You have likely downloaded countless freebies. You’ve attended a ridiculous amount of information sessions and webinars. You’ve bought courses, and books. You’ve listened to lots of podcasts episodes. But I have one really important question for you: How have you actually applied all that knowledge that you signed up for now?
If you don’t have an easy answer. Don’t worry. That’s what we’re going to actually dive into in today’s episode.
Show Links:
Show Takeaways:
- Discover why learning more isn’t actually going to help you
- Learn why I don’t love plug-and-play systems
- Listen in to hear the super simple step that most people miss when learning something new (and while it’s simple, it is imperative)
Rather read before you listen? ⬇️
You’ve likely downloaded countless freebies, attended a ridiculously amount of information sessions & webinars, bought courses, books, listened to lots of podcast episodes (thanks for that by the way) BUT I do have a really important question for you. How have you actually applied all that knowledge that you’ve signed up for? Don’t worry if you don’t have an easy answer. That is exactly what we are diving into today.
Okay, before we dive into all the amazingness I have planned for this episode, I have to ask: is keeping up with the content you are creating a total time-suck? I get it. That used to be me. Until I created a tool to allow me to plan out and organize all my content creation in one spot in a way that worked for my brain. If content creation and keeping all the posts, reels, podcast episodes, videos, blogs, stories, lives— all of that straight is something that is taking up an incredible amount of your time and causing you to feel overwhelmed, I actually have an excellent free template that you can grab right now. This is the exact content editorial template that I use to plan out & keep straight all the content that I create for my own business. Head on over to erinhaworth.com/freetemplate to grab it.
We are living in the age of information. There is an incredible amount of knowledge available at your fingertips basically anywhere you have wifi or cellular data. So much so that it has become our default to immediately google the answer to whatever question comes up: who was that actor in that movie? How old are Snoop Dogg, Eminem, & Dr. Dre now? What is the best way to launch a new offer? How should I price my course? Where are my ideal clients hanging out? What the hell is this silly imposter syndrome & how can I cure myself of it?
The issue is no longer “where can I find answers” but more so “what sources do I trust & what info do I actually apply?”
While I am not sure that an actor’s bibliography or the ages of 90s icons will be beneficial in growing your business (I could be wrong), I do know that is learning is important to you as part of your business growth strategy, it isn’t enough to just intake info. You actually have to integrate that information.
You’ve likely heard that knowledge isn’t power but applied knowledge is power. That is because wanting something and thinking something isn’t enough. You have to take action based on those thoughts and desires.
There is no theory of business quiz that someone is gonna administer. You aren’t learning just to learn. This is real life and the stakes are pretty high. I mean, you started your business with the intention that it was successful, right? There is no classroom where multiple choice exams will give you the validation you want. You have to take it off the page, out of your airpods, and actually do something with that information.
That is the process I call integration. I came across this idea because I would see lots of different online gurus say things like get my exact morning routine, my sales system & scripts, my caption templates, my success plan. And while that sounds awesome because hey there is this person that has done what we want to do and they are gonna show exactly what they did, I’m gonna save so much time, there is a big gap in many of these copy-and-paste solutions.
Each of those were created specifically for the person who had success with them. It was created with their goals, dreams, strengths, business model, ideal client, all the things of that person. And you as an entrepreneur try to fit yourself into the gurus sales system but it feels forced & fake. Or their morning routine and its not relaxing or grounding, it just causes more anxiety because am I doing this right? And did I answer the template blanks the right way? None of it actually works for you. So you start to feel like something is wrong with YOU rather than believing that the plan, the template, the morning routine, the sales system isn’t FOR you.
And believing that something is wrong with you wreaks havoc on your confidence, which is a key ingredient in building a successful business.
Now, I will go ahead and say that I don’t blame these online gurus. They see that it worked for them and they want results like that for you too. Most of them, they come from a genuinely good place, so they want to share what worked for them.
But here it is, the truth: Cookie-cutter is great for Great British Baking Show but sucks for how you are gonna create your successful business.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is so much value in seeing what other people are doing to be successful. How other people have done what you want to do. Gathering the information & inspiration. It just isn’t enough to stop there. There is a big difference in information/inspiration AND integration.
So what is the missing piece, the step that this entire episode is based on? Knowing yourself well enough to ask yourself how to go from inspiration to integration.
Yes, this is why when I start anything with a client, we start with their self-awareness. How do you already do life & business? What are your strengths? How do you naturally show up? What are your current habits & routines?
How many hours a week are you dedicating to this? What are your dreams, vision, goals? All of this is required to know how to integration the information and inspiration to actually make it work for you.
How do you become more self-aware? You ask yourself questions, get honest with yourself, get feedback, experiment with different strategies & tactics, it’s a constant thing, not a one-and-done checkmark. You can journal, take personality tests, lean into your sign or enneagram, get a human design reading, look at your values & priorities, ask others what you are really good at— the list can go on and on.
Basically while you are super motivated to learn new things, turn some of that curiosity inward and learn a thing or two about you.
You then can that information to figure out how to INTEGRATE new strategies, tactics, systems, routines, habits, and big ideas into your own life and business.
Action Step:
I always like to end each episode with an action step that you can take right now to help you move forward and begin to implement immediately. Here is your action step for this episode: There is a lot you can do to be more self-aware but here is one of my favorite exercises. Take a piece of paper and divide it into 4 columns. In the first column, write down at least 5 people who you admire. In the next column, list out why you admire them. In the 3rd column, write down all the things that you are good or great at, your strengths (no less than 10 things). And in the 4th column (armed with some awesome information), write the skills that you want to improve or get better at. (chances are there will be some overlap between column 2 and column 4).
