I’ve been posting a lot of videos on Instagram lately.
And OMFG, it has been SO HARD and SO EASY.
It’s EASY because:
1. Before I started making the videos, I did a ton of work (like, YEARS) with my coaches, prepping myself to be more visible in public. I worked very hard to internalize the idea that it’s part of my job to market my services! Nobody can receive the benefit of my coaching if they don’t know about it.
2. I love, LOVE public speaking. It’s what I miss most about my last career. I still haven’t figured out how to do more public speaking in THIS career. So making a video scratches that itch a little bit.
It’s HARD because:
Like every woman in America, I have all kinds of hangups about how I look. I have literally caught myself thinking, “God I can’t record a video today. I look like hell.”
Here are some of the things I tell myself about why I can’t appear on video:
I’m too old
I’m too fat
My glasses are ridiculous
My hair is “all wrong”, either too groomed or too messy or too dirty
I can’t show up just wearing a T-shirt
My skin is too shiny
My skin is too dry-looking
I hate wearing makeup
My eyes are too irritated (I stopped and laughed out loud while I was writing this one because it is SO. DUMB.)
I have a silly hobbit face and nobody will take me seriously
I talk myself out of these ridiculous attitudes DAILY. DAILY these thoughts pop up and I wave at them and blow them kisses and yes also give them the f*cking finger and then I GET OUT THE CAMERA and CHOOSE SOME TRENDING AUDIO.
I was inspired to write about this, because yesterday on IG I found myself particularly engaged by a woman who looks a lot like me. She’s middle aged, has glasses, has a round funny hobbit face. And I realized—I was SPECIFICALLY enjoying her work because of how MUCH I liked her face!
Annnnnyway, I hope your takeaway from this is not, “Emma only follows women who look like her” but instead is something like, “there are as many ways to be attractive as there are people on planet Earth, and if I have something to say, I’m going to show up and say it.”
Or an even more powerfully striking belief:
“People love to see my face.”
That’s the one I’m going with.
Now, a PS: it’s totally normal to have your mind serve up a slew of self-disparaging thoughts when you’re about to do something that raises your visibility.
If you can’t get that inner self-critic to turn off, let’s talk. I love training brains to serve you a better menu! Book a call with me and let’s find out what’s possible for you 