During a meeting with one of my team members the other day, I found myself repeating the phrase, “I just have to do x (fill in whatever x may be to move forward in the business),” over and over again.  I’d listened carefully on our call the week before and was feeling both guilty and excited about the momentum of the team, but I saw the way things could work out if I made some changes—that’s all I was trying to convey.  My teammate told me to stop looking at all of the things we “should” be doing and do what has been working.  She reminded me that I’ve had some success in the work and that those are the things I should focus on.  Yes, everything else the team talked about should be banked for reference as tools to use at some point, but for now, just get the ball rolling with what works.  When we know what works for us, it’s easier to build confidence and to stay off the fence (like we talked about yesterday).    

She also said when we do what works for us, what has brought us success, that’s enough.  We don’t need to be measured by someone else’s stick.  We need to measure how we feel and what we’ve given and how we move forward.  Stay focused, stay the course.  Remember what we’ve accomplished and how we got there and look at how we can do that again.  Replicate what works for us and success will come.  It isn’t about doing exactly what other people tell us, it’s about following our feelings and instincts.  Some people branch out quickly, others focus on one area.  The ones with a lot of success take their experiences and figure out ways to help others, they aren’t afraid to invest in themselves and trust their stories, to use those stories as leverage.  Sharing the human experience is an incredibly powerful thing and we have more in common with people than we don’t. 

We don’t need to spend our time with excessive doing.  This is the opposite of what we talked about with sitting on the fence—there are times we try to do too many things at once, thinking that we need to do more.  There is a sweet spot between sitting on that fence and doing all the things—and that is right where we accept ourselves and do what works for us.  That is where trust develops for us.  The key to trusting others is to know how to trust ourselves first.  When we take on all the things, it tends to come from a place of proving, but when we do all of that “doing,” we lose as much momentum as doing nothing because eventually the overwhelm leads us to do nothing.  So when we are clear, focused, and assured of our direction, we know how to discern that spot.  So do more of what works, it can only open the door to more success. Remember, success looks different for everyone–so do what works for us.