There’s a myth that true achievement can only come from struggle and strain. That in order to feel successful and happy, you need to first pick a specific goal—and then apply consistent, forceful effort to mold the world according to that vision. But there’s another model of success to consider. One where you shift from trying to force specific outcomes based on some made-up goal, to learning how to align with life and take the right action in each moment. In this episode, Leon VanderPol, founder of the Center for Transformational Coaching, joins me to share: - The difference between transactional and transformational achievement. - The limitations of setting fixed, rigid goals. - How to tap into a deeper sense of purpose, and accomplish great things in a way that’s an expression of yourself as a whole and complete person. Connect with Leon at: - https://www.centerfortransformationalcoaching.com Check out A Shift in Being: The Art and Practices of Deep Transformational Coaching - https://www.amazon.com/Shift-Being-Practices-Transformational-Coaching/dp/9869696112 Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
If you’re relying on inbound channels and gig platforms to land new projects, you’re probably missing out on the majority of clients who need the type of creative services that you offer. You can’t simply wait around for good clients to happen upon your website, portfolio, or LinkedIn profile. It’s up to you to reach out to them and initiate the kind of conversations that lead to new projects. The challenge is that a lot of freelancers feel uncomfortable with cold outreach, and hate the idea of coming off as “salesy.” The good news is that learning how to proactively reach out to potential clients—and sell your services in an authentic way—frees you to take more control over the future of your business, and greatly increases your odds of success. In this episode, freelance content marketer and B2B SaaS copywriter Christine Gomolka joins me to share: - How she used cold outreach to book her first copywriting clients and produce a full-time income within 4 months. - How to take the discomfort, resistance, and pressure out of cold outreach. - How to sell in an authentic way. - Why introverts have an advantage in selling. - Why listening is the key skill for selling your services. Connect with Christine at: - http://www.christinegomolka.com - https://www.paidcopywriter.com - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqtNlZvkVrSmNadLCtMz5TA - https://www.paidcopywriter.com/podcasts/the-paid-copywriter-podcast Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
We all want to experience the upsides of entrepreneurship—the success, the praise, the creative freedom, the money. But each of those things is just one side of a coin. For every upside, there’s an inherent downside. The possibility of success comes with the possibility of failure. Same for praise vs blame, creative freedom vs external judgement, and financial abundance vs financial scarcity. In this episode, we’ll explore why fighting with reality limits our potential, and how to find the right balance of up- and down-sides that works for you. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
I recently had the chance to be a guest on the We‘ve Got a Problem podcast with Andrew Wallace, where we talked about ways to get unstuck and build the business you were born to create. Andrew was gracious enough to give me the green light to share our conversation here on the WorkSelfLife podcast with you. I hope you enjoy our conversation, and please go ahead and check out the We‘ve Got a Problem podcast. - https://link.chtbl.com/problempodcast - https://youtu.be/KKZ_k7qfVwA
Constant change is something we all need to face head on. At some point, new technologies, changes in market demand, and increased competition will likely disrupt your business and force you to pivot your approach. How can creative entrepreneurs like copywriters and content producers evolve their business in a way that accounts for these types of changes? In this episode, Beam Content co-founder Brooklin Nash joins me to share: - The potential near-term impact of AI tools on creative entrepreneurs and freelancers. - The types of creative and strategic services that aren’t in danger of being replaced by AI (at least not yet). - How to future-proof your creative career. Connect with Brooklin at: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooklin-nash/ - On Twitter @realBrookNash - Subscribe to Brooklin’s “Dear Freelancer” Newsletter https://peakfreelance.com/dear-freelancer/ Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
What does it look like to build a business that’s aligned with your authentic strengths and interests? In this episode, B2B messaging advisor and founder of Punchy, Emma Stratton, joins me to share: - Her take on a book that we both love—The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, by Stephen Cope—and how it’s impacted her life and business. - The meaning of Dharma, and how that relates to her work as and entrepreneur. - The obsession with “getting there” vs being authentic to who you are in the present moment. - Why moving toward Dharma can be scary, and requires the right balance between intention and non-attachment to the outcome. - What it means to “trust the gift.” - How buying into false beliefs about struggle and success keeps us stuck. - How to approach marketing and sales from a place of service. Connect with Emma at: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-stratton-punchy/ - https://punchy.co/ Check out The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling: - https://www.amazon.com/Great-Work-Your-Life-Journey/dp/0553386077/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
It seems like the only constant in today’s world is constant distraction. More pings, meetings, emails, Slack alerts. Less space, time, clarity, quiet. In this episode, we’ll explore how to live more of your life in flow and tap into your highest creative potential as an entrepreneur. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
I’ve always believed in the value of prospecting. Yet for most of my career, I really hated actually doing it. Despite my attempts to connect with potential clients in an authentic and personalized way, my approach tended to feel a bit generic and spammy. In this episode, we’ll explore why relying on selling “best practices” and cheesy prospecting hacks can hurt your business, and how to prospect for customers in a way that doesn’t feel gross. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
So many entrepreneurs and freelancers operate from a scarcity mentality, causing us to take projects that don’t align with our interests, charge too little for our work, and chase the wrong opportunities. In this episode, fractional content director Nicole Bump joins me to share: - How she builds variety into her work. - Ways to overcome imposter syndrome. - The importance of owning your value and charging what you're worth. Connect with Nicole at: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolemebump - https://www.bumpinbound.com Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
Aligning your business with your strengths starts with getting clear about the types of projects that just aren’t a good fit. In this episode, content marketer Dana Herra joins me to share: - Why it's so important to know yourself, and be able to say no to opportunities that just aren't right for you. - How she found the right target niche for her business. - How she chooses the clients that are the best fit for her interests, skills, and business goals. - Why you need to take "hot takes" and other advice online with a grain of salt, and test ideas for yourself. Connect with Dana at: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danaherra - https://danaherra.com Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
Sometimes the best way to build a successful business is to lean into the unknown, experiment using the resources available to you, and double down on what works. In this episode, content marketing strategist Emily Amos joins me to share: - How she started as a freelancer, and why she decided to build a team instead of doing all the writing herself. - Why she initially resisted the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, and what changed her mind. - Why entrepreneurs have more "job" security than employees. - How she pushed past her discomfort with selling and self-promotion. Connect with Emily at: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyamos/ - https://www.upliftcontent.com/ Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
When’s the last time you felt truly in love with your work—when you felt 100% focused on the things that really matter, when you were overflowing with creative energy, when ideas seemed to pour out of you without any conscious effort on your part? In this episode, we’ll explore some of the reasons why you may be feeling burned out and exhausted, and how to recalibrate your focus in order to live a more fulfilling, purpose-driven life. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
In this final episode in the series about overcoming your fears around failure and rejection, we’ll look at ways to slowly ratchet up exposure to your discomfort and break down your deepest limiting beliefs—without getting completely overwhelmed. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
I recently shared some thoughts on how many of us accidentally train ourselves to expect failure, why trying to use “positive thinking” to overcome your fears rarely works, and how to start dismantling your fear-based, limiting beliefs. In this episode, we’ll look at a simple daily meditation practice you can use to let go of deeply ingrained fears and start instilling healthier mental habits. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
“Positive thinking” seems like a reasonable way to overcome our fears. Unfortunately, trying to cover up limiting beliefs (“I’ll fail”) with newer, more empowering ones (“I’m unstoppable”) tends to keep us running in circles. Sweeping your fear under the rug and pretending it’s not there may make you feel a bit better in the short-term. But the moment you get triggered by failure and rejection, all that fear will just come right back up. The alternative is to start facing your fearful thoughts head-on. To explore your limiting beliefs (and the fears they stir up), discover the source of those beliefs, and begin to unravel them at their core. In this episode, we’ll explore how you can dismantle those fear-based, limiting beliefs by asking yourself one simple question. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
We’ve all heard that you should think of failure as learning, that every no just brings you one step closer to a yes, and that rejection is the natural byproduct of success. And yet, despite your best efforts to adopt a more positive spin on failure and rejection, it’s likely that you still struggle with both of them. In this episode, we’ll explore why your attempts to reframe rejection and failure as “good” usually fall flat, and what you can do instead to start overcoming the fears that are holding you back. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
Do you struggle with a nagging inner voice that keeps telling you “this won’t work”? In this episode, we’ll explore why many of us tend to expect the worst, and how these limiting beliefs relate to our fear of rejection. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
Ever notice that when you try to consciously force yourself to come up with brilliant ideas, you just end up mentally exhausted? In this episode, we’ll explore why reducing effort may actually help you tap into your highest creative capabilities as an entrepreneur. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
What happens when you take the advice to “focus on the goal” too far? When does guidance become obsession? In this episode, we’ll explore why attachment to outcomes actually hurts performance, common types of limiting beliefs that can lead to attachment, and how to achieve goals without all the toxic residue of neediness and fear. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.
Getting clear about your authentic purpose makes it much easier to build your business’s unique offering, positioning, and messaging around your true strengths. But what if that authentic purpose looks a lot different than what you’re actually doing right now? What if the business you’ve spent years building doesn’t really seem to match your talents, strengths, and interests? In this episode, we’ll explore how to rediscover the common threads between your current business and your authentic purpose. Visit workselflife.com and join my email list to receive the latest podcast episodes as well as subscriber-only resources, tips, and tools.