Voice & Impact

#3: Gaining Momentum as an Entrepreneur

January 03, 2023 Adam Schneider Episode 3
Voice & Impact
#3: Gaining Momentum as an Entrepreneur
Show Notes Transcript

Do you ever feel like the overwhelm and hamster wheel of productivity are getting in the way of taking action on your mission-driven life? Uncover the secrets to using the most powerful tool to create progress—discernment—with episode 3, “Gaining Momentum as an Entrepreneur.” Hosts Adam, Jade & Alysha discuss their 4-step processes for taking inspired action without being weighed down by too many options. Learn how you can tap into your well of inspiration to act for yourself while also being of service to others! The perfect balance between vision boards and to-do lists, this episode will give you everything you need to make the most of your entrepreneurial journey.

Something that I find really, really toxic in the empathetic entrepreneurial space is all of. Manifestation. Like just think it right and feel it right and life will just fall into place. Hey friends. Welcome to Voice and Impact, an honest podcast about the journey of entrepreneurship. We're not here to tell you how to live your life. We're here to have real conversations about real things. My name is Adam, and I'm so grateful you're here with us. And so in just getting into it, I was hoping, Adam, could you provide. You know, a little bit cl of clarity again, on somebody that identifies as an empathetic entrepreneur and how we can, um, you know, get into action to start like expressing our values in, in the world. Man, that feels like such a big question. Um, get into action. What? I mean, the first thing to imply there is if. You need to get into action. It implies that you are disconnected from your action and if you're disconnected from your action, it implies that maybe there are obstacles that you are experiencing that make you feel like right now is not the time to act. So on that, there's sort of a lit. Sort of a, you know, I'm, I firmly believe there's no such thing as black and white thinking. There shouldn't be, nothing is black and white. Everything is contextualized, the individual is sacred, and it is impossible to talk about generalities without honoring and understanding the context of the individual. And that's complex. That's very complex. And so when you're distracted or disconnected from your sense of. You know, are you distracted because you're caught in your head thinking a lot about, of a lot of things. You've got fears, you've got anxieties. Are you distracted because you're emotionally overwhelmed? You know, you've gotta understand what is happening for you, um, that is causing that disconnect. And there are also times in life where it's not appropriate to act, and now is the only time ever to., right? Like that's part of the grand mystery. It's not like here's a magic formula. If you do this, you're gonna, you're gonna get into your action and you're gonna get all the things you want to get done, done. Um, and so then even within this conversation, then there's also, as an entrepreneur, you need to learn how to do the things you hate doing because you are an entrepreneur and no one's gonna do 'em for you unless you have money to hire somebody to do it. Guess., buckle up the bootstraps, get it done. Because you got to, if you wanna make progress, there are things you have to do, right? Like gotta get your money organized, you know, gotta do your taxes. Gotta understand how to put together contracts and agreements so that when you have, when you have, um, clients, you have formal agreements in place. Um, but kind of like to more directly, uh, address that statement. You know, Jade and I had a coaching call the other. And we kind of arrived at this moment of clarity, and I don't remember if I've said this on the podcast before, but we arrived at a moment of clarity and that moment of clarity is just sort of a four step basic process that you can always turn to when you feel disconnected with your sense of action. I do think there's importance to understand why you're disconnected with your actions. So you know, journal about it. You know, if you're afraid, list off the things you're afraid of. You know, if you find yourself anxiously thinking about things, get it out on paper, allow it time to process. But from my perspective, for me personally, cuz I can only ever speak for myself, I have had the most often when I am disconnected. My action. It's because I am experiencing resistance. I am resisting something. There's something about my current state that I have not accepted. And so that's step number one. Accept where you are. Didn't say like where you are. I didn't say love where you are. I just mean where you are right now is objectively true. Accept it. Don't resist it. That's step number one. Two, ask the question, what is mine to do right now? And I think we're, we have room to redefine the word do. There's room to redefine that, you know, is it, is it yours to do right now to go weed the garden? Is it yours to do right now to take a nap? Is it yours to do right now to push yourself a little bit so that you can ensure that you meet that deadline that you put in place for that person that you're collaborating with? You know, again, the, the individual is sacred. It's all contextual. What is mine to do right now? That's step number two. Step number three, discernment. Not make a huge list of all of the different potentials you could possibly get done. But have discernment to pick one. You know, that's another thing that people get a lot, get very caught up in. They think of all the possibilities and then they throw their shoulders and that hands up in the air and think, ah, I don't know which one to do right now. And so nothing gets done, right? So you need to develop the skillset of discernment. Discernment doesn't mean being right all the time. Discernment doesn't mean you chose the absolute perfect thing to get done. You know, momentum is a powerful force, and so that's why number four is follow through. Once you've committed to yourself and had the act of discernment of what it is, the task that you want to get accomplished, follow through on it. So like, again, going back to the conversation of redefining the word do. If you choose that right now with my discerned mind, I choose, I'm gonna take a 20 minute nap. But then you lay down for 20 minutes and you don't actually follow through on the process of letting go of life and not thinking about the work environment and like, Nope, I made the conscious free will decision to take a nap right now. Right? So, okay. Follow through on that. Um, and so, you know, it is, , we can only bring our attention to one thing at a time. Now we think we can do a bajillion things, um, or four or five all at the same time. Right? Like my, my partner Nicole is amazing at that kind of thing. You know, she could be working on something and having fluent conversations with six other people at the same time. That's like, okay, for me, that's not the case. If I'm not working at one thing at a time, I am inefficient. It takes way more time to get things, uh, complet. And so, you know, that's all, that's all a side, right? That's, that's, that's all about optimizing your efficiency in the tasks that you're trying to complete. But if you are feeling disconnected entirely from action, again, context is everything, but there's room to simplify or there's room to simplify. And, uh, really, really, in order to do that, you have to accept where you're at. Accept that you're anxious. Accept that you're tired. Accept that right now you're in a situation where you need to push yourself. Otherwise, agreements are gonna follow through. Um, accept that, you know, money's tight. Accept that life is great, whatever it is. It's not always hard, but sometimes it is. Whatever it is, accept it. Ask yourself, what is mine to do right now? Discern, trust yourself enough to make a decision. Whoa. Follow through, do the thing you said you would do. If you find yourself doing that on a regular basis, you'll build up momentum, you'll build up steam, you'll build up the, the, the feeling of, oh, I can't accomplish things, and they stack up on top of each other, just like a snowball run, falling down a mountain. And, and over time you'll find yourself, uh, very fluently and accessibly stepping into your. and checking the boxes, getting the things done, you know. Um, and something that I find really, really toxic in the empathetic entrepreneurial space is all of this manifestation. Like, just think it right and feel it right and life will just fall into place now. Sure. There's, there's value in learning how to wrap, loving attention around your thoughts and feeling. All of that is very valuable, but if it's not bleeding into how you're acting,, my dad used to always tell me this. When I was a kid, I thought this was super, super, um, kind of tragic, but as an adult it's like, wow, there's wisdom in this. My dad would always say, well, son, you can shit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up faster. That's what my dad would tell me. And you know what? As an adult now, he's right. Now, don't get me wrong, I think wishful thinking is helpful, but if you're not taking inspired action, that is, that is motivated by that wishful thinking and motivated by those, you know, feelings of I deserve or moving forward, even when you don't feel like you're. You know, that's, that's a science in and of itself. So, and you know, that question is really complicated and that the, again, at the pillar of it all is the sacred individual. It's impossible to talk about the generality of everything cuz every single person's context is different and that is not honored enough. And these types of conversations, well I think, you know, just to, to start off in. Having that like four step kind of framework right, is, is just so good to even think about action because it's like, sometimes it's like, yeah, sure, the action, but like, as entrepreneurs, we need to do all the things . Um, so it's like, what, how do you even start, how do you even think about like what the, the feelings are around the things that you're actually doing? I'd actually, um, I'd love to hear from you as well, Jade, on like any reflections that you have around that call that you had with Adam, obviously in talking about those four steps and actually getting into the action and what that's been like. Oh my goodness. So this week has been really amazing actually, because, , I've prioritized doing things that I don't wanna do first, and it's made doing the things that I want to do significantly clearer to discern because I'm kind of building that muscle of, okay, I don't know if this is the right thing, but let me act on it, follow through, and whatever that process entails, I'll learn. whatever I'm supposed to learn, and it'll lead me to the next thing. So experiencing momentum, not just in terms of like the amount of things I'm getting done or the speed that I'm getting them done by, but like the strength of the discernment muscle getting stronger. So like I've been able to identify when an idea is asking to. acted on, and it's usually this tiny little voice that's like, maybe try this and I'll try to talk myself out of it and I'll go, no, no, no, I, I'm tired. How would I do that? I don't think that I, I'm at that skill level. Mm. Is this re you know, I'll start questioning it. And I, that's usually a sign that, mm, let's just experiment with that cuz what else are we gonna do right now? That seems to be the thing. I feel like since implementing those steps, my sense of what I need to act on has gotten a little bit clearer. Uh, and then another thing that Adam touched on that like lights me up to talk about is manifestation and how. Accepting our thoughts and feelings, I think is the key to finding flow in the areas of life we're trying to manifest flow in instead of trying to force positive thinking. Like when I first got into the world of manifestation and vision boards and the concept that we can create material results from our thinking, I had so much anxiety cause I was like, well, I have crazy thoughts all the time and negative thoughts all the time and like. That's not okay. So I'm not gonna manifest, I'm gonna manifest so many bad things. Uh, and that just in itself is so exhausting. And I think it's been like years of navigating that question of, okay, like how do I manifest things that. Marry positive, good. Whatever the thoughts that are in alignment with the things that I want and action, but still have room for thoughts that are, you know, natural and, and human. Um, and I think acceptance, that first step of the four steps Adam listed is key. Cuz then whatever you act on, it's from the seat of acceptance, it's innately flowing with your truth. And that to me has been, oh, just like, A lifesaver. So I think it's really, especially as like artistic people, um, that have a, a abundance of ideas and things that flow to us that we wanna create and put out into the world and hopefully make an impact, um, they really can be overwhelming. So just sort of, um, getting into that action and that trust, uh, in a really like logical and practical way is, is really helpful. Yeah, I guess, you know, us empathetic entrepreneurs are really, really motivated by the idea of making the world a better place. We're motivated by that, and I think that's beautiful. You know, I'll be the first person to raise my hand on the idea of living a mission-driven life. You know, I want to be a positive influencer. On, on anybody's attention that crosses mine. You know, I think, I think I wanna honor people's attention and in the, and in the world of the digital space, like honoring people's attention is I think the single most important part of a strategy, a marketing strategy, a relationship management strategy. I hate the word marketing, but that's a, besides, but I think sometimes, It's backwards for the entrepreneur, the empathetic entrepreneur that wants to do good. I think it's totally backwards. I think they focus on the impact and then, then it becomes their, their motivation for action becomes external, right? It becomes this thing that they're reaching for where really everything that is, I think of the highest. Of the highest sense of possible good. It's an internal thing, right? And so it's so important to get clear on how you are inspired to act and allowing your inspiration to act to be it. That's it. Done. If you're inspired to act, do that, do that inspiration, then it's intrinsic. Right. And then the impact is the byproduct of that. It's, and we've talked about this a lot, Alicia, right? We've talked about how our impact on the world is the byproduct of us, right? And so my encouragement to anybody who's listening right now is to just ask the question like, Hey, how are you inspired? How are you inspired to act for. Um, you know, what is an extension of your love and care for the world for you? Um, because if it, if it's impact first, right? Like if my company was called Impact and Voice, we would be like, whoa, that's kind of confusing. That doesn't make any sense. It's voice and impact. Voice being the self impact being. Byproduct of the action in the world. And so it needs to start with the self. Now that feels selfish probably, right? And everybody's like, well, I wanna make people's lives better. Okay? Start by making your own life better. Watch what happens. And I've talked about this many, many, many, many, many, many, many times on the idea of like, you're not gonna save the whole world in one stroke, so why don't you just start with the people around you? Um, and that impact is hard not to recognize. So good. And I'm so glad you went there because I was like, hoping that we talk a little bit more about exactly that. Like I know, you know, in, in last week we, we spoke a lot about, um, you know, the. Fear of being known. And I think the fear of being known as is related to the fear of success, right? Because it's very much a tie to external validation and how other people will react to our achievement or our dreams or whatever it is. And with you mentioning that it has to be a healthy balance between intrinsic or internal, uh, motivation and external validation and all of that. I'd love to know a little bit. You know, your perspective on like what is healthy external validation and internal motivation, like any experiences that you've had? Not necessarily, it's like a hard and fast thing. Like this is healthy and this is not. But in the space of you having both, like this internal motivation, but external factors also affecting that. Um, yeah. Interesting. I could go in so many different directions because. You know, part of me wants to say, you know, external validation doesn't matter, right? Like part of me wants to say like, yes, I'm at this point in my life where I don't give a fuck about what other people say because I'm strong in my values and I believe in my values more than anybody else possibly. And therefore I see the value that I bring in the world, and I don't need you to acknowledge it in order for me to feel comfortable and confident to continue doing that. Right. But I don't think any of us actually fully arrive there. At least not f not forever, right? Like, like even Mr. Rogers, you know, somebody who left one of the biggest media legacies. Of anyone you know, and from the purest place, from the place of reverence, from the place of like really, really, really admiring and being a positive force for those kids that were jumping off buildings because they thought they could fly, that were, that were being taught that fighting is funny. You know, and the norm and being stimulated constantly by these cartoons, right? He saw that and he was like, ah, there has to be something better. And even, even into the latest years of his experience, you know, and the documentary, won't You Be My neighbor? It reveals him writing a letter. Like, am I really up to this? You know, after all of these years, am I even accomplishing anything? And so, you know, I think, I think sometimes external validation can play a role, right? It can, it can be, it could be the sort of like counterbalance to maybe some of the inner doubt that we experience, but, and. In order to give your fullest self to the world, we need to know how to move forward in the face of doubt, right? Like, that doesn't necessarily answer your question directly because your question is like, well then how, how do intrinsic and extrinsic motivat motivational forces? Like how do you, how do you maintain a healthy balance? And in an ideal world, it would be you believe in yourself so much, you don't need external valid. But that we don't live in the ideal world. Yeah. And I think that's so beautiful, um, and like deep and potent because I, I was sort of asking as well within the lens of, you know, we're content creators, we're in the media space, so a lot of the external validation is still a part of the everyday experience. Right. And even though. Like putting your art out into the world and, um, your voice and all of the things like create, just to create because you believe in the impact and, and what you're sharing. I don't ever see a hundred percent the external markers being taken away from opportunities, right. That are available to us, like the follower count and the views and all of the things that. Messing with our psyches on how worthy we are of continuing to do this work. So that's what I was sort of curious and diving into as well, in terms of keeping that balance. Yeah, and I would just, I would simply say to that, and this is probably counterintuitive because we're in the impact space, right? We're in this space of like helping humanity. I would simply say do it for yourself. Um, well, and it's crazy cause it's like, sorry. I was just gonna say, you always hear people sort of, uh, like when they reflect on like, how did I blow up? Like I created content that I actually wanted to create . Yeah. And that's, that's about falling in love with the process. That's about, you know, and then, and I talk about this all the time, sort of like the idea of communicating or getting a message across. Really, really the pursuit there is, what do you want to say? Like communication needs to be from the lens of what are you trying to communicate and if you apply that to your content, Since we're going into content, you know, one of my core beliefs for voice and impact is you are the content. This is something that's been a part of my media space for, you know, seven years on my approach to, to media. Um, you know, content isn't something you create. Content is a byproduct of your real-time experience. You know, so your real-time lessons that you're having, your real-time life experiences and story, your realtime collaborations, you know, your real-time conversations, value is a real-time experience. And when we abstract that, you know, with the trending sounds and the trending this and you know, do this and have this formula, and when we abstract that now it becomes like, Abstract attempt at trying to give something that is valuable, but not really sure if it's valuable because you're not in the real authentic connection of value exchange. Right? Like for me, I know I am so much more valuable when I'm sitting in front of somebody who is actually authentically seeking the value that I have to. Because then it's a real human connection and it's my relationship with that person that is aiming to be helpful and these abstractions where there's no relationship real time with anybody I'm connecting with and I'm just like trying to be helpful, I think kind of. So I have these things to say, so here's your top five secrets on how to be most viral. You know, they're just abstract. They're not human, but, and you know, I've got like, 238 followers, right? So it's not like my, my concepts are developed, fallen, uh, far enough to where I have, you know, social proof behind them. But, you know, what are you inspired to say? Say it because you're inspired to say it. Do it because you're inspired to do it. That's the only validation you'll ever need, but, Gosh, it sure is nice when people come up to me and say, Hey, gosh, your content is really making an impact in my life. Because a lot of times I feel like I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. Yeah. That's just so relatable. And that's, that's really just it. Right? I'd love to hear j do you have any, um, I guess like reflections on this, like it's, Ooh, so. I mean, Adam touched on it, which is it's about the process. And since working with Adam, that's been the biggest lesson probably for me to experiment with. And in regards to like posting things and getting the likes, like I feel like when I first started sharing my music and my art, I didn't do it for the likes, but when I shared it, oh my God, the likes were a big high. And if I didn't get likes, oh, I wouldn't post anything for a while. Cause I felt so worthless. And I'm not saying that when I post something and it doesn't get likes, I don't still feel that way. Like yeah, I do. Not as intensely, but it's. And I think a big lesson for me has been like on both sides, both when I get a lot of attention and positivity on a post and when I don't like not attaching to either of those circumstances and just focusing on like the personal celebration or the feeling of loss. Sometimes it's the feeling of like, oh fuck, I wanted that to go better. So Okay. I let myself feel that reflect on the process and then kind of what we've been talking about, apply. Four step self-checking. Okay, this happened. What's mine to do next? What's mine to do right now? Not really attaching to the outcome of external validation, but allowing myself to both enjoy it and like receive it or feel upset by it. Cuz that's a part of it. Like when you put your heart and soul out onto the internet and it's like, okay, two likes, and then you get, you post something that's kind of like, might not mean a whole lot to you, but it's something you made and then it gets a bunch of stuff. You're like, well what does that mean if something that means so much to me. Isn't seen. You know, if that perspective isn't shared by most people, that can create a lot of insecurity or rather shine a light on insecurity that's already there. So I don't know. Yeah, and I think I would even push back a little bit. I would say it's impossible to put your soul on the internet, right? How do you mean It's impossible to put your, all of your heart and soul on the internet. You just put a piece of content on the. And that piece of content is not your heart and soul. It's a byproduct of maybe the loving attention that your heart and soul created and put together, but it is not your heart and soul itself. Right? And so a part of that is disassociating our are, uh, our content for us. Like, our content is not me. It's something I created, but it is not me. Um, and you know, one of the things that a friend said to me, her name's Joy. So Joy, if you're listening, hi. You're lovely. I was, I was having a hard time with, with a client of mine at this time. And, um, the, like, the collaboration element didn't feel.. And I'm at a point in my career where if I'm collaborating with somebody and it doesn't feel easy, that's an issue for me. And she helped me arrive at some clarity on like what I could do on my end to resolve it. Um, and, but then, then she said something to me, to me that was kind of outrageous and that is what other people think of me as none of my business. Yeah. So I guess, I guess sort of like to tie this all back to content, it'd. You know, to create content that you feel is valuable. Sure. Then tie in the analytics and utilize like the sort of understanding that's possible there to try to ensure that the container of that value gets the reach and growth that you want. But you can only do that once you've disassociated. You can only do that when you, when you know that your content is not. It's not who you are as a being. You are so much more than your content, but, and you're the content in your promotion and philosophy of, uh, being the content in your business. I'd love to know, um, how that's obviously helped you and your community sort of like take more action, but at the same time it's. It's not that same element of like, it's not a hundred percent you, like you are the content , but the hu the content is a hundred isn't a hundred percent you and like where that all fits into it. Yeah. I mean it's kind of like a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle isn't a square kind of a situation. Right. What I mean by you are the content is that my process of content creation. Involves zero time me sitting down going, okay, what am I doing for content? No, it involves capturing real-time value exchange and taking that into a post-production process to create content. It's a totally different thing. Um, and so what I mean by you are the content is, I just mean your life real time is value, has value to it, and it can be created into content. And what I mean by your content isn't you, is that it's impossible to take all of your essence of the complexity of your human and nature and put it in a fucking device. It's literally impossible.. And so what I mean by that is like if you create a piece of content that is shit doesn't get any likes, people tell you how bad it is. You know, we need to learn to disassociate. They're not saying, you Jade are bad. That piece of content wasn't good, so therefore you are a bad human being. Right? And that's where our mind goes when a piece of content doesn't get the reach we want it to. And then that opens up a whole nother conversation of expectation. Because if that piece of content, this is again, something I was talking to Jade about the other day. If I created content and she was the only one that positively impacted from my perspective, that would be a worthy, worthy endeavor. Right. So like what's more valuable in the context of impact numbers or genuine? Uh, I. Is it impact if your content genuinely influenced 10 people or is it impact if 5.6 million people saw it, right? Like where is that? Um, and I think there's room for us all to reevaluate, and that's why there's a lot of thought leaders in the current space saying, Hey, make content for one person. And I don't even do that. I just have real time conversations with people that I care about aiming to be helpful in turning that into content. Um, did that answer your question? Yes. And as we do here. Um, I think that is so beautiful and in the fact that. It opens up a world of possibility, but it also dials down the pressure so much because of course it, it's related to, um, uh, oh my God, what's his name? Yeah. Gary v. Document don't Create. Right. So it's very similar, but it's like in the sense that if I could even just share a reflection of my own life, then you know, you've been talking about this, be the content. You know, I like have the business of creative direction and media development and stuff like that, but I'm not always this like, hey, like, you know what I mean? Like, here's my business kind of thing. So when I, when I really let the be the content sink in, that's when I started sharing more of my poetry, more of the, I'm just like a sensitive soul in the world, but I also do this thing and then I. Took so much pressure off, but also allowed myself to like dial up the meanness and the uniqueness of the business in a way that allowed me to have both. Um, and that wasn't so much pressure on like, I need to have. This like polished content, that's like speaking to all these pain points, all the marketing things, right? It's just like I can be myself, I can offer, you know, my, my art, but as well as like my business and expertise into the world. And that was just a beautiful like harmony and synchronization that I experienced through that. So I think it's, I think it's really beautiful to lean into that. And Jade, I see you nodding a lot. Like do you have, I know you got stories. Well, I'm so excited about this topic and it, this particular area kind of goes back to what Adam, you were saying about what your friend Joy said and the situation that you were in, which is, there's a lot of resistance here. This doesn't feel easy. What's going on. And I think for a long time I was at that place with the idea of sharing content. Like I would be so stressed over posting, posting a thing and perfecting it and what, what, uh, what, what is the right thing to post? How do I post it? Da da da, da, da. And I think. I'm at a place now where when I'm meant to share something, it gets shared and it's easy, and that doesn't mean that I don't spend seven hours working on a video. That doesn't mean that I'm not like still approaching learning curves and like. Grueling in a very positive way to get what I need to get done. It's just that that's the natural process and sharing it is like the byproduct of like the stuff that I share I would do anyways regardless of whether or not I'm sharing it. And that's such a. Such a relieving place to be. And Alicia, I I love what you said about how the concept of you are the content has empowered you to share your poetry. Um, I'm starting to feel that way about comedy a little bit because comedy's a really big part of my life and I started to realize like, man, I never really share that part of myself on social media, maybe here and there, but in like spurts where it feels so good. Cause I'm like, ah, this is like, This is me. This is I the part of me that I am with all the time. And for whatever reason, I have this idea that because I am a visual artist and a musician, like that's what I need to be on social media. The other stuff, nobody wants to see that. And that's not true. I mean, I don't know if other people wanna see that, but I want to share it. And so doing that has been vulnerable and scary, but it's been easy and has alleviated. Well, like you said, pressurized feeling of I need to create this kind of content. So yeah. And I think a lot of times something we forget to acknowledge is content creation is a mirror, which means it's gonna reflect the things that feel hard if you're avoiding them, right? And so if you personally are having. Um, challenge in the process of sharing your ideas or feeling insecure about them. You know, the, the only way to get better at that is to experience that process, right? So, um, like for example, if somebody's total, total, aside from, from content, if somebody's afraid of thunderstorm, The healthy way to overcome that fear is to experience thunderstorms, right? Otherwise, it's intellectual and contextual. It's like you're thinking about it without the experience, and we as human beings, we learn in the experience. You can't read a textbook and overcome your fear of thunderstorms. You can't read a textbook and overcome your fear of public speak. You can't read a textbook and overcome your fear of sharing your ideas, share your ideas. That's the only way to overcome it. And so then that's where like a lot of, again, a lot of people, I don't remember his name, but there's this guy on TikTok and he talks a lot about using content as a process of self-discovery. Right. And that's again what I'm saying, when, when content lives real time, You are exploring yourself real time, and therefore are sharing raw snippets of value. It's not, oh, I got this idea of value. I'm gonna, I'm gonna render it into this perfect piece of contact. After I've had the realization it's, oh, I had the realization while I was talking to the fucking camera real time. And that's where I think, uh, I think that's what people. Because it's massless, it's vulnerable, it's raw, it's you. It's your real-time human experience. It's your story, right? And it's relatable. It's accessible, it's meaningful. Um, and all of those things matter in the context of making a relationship with someone else. That's one of the reasons why I love improvisational music. And sharing it on the internet, which to me is like the most vulnerable thing because it's messy, it's imperfect, it's not polished, it's not planned. The lyrics don't ever, don't always make sense, but it's so, so, so true to whatever you're channeling in the moment. And that can apply, be applied to anything. But I would say for me, My content is usually visual art or music. And the times where I am engaging with those things in a really raw way are times that I feel absolutely naked. I could be crying and working on a painting cuz I'm painting to discover something from myself or, or process something that's difficult. And in the last year or so, I've gotten, I don't know what to call it. I don't wanna say strength, but I've just had the. The awareness of opportunity in those moments where I'm like, I know this is really vulnerable, but let's hit record. And that has been most of my content in the last, at least a few months, where it's not stuff that I really wanted to record. Like I was literally setting up the camera like, oh my God, I don't wanna do this. But there's something that I feel like it feels, I feel super called to, cuz I know that like I have no idea what to expect. Maybe I won't share this at all. Right now I'm engaging with what lights me up in response to a lesson that I'm learning that might be difficult or it might be just plain fun. So let's document that and see what happens. And having that persistence to like follow through on the action I feel inspired to, which is to record something, even though the idea scares me, um, has been really, really important. Knowledge becomes power when it is applied. We're really good at the knowledge part. We're really good at reading those books. We're really good at taking those courses. We're really good at all of that. Oh, there's so many things that came up that I'm just like, yes, like let's dive into this more. But I'm wondering your perspective, Adam and and Jade as well on. How to obviously be the content, put your art out into the world and start monetizing without it feeling like you're sucking some of the beauty outta it. Because I feel like that's sometimes a of intention, at least that I feel. Um, and I know, Adam, you probably have a lot of, uh, a lot of thoughts and reflections maybe about that. Yeah. I don't know. I feel like the question is backwards, , what do I mean by that? On my journey, there have been droughts, right? There have been moments where the bank account is like, you know, negative $600 and it's just like, well, what am I gonna do? And so I feel like a lot of people try to rush to the monetization element, right? Oh, I'm putting up, I'm making a podcast, don't have a community yet, but I'm gonna start selling commercials, right? Right. Like we're so eager to monetize, and I just think that's backwards. If you're focused on giving value, the monetization will happen. I'll never forget what it did for my sense of perceived value of my own ideas when I just took a leap of faith from $50 an hour to coaching to a 12 hour package for almost four grand. I'll never forget how it felt to get my first, yes. And so that's where, again, in the experience matters. Getting into the experience of, of making those sales will change your disposition. It's hard not to because the experience validates it. And then you'll get to a point where you're so comfortable and confident in your value, where if someone doesn't wanna pay you your value, you don't need the job, right? Like, that's sales 1 0 1 sell. Like you don't need the job. Um, and if you don't need the job, great, then you're just, it's just, uh, you don't have to be a yes for every lead. Okay? I wish you well, here's a place you could probably go that might service you, like, you know, whatever. Um, and so like advocating for yourself from a place of abundance. even in times of lack, like to go back to full circle here to that, that story I was sharing where it's like I've had negative$600 on my account, but I've always been certain in my ability to give value. And so then I would just show up and give value, and then opportunities would present themselves, and then I'd show up and give value, you know, and then I would guide that value. But there's a difference between just giving value for the sake of giving value and giving value in a specified understood way that builds up to something more that has potential for transaction. Like, that's something you need to understand, right? Like if you, if you just give all of your value when they're ready to pay you, it's like, well, shit, I don't have anything left to give. I gave it all away, right? And if you're new, you need case studies. So don't be afraid to give it all away and generate feelings of results. So that you can, one, validate that you know how to give value. Two, have success stories that you can utilize when you're selling it to other people. You know, when I do brand deals, the people who pay me five grand to B to build a brand for them are much different clients than the people who paid me, you know, $600. Much different, less feedback involved, much more seamless. They trust my expertise much easier, and so as you learn to raise your prices, you'll observe and see the differences in the type of clientele that you are engaging with. The only other thing I'll add to that then is like just to remind ourselves that all of business' relationships. It's like human to human. Yeah. How can I be helpful? That's all you're aiming to do is to be helpful. Um, and I think, yeah, that's like the higher currency, right? Like that's such the higher currency because I feel like value, right? Is like this key phrase and like, you know, I don't know about you, but I know people who are trying to give value, but it's like, yo dog, that is not valuable for me. Right? And so that's again, where context is really important, important.. Um, and so like getting to a point to where whoever is in front of you, you know, how to give value to that person, like value is a language. Um, and it's non confronting, right? It's, it's loving, it's caring, it's helpful, um, and sometimes being of value is just like, okay, let's hop on a call for 30 minutes and all you do is listen, And you let it, let it be where it is. So context, that's the theme of today's call. Context is everything. Well, that's a wrap. Again, this is Voice and Impact podcast. My name is Adam. Thanks for being here. Thanks for being you. Thanks for doing all the good things you do, and we'll see you next week.