Marketing procrastination through comparison

In today’s Musings on Marketing and Magic, I talk about how to avoid procrastination with marketing as an empath, highly sensitive, or introvert entrepreneur. Procrastination can show up differently for every person, but one of the “symptoms” is comparison with others who seem to have it all “figured out.”

When I started out with my own business, I was in a constant question of “how” – how do you attract clients? How do you build an effective marketing strategy? How do you sustain your marketing efforts?  It took me a long time, but eventually I realized that these questions of “how” kept me in the energy of others; how THEY had created their success. It didn’t tap at all into my own resources and creativity.

Who do I need to be to attract clients?

Only when I changed the question and started asking “who do I need to be to attract clients?”, “what beliefs and limitations do I need to release to build a successful marketing strategy?” and “what does an effective marketing strategy look like for ME?” was I able to shift from comparison to resourcefulness.

I love the Chinese proverb “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It’s the perfect motto for any solopreneur starting out building their business. It’s so easy to compare ourselves to others when we see all their activity on social media, on the speaking circuit, and in our inbox. But we need to realize that we are comparing apples to oranges here. We are not comparing ourselves to where they were when THEY first started out. We are comparing ourselves to people who are ten, a hundred, or even a thousand steps ahead of us!

And it can really mess things up for us. When I get into this kind of comparison, I get paralyzed and end up not even taking my first step, because in my mind I berate myself for not yet being at step 25.

Being okay with where I am in my marketing right now

I had to learn to forgive myself for not yet being where my brain wants me to be. And I had to actually take several steps back to lovingly evaluate where I was, to be okay with that place for now, and to discover what my next step would be to move me forward on a path that is truly unique to me.

Yes, we can learn from those who walked before us and it is really helpful to do so in places where we don’t need to re-invent the wheel for ourselves, such as learning different marketing skills, best practices, etc. And at the same time, I have found it absolutely necessary that I continue to double-check: am I letting myself being pulled into some marketing activity, approach, or mindset that isn’t aligned with my authentic self? And if that happens, I need to have an embodied practice that helps me “course correct” and get back onto my own path.

What is your next step on your unique path to business success?

Until next time – be magical!