it'll all be figured out. And the more that you can tick off, the more accomplished you're going to feel, the more aligned, excited you're going to feel. And that's just going to create like that snowball effect. And I think, you know, when I think about when have I been in a inaction, And when have I not been working on my goals? I literally don't really remember a time because number one, I'm very driven. But number two, I think what happens when you are committed to like moving your business and your ideas and your goals forward It's repetition is the mother of skill. You know, the repetition of that, it just becomes habitual and you don't know how to not do it. You know, when people ask, like, how do you create content so consistently? Or, um, how do you put on these events? And like, where does that energy come from? I'm like, dude, I put it on my calendar and I did it. You know, like it's just like if I put something on my calendar, like I'm not just going to plan it, I'm going to actually like execute on it. And that's something that we have to learn to master. Like you cannot just sit around and plan and ideate all the time. Like, yeah, that's fun, but that's not reality. Like that's not the full picture. You have to get into execution and actually, you know, execution is where the money is. If you're just in your head, if you have a million ideas, there's no money in that until those ideas are put into action.
Jordan
Ameneth.
Ashton
So who makes more money, the person with a hundred ideas that are literally stellar out of this world, or the person that executes on one idea for years? It would be the latter.
Jordan
Yeah, and I think some of some of us might have to work harder to get to that state of mind. I feel like it's really natural for you to be driven. Like, it is such a personality trait of Ashton. She is always she's always been like that just very driven. If she says her mind is something she is going to freaking do it in college. I mean, God, she would like pull herself up in the bonus room and just like work and she was like I'm gonna get my degree in four years and nothing's gonna stop me from doing that. It's just like natural to her but if you're listening to this and you're not really like that like I'm not as driven in that same way like I do have drive but it's just different for Ashton. I feel like you might have to work harder towards it but it really is just a matter of picking yourself up by the bootstraps and just getting to work and doing the thing. Even if you're scared, even if you're uncomfortable, if you say you're going to do something, if you say you're going to put out this product, freaking put out the product. You can do it. The only person holding you back is you, girlfriend. Do it Listen to Nike just do it. I mean it's really that simple But I think we can overcomplicate it because our feelings get involved in it and we maybe don't have enough energy And we feel depleted and we're like, I don't know I feel wishy-washy. I don't know if I want to do that I'm not really feeling it. You know, I might just like dip out and not do it girl That's ultimately not good for you. And it's also not good for word of mouth marketing and people are going to start to realize you're not reliable.
Ashton
So like show up and do the thing. Yeah. Some of that comes back to discipline too. I think some people have this weird idea of, well, I'm going to start showing up like that when I get here. So when I have like this big audience or when I have, all of these customers knocking on my door when I have all of these opportunities, then I will be like hosting events all the time. I'll be releasing new products. If you aren't doing it now, how can you expect yourself to do it when you get there? How are you going to even get there? And then when you get there, how are you going to sustain it? Because you will not have practiced all the things that you say you're going to want to do. You need to practice showing up as your future. self as the vision, as you would have to, when you carry that future vision today, right now, you have to practice that right now so that you can get where you want to go. And then you can actually sustain it. You know, I can't even tell you how many times I've shown up for like an hour long, fully fleshed out, beautiful training that like two people attended. and I still showed up and I still did it and I brought the energy just like I would if there were a thousand people on that call. Sometimes you have to pay your dues and you have to like do the work even when like not all of the things are aligning and not all of the boxes are ticked off. That's how you get where you want to go.
Jordan
a freaking man. Oh my god. Like we were just talking about in a previous episode responsibility. Like you were just saying it's like you have to grow into more responsibility to carry the weight of it all. And if you're not willing to like do some of that work right now, and you're thinking, you know, I'll just do that kind of stuff, like later on when I'm at this point in my journey. Oh my gosh. Like that's just, I just think that's silly. Like you have to grow in your skills and you have to grow into more responsibility here, like where you are at right now to level up and to be able to like sustain that, to be able to grow into that.
Ashton
It's like, you're not going to go to your gym and pick up 500 pounds off the floor if you haven't picked up a hundred. True. Right. And then, you know, if you do, you might break your back. But if you slowly build up your muscle and your strength, then you might go pick up that 500 pounds three times, five times, and you're not going to break your back. You're going to be stronger because of it. So there's a process to get where you want to go and you can't skip steps. So if you're just waiting around because you want to get there quick and you don't know how that's going to happen, just disrupt that and move, move. At the end of the day, we always say that your power is not in ideating. Even though as a creative, as an entrepreneur, we know you have books filled with ideas. That's really not where your power is. It's actually bringing those ideas to life. It's going beyond the ideating and actually mastering execution. And that requires that you move, that requires that you get off the sidelines, that you stop watching, that you stop waiting, that you stop hoping you actually move to be proactive about creating momentum in your business. So what are some things that we recommend? What are some areas that you can focus on? Because, you know, I think our top goal of this episode is to get you moving and to get you in, in, action. But if you're thinking, well, I don't really know where to start. And I don't really know what to focus on. We want to highlight a couple of areas for you.
Jordan
Number one recommendation, focus on like the inner workings of your business, aka like work on the business. So take the time to create a really good product, a really stellar product, really think through, does it provide a solution to your ideal clients needs, refine your marketing strategy and make it excellent not perfect because perfection is a myth. And like work on your sales process, work on your client experience, work on those like really important elements, the foundational elements of your business, if you haven't already. And if you have, I think there's still room to always like improve and refine, like take note of where you see gaps in your, in your strategy and where you see gaps in certain things and fill those gaps.
Ashton
Those are all things that you have control over. And I love the order at which Jordan listed those things out. Like the first thing, the most important thing is the design of your product and or your service and the experience that you're providing for your customers. Like that's the foundation for everything, not necessarily your marketing and not necessarily how much you can sell, because if you have those things without an excellent product, then you're going to fall flat. And that's a whole other conversation. So begin with the development of your product and service. And let me just say that this doesn't have to take a really long time. Uh, we have historically introduced every single one of our offers as a beta offer at the awakening. So that means that we have Um, treated that as a minimum viable product, we have created it quickly for the purpose of testing in real time with our community. So that doesn't mean that you have to spend a year building something, because I think that just kind of caters to the desire to be in action. So you have to kind of decide the best approach for yourself and how you want to build. Um, but you can do this fairly quickly and with a lot of excellence, and then you build on that with how you market it and how you sell it. Those are all things that you have control over in your business. So work on those elements. And then secondly, get in the room with people, like get off your island, like stop being, you know, alone, like this introverted, quiet, shy soul that's just in a hole somewhere, which we relate to, like, sometimes I want to like move to Montana, and not have technology. I mean, I relate to that. But if you're in business, I don't care if you're introverted or extroverted, you got to talk to people. Like, you have got to network. Like, the amount of times that I have to break that down for, like, the beginner, introvert, or entrepreneur, like, I know that that doesn't feel good, but you have to talk to people. The level of stress that that gives them, I'm like, I don't know how you thought you were gonna go into business and not have to network and not have to market and not have to sell, but like, that was me. Like, that was totally me. I was just like, I'm gonna just put content out and people are gonna come over here. we're going to build this empire together. Like that's all that I'm going to have to do. No, no, that's just not what it's going to be. So get off of your Island and actually like network with people. So I would be willing to bet that anyone listening to this, you have some sort of audience. I don't care if that's 10 people, a hundred, a thousand, 10,000, 100,000 you have people in front of you. Talk to them, build trust with them. How do you build trust? You listen, You build rapport, you provide value. So create connections, be engaged with the audience that you have now. Again, taking responsibility of what's in front of you right now and not waiting until you have the 100,000 because I'm gonna tell you what I've worked with people that have had 50,000 followers on one platform. I mean hundreds of thousands across platforms and literally can't freaking drive a profit. So start practicing now, start exercising that muscle. Now talk to them, make connections in your industry. Don't shy away from collaborating and don't put yourself on like a pedestal where you're too good for those types of things. I see this a lot where people don't really want to spend the time to like do a podcast interview or to collaborate with someone or book a coffee chat. I have a client right now where coffee chats are her number one sales driver in her business and she didn't want to do it at first because she's introverted. It takes a lot of energy and it's a number one sales driver for her business. Like we've figured out a system for her. So don't make yourself holier than thou. Um, or just to say, you know, I don't really want to spend time on that. Like sometimes you got to put some skin in the game and like, you gotta pay your dues. I was on a podcast interview, I think last week, And she's launching a brand new podcast, um, with, you know, a smaller community. And she was like, I just want to say thank you for being one of the first speakers on the podcast, because, you know, I know it's new. I know it doesn't like give you hundreds of thousands of people like to your platform, but I so appreciate the people that are willing to kind of like plant the seeds with me. Those things go a long, long way. And if someone's inviting you to be a part of what they're building, and you're actively looking to build your business and grow your customer base and your community, like take them up on that and don't be holier than thou. Like make yourself available for those opportunities. Um, and just get yourself out there, get out of your bubble, get out of your comfort zone where I know it feels so nice and cozy and sweet. but actually go get into conversations with people, build your network, build relationships. That's the number one thing that you can do today to actually start creating momentum in the form of like cashflow. Um, and there's so many ways you can do that. Start with the platforms that you're on right now. If you're on Instagram, go do it there. You're on email, you have email, go do it there. And I always like to say to choose like the path of least resistance here at first. So if you have some connections already that maybe are warmer or you have some easy yes collaborations like right now in your network, go to them first, get some of those quick wins because that's going to give you that hit of dopamine. You're going to feel so good. You're going to feel so confident. And then you can put yourself out there for more of those riskier pitches and connections and collaborations that you may want in the future.
Jordan
Ultimately, at the end of the day, I think it really boils down to having the discipline and the drive. I think that's like the number one way to like get into action. If you're struggling, if you feel like you're kind of just sitting on the sidelines watching, waiting and hoping, it really is a matter of just getting to work and disciplining yourself, even if that's not fun. Because then that's where the real work happens and that's where the real progress is made.
Ashton
Get up, get to work, get to moving. You're gonna feel so much better when you do. And we hope this episode was like a fire under your butt. We hope that you feel inspired, motivated, and ready to get into motion in your business. We wish you the best rest of your day, and we'll catch you in the next one.
