Every now and then we all have one of those days that make you question everything.  Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?  Did I quit my job for a good reason? Why does everything suck so bad? Am I doing everything I should be doing to create the life that I want to live? You see where I am going, literally, everything comes into question.  I have news, all that means is that you are human, or at very least not a sociopath… So, what do you do with those questions that run through your head telling you to give up, and that your dream is too big, or that you aren’t capable of living the life that you want?  You step back, look in a mirror and say “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”.  No, I’m serious, Stuart Smalley was onto something there.

I’m good enough

So, let’s retrace the steps that got you to where you are.  You grew up in a family (blood or something else) that lived in a particular time in the history of the world, at a particular location in the universe, and learned a particular set of skills, that all came together to create the completely unique version of you within the multiverse.  Maybe you knew early on, or you worked for someone else honing those skills and realized that you had what it takes to start doing what you do, the way you do it. In a way, you are the very best in the universe/multiverse at whatever it is that you do. I know, I know, sometimes you get what is commonly referred to as imposter syndrome.  Where all of a sudden, something snaps in your head saying “I have no idea what I am doing”.  I challenge you in these times to have a conversation with others in your industry.  I recently did this and was amazed at the things that came out of my mouth, evidently, I knew what I was talking about.  YOU DO TOO!!!!

I’m Smart enough

You know everything you need to know to be the best at what you do.  No, you may not have the answer to every question that plagues you, but I bet you know how to find the answer.  If you think you are smart enough to not need other people, you are wrong.  Batman is smart, like crazy smart, so why did he need to create the Justice League?  Not just because it would be cool to hang out with all the superheroes, although that would be pretty cool, but because he realized that he can be smarter than everyone, but everyone is smarter than him. There are countless metaphors about how much better it is to have several people than it is to face the world on your own.  Am I saying that in order to be successful you have to have partners, no?  I am just saying that you need people, we need people, unless you are Dexter, and worried about killing those around you, and even then, Dexter needs people too.

People like me

You need people around you, one way or another and we have already discussed why.  What we didn’t discuss is who your unique, service, product, or whatever is targeted towards, we will call them your clients. No!!!! Not everyone is your client.  Maybe I should say that again for the people in the back… NO!!!! NOT EVERYONE IS YOUR CLIENT! I’m glad we got that out of the way. Back to the topic.  Who likes you? People do, or at least should. What do you need to do to make sure that they know that they like you? First, know who they are. Don’t make me say it again… The most important thing any business can do is identify who their client is. We can go all night on this subject, but that’s a story for another night. Second, find your client.  Where do they hang out, what do they like to do, what makes them tick.  You need to know how to talk to those people, but in order to talk to them, you have to get to know them on a personal level.  If you don’t know everything about your ideal client, you are wasting time, and they will never know that they like you, and that is just a bad time. Third and final, talk to them.  It’s scary, they are over there looking all pretty and you over here thinking you don’t have anything to say and they over there thinking you are just a nerd and you over here agreeing with what they are thinking….. Just me? We all have the inner dialogue distracting us from jumping out there and having that conversation that is going to change both of our lives.  So, repeat after me “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggone it, people like me!”

These were a lot of words to simply say, a bad day is only a day that you forgot to know who you are.  Get back on that horse, or motorcycle or whatever analogy you want to use, and own it. Be a real OG, live the OG life, and make everyone around you wonder how you got so good, smart, and likable.  Don’t worry, it will be our little secret unless you share this post, then all bets are off, but you never know, someone else might need to hear this too, I know I did.