The entrepreneurs among you will almost certainly be familiar with Simon Sinek, and the idea that people don’t do business with WHAT you do, they do business with WHY you do it. (If not I suggest you watch the TED TALK below)
But why DO you do it? And how do you communicate that?
I get a lot of comments about how much people (MY people, not everyone) resonate with my writing, and I have to say it feels pretty good, so I wanted to share how I got to where I am, in the hope that it will help those of you who are struggling to get your message out there.
My writing is designed to have the reader KNOW me. Because connection is everything. I’m not interested in selling, although selling does happen as a result.
I write because I become better when I do. My ideas solidify. The dots start to join together. I heal.
Sometimes I write stuff that scares the shit out of me. But the more I clench at the thought of putting something out there, the more powerful I know it will be.
It upsets my parents, who only ever did their best and who I love dearly, to read about the challenges I have dealt with in my life.
But without those challenges and life lessons, I wouldn’t be the powerful force for change that I am.
I will always be grateful for every challenge that has come my way, because they made me who I am.
So here is the process that I went through to get here
Trying gets in the way
- Timeline your life
Go through your life with a fine toothed comb, and write everything down. Make 2 lists, one of every single challenge you’ve faced, and one with every single win or success you’ve had, from birth. Be as detailed, and simply factual as you can.
Here’s mine:
Age 2: Move from Edinburgh to London
Age 4: Move from London to Saudi Arabia
Age 4: Ear infection leaves me completely deaf
Age 6/7: Move to London during the Gulf War. Dad moves to Dubai
Age 7: Move to Dubai.
Age 9: Boarding School in the UK. Begin 10 years of being badly bullied
Age 12: Parents Divorce
Age 12: Tried to coordinate a rescue as the only person in my family on the beach during a rip-tide. Watch someone drown
Age 13: Move to a new boarding school
Early teens: Dad moves to Hong Kong, starting nearly 10 years of hardly seeing him
Age 17: Mum and Step Dad move from Dubai to Qatar
Age 18: Leave school completely unequipped for life and get into hardcore partying