E-Courses, E-Books, Workshops, & Coaches Can’t Do The Hard Work For You
There’s this problem that I’ve seen some of my clients struggle with:
They’ve invest hundreds (if not thousands) into digital learning products - usually a mix of e-courses, e-books, workshops, and workbooks - and they’re still exactly where they started, not making any progress towards bringing their business idea and vision to life.
They have big lofty goals at the forefront of their mind as they take this leap into the world of creative business:
“Reach 10K months within 90 days"
“Build a 10K email list within two months"
“Have a 15K launch in the next 45 days"
“Attract 100K monthly visitors to their brand new blog"
“Get booked out 6 months in advance within a month of launching their business”
These goals can be awesome, but they're usually influenced by seeing the success of more seasoned creatives in their industry and they tend to show up as dreams instead of a tangible plan of action to actually move forward and make it happen.
Here’s the lesson I try and encourage them to discover:
"E-Courses, e-Books, workshops, & coaches can’t do the hard work for you"
You can spend hundreds on an e-course. You can invest in every workshop out there. You can commit to a coaching engagement with someone you respect and trust. You can fill up your desktop with every e-book published in your industry, but if you’re not doing the work that it takes to make big and beautiful things happen online you’ll forever remain a dreamer not a doer.
Here’s what can happen when you have invested in tons of awesome digital products and services that have left you with big lofty goals and dreams for your business:
You start to believe that there’s a formula for this. That as long as you do X, Y, and Z, you will be successful. That the success of the person behind what you’re investing in is possible for you, solely because you’ve invested in the information that they’re sharing with you. Or you start to become overwhelmed by all the advice, ideas, and strategies out there, and you find yourself stuck, confused, and no idea where to go next. You fill your head with so much noise and advice that you struggle to truly listen to the most important voice: your own.
And hey, I’m not judging you for this. I adore my clients, every single one of them, and whenever I work with someone who’s found themselves trapped in the cycle of consuming instead of creating I’m always just so damn excited to help them see that everything they need to make things happen is already in their own mind - they just need to start trusting it more.
There’s one thing though that I have found in common with every single creative I work with who is out there doing the work and making big and beautiful things happen online:
They know the power of their own ideas, message, and methodology. They know that just to replicate what is being taught to them through e-courses, e-books, workshops, and coaches keeps them small. Instead, they know that taking all of the information and support out there that’s available to them and letting it spark their own ideas, strategies, tools, and steps forward is the best way to move forward in an industry that is already bursting at the seams with so many people just trying to do what’s already come before them.
So here’s what I want to encourage you to do today:
E-course, e-book, and digital workshop junkie?
If you’ve invested in more digital products in the past 3-6 months than you can count on one hand, you’re probably overdoing it. Your brain can only digest and make use of so much until it all just turns into noise. There are awesome people out there creating digital products that can have some serious impact in your business and work, but it’s up to you to take what they’ve created and turn into in something game changing for your own life and business.
Just passively working through the course, book, or workshop alone is not enough. You have to first only invest in digital products that can truly serve you best - not just the most hyped up ones out there right now, but instead the ones that really speak to your values, intentions, and goals. And then you need to commit to learning and growing from them. It’s okay to take what can serve you and leave the rest. Be curious about everything you’re implementing into your business, make space for your own experiments and evolution, and let the digital products you invest in enhance your own ability to make purposeful and strategic decisions for your brand and business, instead of just relying on others to always guide you along the way.
Invested in a coach, consultant, or other style of 1:1 service?
Make the most out of it. Ask questions, give 100% to the work they encourage you to do, and don’t be afraid to really ask for the help you need. I truly believe the best results when working one-on-one is when it’s a collaborative experience, so use your voice and make sure the coach or consultant truly understands what it is you’re working towards.
Service providers can help you speed up the process, make more purposeful decisions, navigate the messy parts of this journey with more ease, and create and show up with a higher standard of work, but they can’t do the hard work for you. They bring their skills and expertise to the table, and it’s their job to give you and the work you do together 100%, but you need to bring your all to the table too. Let it be the transformative experience that it’s meant to be, but you’ve got to show up and give your all to the experience to make that happen.
To finish
Big and beautiful things can start to happen when you show up and do the work. An e-course, e-book, workshop, or coach can’t do that for you, but they can offer you guidance, encouragement, support, advice, and insight along the way. The most important thing is to ask yourself this:
Do I have what it takes to make this happen? Am I willing to show up, do the work, and give it everything I’ve got?
If the answer is yes and you want to invest in digital products and one-on-one services to help you make it happen, my biggest advice to you is to make smart, purposeful, and intuitive purchasing decisions every step of the way. Invest your time, energy, and creativity into only the services and products that can serve you best, ignore the FOMO, and trust that you are capable of making this happen on your own terms and in your own way.
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