Hi Reader,

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Earlier this week, I wrapped up the 6.5 week class I've been teaching for New York City Small Business Services with 15 fantastic business owners who wanted to dive into growth strategy and create a scalable three-year plan.
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It's the first time I've taught this class since the pandemic. It was also the first time I taught it remotely.
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So, I spent a lot of April crafting a new curriculum with loads of updated and new lessons and resources.
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When I started building the updated curriculum, I honestly did not know who would be in the class, how many years of business they would have under their belts, what their areas of expertise would be.
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Doubts started to creep in as to whether I had any business teaching this business growth class.
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Yet, as I began to put together each lesson plan, I realized how much I had grown in the past 3 years—how much clearer my own strategy had become, my vision, my value, my focus.
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And, all those doubts melted away.
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Whenever I teach a class, I always ask participants to share their top three biggest takeaways or lessons learned.
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One graduate of this particular class said, "This class made me realize how much I actually know about a lot of what was covered in the class."
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I'm gonna admit that this is music to my ears because we're pretty much all guilty of underestimating ourselves.
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Obviously, myself included!
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But, the fact is, we're actually a lot smarter than we give ourselves credit for being.
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All too frequently, we look around and think everyone else knows something I don't and it's that thing that is making the difference for them.
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Even when we receive amazing testimonials, thank you notes, feedback comments, 5-star ratings, and more, we believe the trash talk in our heads above everything else.
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So, let's stop doing that!

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Here's something that can help.
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I like to call it Flipping the Script to Embrace Your Greatness:

1. Spend one month logging your negative thoughts.
2. Record when, where, what, and what preceded each "trash talk" moment, also note your emotional state.
3. Each time you catch yourself talking negatively to yourself, stop, think of a testimonial, a thank you, a feedback comment you received that actually proves the opposite.
4. Analyze your log and see if you can identify the patterns—common triggers, language, feelings, etc.
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A common trash talk script for me is thinking, "What are you crazy, you don't know how to do this?"
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It usually happens when I step outside my comfort zone and onto my learning edge.
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It usually happens when I'm feeling anxious or overwhelmed.
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Here's how I flip that script—I remember the testimonial I received from my very first small business client in my coaching program.
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Here's what she said:

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​I can admit now that I didn't know exactly what I was doing. I was winging it.
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But, clearly, that's not how it looked to my client. If I could do all that for her while "not knowing what I'm doing," then anything I turn my attention to has a pretty great shot at working out all right.
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And, there's no harm in on-the-job learning.
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We all do that! Even the people you think have all the answers and know all the things you don't.
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Otherwise, how would we keep growing?

Until next week, please be kind to yourself and don't forget to embrace your greatness!

PS - Want some help creating a scalable business strategy or plan? Let's talk.
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PPS - Missed last week's message, Shall I Compare Thee...?, why not catch up?

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Your success is our strategy!