How do you know when you’re ready — really ready — to invest in something as big and audacious as your thought leadership?
The question came up when a client reached out to reschedule a strategy session. She had a lot going on: Zoom-schooling, the impacts of Covid-19 on her business, and changes in her family life. She said, I’m not sure this is the right time. What if I can’t take advantage of the strategy right away? Should we wait?
These are reasonable question based on practical concerns. Investing in your thought leadership is a commitment of time, energy, and resources.
It it worth it? Yes: committing to thought leadership brings you confidence and focus; it crystallizes your messages so your right-fit clients hear and want to work with you; it builds your legacy; it changes lives.
Studies also show it makes you more trusted and respected and helps you command a premium for your services.
Of course, not every season is the right season to make a commitment to thought leadership. Caregiving for a newborn or older family member? Moving? Rebranding? Managing a health concern? These are situations when thought leadership is probably not your priority.
But usually these are NOT the reasons why women leaders put off investing in thought leadership.
That’s because the REAL question I heard beneath my client’s practical concerns is this one: am I ready?
How do You Know when You’re Ready?
Once upon a time I learned an invaluable, shocked-me-to-my-toes lesson about readiness. It forever changed how I determine when I’m ready to invest in myself and my business.
I was taking a free mini-course and I LOVED it. I felt engaged and brimming with energy from what I was learning and doing.
At the end of the mini-course the coach made an offer: a $3000 program to work on messaging. I was so excited and felt so aligned that I immediately signed up and paid…
… And within five minutes, resistance and limiting beliefs clobbered me.
I reread the program landing page and I was overwhelmed with doubt and regret. My thoughts went, I’m not ready for this! I don’t fit all the criteria on the page! I’m clearly not the ideal client. I should wait until I’m more prepared! What was I thinking!?
The Thoughts that Sabotage your Readiness
Thankfully, part of the mini-course had been an overview of limiting beliefs and I recognized that I was banging my head RIGHT into one.
The truth was that five minutes earlier, I was SO EXCITED about investing in the messaging program. Nothing in reality had changed in five minutes. I hadn’t lost money or taken on an enormous commitment that would impact my ability to do the program. I hadn’t stopped caring about messaging or decided I didn’t like the coach.
Nothing had changed in five minutes. I felt ready when I registered for the program and my ability to invest in the program, commit to it, and get everything I could from it was unchanged.
Only my thoughts about it changed.
Readiness is a Choice
After those five minutes I realized that I completely misunderstood readiness. I thought being ‘ready’ was something external, like having certain revenue numbers or time or assets, or matching every criteria on a landing page. I was looking for an outward sign that I was ready.
In reality, readiness is a CHOICE.
No one bestows readiness on you. You have to choose it. You DECIDE to be ready, and then you take action and rise to the occasion. Your efforts determine your readiness.
The next time you’re on the brink of making a bold choice for yourself and your business, notice the questions you start asking yourself:
- Can I afford this?
- Am I qualified for this?
- Do I have enough time for this?
Give yourself a moment to consider the question beneath these practical concerns: Am I ready to give this investment everything I’ve got? Am I ready to make time for this? Am I enough for this? Am I ready to believe in myself that I can do this?
Readiness is a question only you can answer for yourself.
What are you ready for?
Take the First Step Towards Your Thought Leadership
If you want to choose to be ready to invest in your thought leadership (I put a lot of qualifiers in there because sometimes your system needs time to get used to the idea), start with my free email course, the 5 Pillars of Magnetic Thought Leadership.
It’s a short and ‘concise’ (you’ll see why that’s in quotes when you take the course!) overview of what your thought leadership needs to stand out among the noise and deliver the highest imaginable value to your ideal clients.
You are a thought leader. And this free course will give you what you need to ensure that your audiences knows it as well as I do.
Click here to join the free email course, 5magneticpillars.com
