When’s the last time you were able to make something big happen in your life as a result of thinking small?
I want to grow my audience, but I don’t know how.
I want to launch a podcast, but I don’t know where to start.
I want to build a website, but I don’t have the resources.
I want to create my own business, but I don’t have the time.
There’s one thing missing from every statements above and that’s intention.
Intention
John and I were chatting the other day about the EntrepreneurOnFire Audio Blog, which I recently re-launched in an effort to reach more people with my content.
While we were chatting about it, I said something that made John stop:
I remember a time when we first started working together – a time when I would have never been able to start a podcast for fear that people wouldn’t want to hear from me. …Do you think people want to hear from me?
John knew I was serious when I said it – that just a little over 1 year ago I did wonder whether or not people would want to hear from me… and there are still times today when this thought creeps into my head.
Here is what John said to me:
You know that you have knowledge to share with a specific audience who is out there – waiting. You’ve been writing the blog for over a year now, and you have a bank of incredible content that, honestly, probably not a whole lot of people even know exists.
What you do with that content, and how you choose to deliver it, is up to you – it’s only something you can decide.
And just as John was saying this to me, I realized what I was missing when I asked if he thought people would want to hear from me: the same thing a million other people in my shoes are missing and that’s intention.
Let your intentions drive your actions
If your intention with your blog, podcast, website, products, or services is to provide something that people might want, then is that really the type of business you want to be in? Is whatever you’re providing going to be something people actually want?
Of course not.
On the flip side, if it’s your intention to provide the best content you possibly can that people will want, then that changes a whole lot, including:
- Your level of confidence,
- How others are going to feel when they’re learning about what it is you have to offer, and
- How you feel about what it is you’re creating.
Stating your intention
As John and I sat there in our living room, he asked me what my intention was with the audio blog. He knows just how powerful stating your intention is.
I told him that my intention was to provide actionable advice to entrepreneurs who are struggling to take the next step on their journey because of fear, doubt or uncertainty.
Well, when you put it that way…
So stop and seriously ask yourself: what’s your intention with what you’re creating? It might be your business, your content, or a new product or service. Stating your intention is important because it gives you your WHY, plus a solid stake in the ground to look back on if / when you’re feeling like giving up.
What’s changed
Stating my intention hasn’t magically made my initial question to John disappear; I still have that lingering doubt and fear creep into my head every now and then. But what’s changed is that now I have an intention, and my actions – creating the EntrepreneurOnFire Audio Blog – will always be led by my intention instead of my doubt and fear.
If you don’t believe in yourself, then how do you expect anyone else to?
I want to grow my audience, but I don’t know and I’m going to learn how.
I want to start a podcast, and I’m going to but I don’t know where to take my first step today.
I want to build a website, and even if I need to find help, I’ll make it happen but I don’t have the resources.
I want to create my own business, and it’s important enough to me that I will find but I don’t have the time to start today.
