What do you do when the things you do don’t align?
My colleague is a career and leadership coach, and she’s starting a new business. She’s creating her assets – a lead magnet, her first course in a series, her email list – and striving to align everything. Since it’s a new venture, she wants to get her messaging down pat.
She wants everything she does, from posting to LinkedIn and Twitter to writing emails and blog posts, to point towards her messaging (WHY) and services (WHAT). Smart!
The problem is… she also has podcast with two colleagues about diversity and inclusion. It’s tangentially related to career and leadership, sure. But it does not point towards her messaging (WHY) and services (WHAT).
Why do it if it doesn’t align?
There’s a school of thought that EVERYTHING you do must drive you towards your business goals (usually some version of make impact and money). Not just for mercenary reasons, but for clarity and consistency. If you want to be known for WHY you do WHAT you do, you’d better pick one damn thing or you’ll confuse the heck out of your audience.
When someone thinks about the problem you solve, you want them to think of you – immediately. And vice versa. Why muddy the water by throwing in this podcast about something else entirely?
Because you… want to
The problem with everything-must-align is when it stifles you. It makes sense and it’s good strategy, but what happens when you feel creatively and joyously and magnetically drawn toward something unrelated?
What if you want to create something – a podcast or a meet-up or Facebook group – just because you want to?
Magic can happen when you trust your gut and excitement (for example, here).
It’s counter-intuitive to the everything-must-align strategy. Because why spend time creating something when it doesn’t point towards your goals?! Isn’t that a “waste of time”?
First of all, nothing is a waste of time (which I need to remind myself like, every single day). Second of all, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN. There are so many opportunities awaiting. Wouldn’t it only increase your exposure and reach, not to mention joy, to pursue the projects that call you even when they don’t precisely match your messaging?
Of course, you may want to do a cost-benefits analysis. You only have so much time and energy, and your business goals are important. Here’s where you want to take a good, hard look at your metrics.
There are the usual suspects – clients and income. How about time spent having fun – is that one of your metrics? What about creativity? There may be periods when you don’t want to split your focus: starting your new business may take all of your time and energy… for now. (Or perhaps it will make you MORE focused on your business to have another thing you’re working on at the same time.)
One of my sheroes is Alie Ward, creator of the Ologies podcast. Her podcast idea sat in a document for ten years before she worked up the courage to create it. She was nervous that it would be too silly, too weird. She was afraid to tell her job because of how much she swears on the show.
Alie’s career has exploded since she began the show. Can it all be traced to the fact that she bravely started the podcast? I don’t know, but it certainly hasn’t hurt her career (even though it was not directly related to her career).
As Alie says in various episodes, “so learn to play the trumpet. Text your crush. We’re all gonna die.”
This post is part of my 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days series. View the rest here.
