Update from Leah

As we go into a new year, it’s impossible to escape all the conversations, and even your own thoughts, around what this year is going to look like—your goals, the finances, what you want it to become—and it really can be very exciting.

But I think that in this, we run the risk of falling into our masculine energy and overly logical mind, where we think so much about what will get us there in terms of the strategy, in terms of the funnel, in terms of the marketing key. Or whatever other thing we think will be the next best thing, or we kind of praise as the shiny object syndrome.

Instead, the only real difference that you have from other businesses is you.

You yourself are your biggest competitive advantage, because every other business can use a similar strategy, and they can and they should. But what really makes the difference is YOU. You as the entrepreneur, you as the CEO, you as the coach and you as the leader.

So, I encourage you to bring this energy stronger than ever into this year, and here are some basic ways that you can bring this into your life and into your business.

Recognize that the competition that you are afraid of and compare yourself to is only in your head.

Accepting this might take a little bit of time to actually realize, but just acknowledging it is the first step. It’s how you start to step away from these fear-based thoughts—that you are too late, someone else does it better, you don’t have what it takes, or any other straight-up lies about what you’re capable of and what your business’ potential is. Recognize that there is no such thing as competition, there is only creation, and you will already be a step further ahead than so many others.

Make sure you are prioritizing your own physical and mental well-being, because they make your business better, not by sacrificing your business improvement.

It’s easy to think that if we spend time taking care of ourselves, that’s going to be at the cost of getting things done in our businesses, but we’ll get better things done in our businesses if we take care of ourselves. At first, this is easy to have in the form of rituals, whether that’s a nightly bath—like me!—journaling, meditating, exercising, drinking lots of water, any of the other standard recommendations that come with taking care of yourself.

But please note, I believe those are only the start. Those are rituals to get you into the habit of taking care of yourself, but true self-love and true self-acceptance is beyond any ritual and that is what good coaching is for.

See what radical self-responsibility feels like.

This is once you’ve really mastered steps one and two. Where you really think, “What would the best leader of me be like? How can I lead the best? How can I create the best space and energy for my clients? How can I push myself to make even more of myself?”

I shared in last week’s newsletter some of the things that have come to me when I’ve done that, like seeing if I can quadruple my income, maybe even run a marathon, and other things I’m doing to see how I can make the absolute most of this life. Again, if you feel a little bit scary or even counterintuitive to prioritize your own development above what might seem like the development of your business, that is really backwards thinking, because since you are your only competitive edge, the development of you is by definition the development and the best development of your business.