PURPOSESCAPING : Build confidence to reinvent and find purpose in midlife

By Amanda Miller LittlejohnSociety & Culture Business Entrepreneurship Education Self-Improvement Personal Journals

PURPOSESCAPING : Build confidence to reinvent and find purpose in midlife episodes

April 24, 2019PYG 75: The Number One Reason You're Not Getting Traction
You may be great at what you do - you have a phenomenal message, you do life-changing work, you're seriously a game-changer.

But the reason you have yet to blow up and your business has yet to take off?

No one has heard of you.

You may be thinking, 'Duh, Amanda. Tell me something I don't know...'

I get it. If you're here because you're interested in building your personal brand, you probably already know that you want more people to know about you.

But what you may not know is this: you have more power over the fact that no one knows about you than you think.

And that's because the main reason no one has heard of you is YOU WON'T TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU DO.

And if you do tell them, YOU REFUSE TO REPEAT YOURSELF.

You don't have more opportunities on the table because you're not telling people you're open to working with them.

You're not telling people how they can take advantage of what you have to offer. Or once you've told them one time, you're not following up by reminding them.

You can't say it just once, as my husband says, you have to be a broken record. You have to tell them, then tell them again.

So how do you make it so that people have heard of you?

First, you have to own that you have something to share, something that is valuable to others, something the more people need. This is actually the mindset work that many people have to do first especially when they work in corporate america because corporate will have you thinking you're nowhere near as good as you actually are. But that's another story. So that's the first step. You have to own the fact that you're good, your skills are solid, and your work adds enough value to others that more people should know about it.

Second, you have to publicly declare you're available because you can't sell a secret. So that could mean making a post about your new venture on social media. That could mean making an announcement at an industry meeting or speaking engagement. That could even mean making a list of targets and then reaching out to them one by one. But if you do reach out to people individually, you still need to have something public-facing that declares what you do like an updated LinkedIn profile or website you can link to.

Last you have to keep telling people. Over and over again. Repeatedly.

And here's where resistance typically shows up for most people even if they managed to get past steps one and two: You may start telling yourself you're 'bothering people' or 'getting on people's nerves' or people are 'tired of hearing about' whatever you have to share.

And if you manage to share it and no one responds, or no one reaches out, you might mistake your audience's silence for indifference. You may even mistake their silence for disinterest.

Listen, I know as well as anyone how nerve-racking it can be to put things out and hear nothing. It can really mess with your mind after you've mustered up the courage to announce that you do this thing and then hear nothing.

It's tempting to think people aren't interested, but the reality is, they likely didn't hear about it, or if they did hear about it, they need time to process.

But the silence can be deafening, and that part become a mental game. So you have to push yourself to keep putting it out there, you have to give it a chance to actually work.

So this doesn't mean you mention your service once, and if it doesn't yield a slew of new clients, you stop, beat yourself up for having the nerve to put yourself out there, and vow to never mention it again.

This means saying it again a few more times that way, switching your medium to social, to phone, to handwritten notes until you find the way that works for you.

And then keep doing it.

Tell people about what you do at least twice a week, because if you don't tell them, how you can expect them to find out? And if you don't remind them, how can you expect them to remember?

Whatever your medium of choice is - however you most successfully connect with your tribe - put that on your calendar so you get a reminder. Did I connect this week? My husband always talks about my long posts on LinkedIn or my email newsletters 'missives' - he says 'I haven't seen one of your missives in a while!" so that means I know I need to send one out.

Whatever your version of a missive is, maybe it's an Instagram story, maybe it's a thank you note, maybe it's a Twitter rant - be intentional about doing it. Don't leave it to chance.

Put yourself in your audience's shoes - we are all so incredibly busy. Think about the last time someone had the solution to your big problem but you needed time to mull it over, to think it through, to make up your mind. Then your life got in the way - you got busy, you meant to sign up but you have a deadline to meet, or had to go do something for your kids, or got tired and needed a nap! You're busy, and the people who need you are busy too.

So give them some grace. Don't be too good to repeat yourself.

No one gets upset when you remind them about something good.

***
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy that starts in early May. To learn more about the program and submit your preliminary application, please visit Package Your Genius Academy.
I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.

As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
21 min
April 16, 2019PYG 74: From Burned Out Politico to Light Worker - How to Live in Your Light with Rebecca Thompson
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy that starts in early May. To learn more about the program and submit your preliminary application, please visit Package Your Genius Academy.

The idea of going slow, taking baby step and waiting for permission to start is a syndrome that holds so many of us back. When you know your stuff and are a genius in your own right, your gift is likely more ready for the world than you think. It's up to you to stop overthinking it.
I'm excited to share this conversation with a powerful woman who did just that. I met this tremendous being when she was on the cusp of a major life change and she enrolled in the Package Your Genius Academy fall 2018 cohort.
Rebecca Thompson is a Clarity + Career Coach for bold, politically minded women. After losing her election for State Representative by just 6 votes on Election Day, she has made it her personal mission to help other women of color run for office and to create the life and career of their dreams.
She is the Founder of the Live In Your Light Bootcamp, a personal development intensive that is inspiring a new generation of high achieving women to live authentically, purposefully, and in their light.
Rebecca says she was burned out after the 2016 election and knew that she was being called to more. While she loved the training and leadership development components of her work, she wanted to phase out of the nastiness of politics.
That's how the bootcamp was born.
According to Rebecca, the timing for high achieving women of color to live in their light is year round. No matter what you see women achieving on the outside, inside they still struggle with limiting beliefs, negative self talk, and self doubt. This is what's keeping so many amazing women from walking in their purpose.

Rebecca now helps her clients overcome imposter syndrome, create morning routines that start with powerful affirmations, get crystal clear about what they want their future to look and feel like, and surround themselves with people who light them up.
On this episode we discuss:
How Rebecca turned a losing political race into the fuel to start a new career path
Her struggle with depression and anxiety and how she nurtured herself back to wholeness
How she shifted how she works
How naming what you do aloud can give you permission to claim your new path
The tell-tale signs that you need to do inner work
How to re-ignite your hobbies and passions
You can learn more about Rebecca, her Live in Your Light Bootcamp and her free 30 day affirmation challenge at RebeccaMThompson.com
***
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy that starts in early May. To learn more about the program and submit your preliminary application, please visit Package Your Genius Academy.
38 min
April 09, 2019PYG 73: Sometimes You Are Who You've Always Been
What's your secret sauce?
What makes you unique?
How is your approach different from that of everyone else?
What makes you, you?
When it comes time to package a message around one's personal brand, clarity on those distinguishing factors seems to be where most people struggle.
But I've found that our pivotal life moments - the moments that are forever etched in our memories - tell the story of who we really are.
Because more often than not, who we are is who we've always been.
The life moments, our first or earliest memories of feeing disappointed, torn, devastated...
Our first recollections of feeling powerful, exhilarated, energized...
Those first memories of feeling confused, furious, or that life was unfair...
What do you remember?
What sticks out to you, even now?
How did those life events change you?
***
I have a vivid memory of playing on the playground in elementary school. My elementary school was pretty racially diverse, but socially segregated. Yet somehow I always found myself straddling the line.
Back then your 'cool quotient' was calculated by how fast you could run on the playground at recess. The 3-4 other Black girls in my grade were fast; and as the only Black girl lacking speed, I felt cursed. But I was cool enough, just not as cool as the girls who came in first and second place in every foot race.
I remember one day another speed-less girl - a little White girl - was accused of having the dreaded 'cooties' during recess. The playground suddenly cleared out after this accusation, and the little girl was left dangling on her swing, all alone.
I can remember as the crowd sped away, one reluctant classmate turned back and asked me "Aren't you coming? She has cooties, you can't stay with her..." and there I was, torn between going with the crowd, and doing what I felt was right.
I knew then that I couldn't leave her, that the rest of the students would be alright, that I may have to pay a price for being in such close proximity to her cooties. But it was a price I was willing to pay.
At the end of the day, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her there all alone with no one to play with. It just wasn't in me to do it.
And it still isn't.
Years later, I don't like leaving people behind. It's who I've always been. I have attended expensive conferences only to go home and blog about everything I learned so others could learn, too. When I was a journalist, I dedicated my beat to giving voice to those who didn't have a microphone. And as a PR woman and a coach I've used my skills to amplify the voices of others. I've built a business around unlocking the gifts of people who may not have felt they fit anywhere else.
And every time I do that, every time I make a choice that may not necessarily be the most popular or profitable, it speaks volumes for my brand on my behalf.
And better yet, it attracts people who are also on that same frequency.
What are some of the pivotal life moments that you remember?
What memories are etched in your brain and heart, years later, even now?
And what story are those memories - the ones you've held on for decades - telling about you today?

Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy
I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
26 min
April 02, 2019PYG 72: How to Use Your Energy to Assess When It's Time to Pivot
Popular advice from the coaching and co-working world these days is "Do What You Love..."

It's a powerful mantra - one that I believe - but it throws so many people for a loop.

How can you do what you love if you've never really done it before?

How can you bring your life's purpose to the forefront if you're not sure what it is?
And how can you figure out what you're supposed to be doing when you're feeling stuck, drained, or uninspired?

I have a clue for you.

If you're searching for work that you love, start paying attention to what LIGHTS YOU UP.

Are you aware of what energizes you?

What about what drains you?

What people are always a joy?

What people are always a pain?

If you're ready to find your life's work and bring purpose front and center, first you need to assess your ENERGY.

And I have a free tool to help.

Get the process of inquiry my clients use to understand their energy and plan a pivot towards more fulfilling work.

Download the Package Your Genius Brand Energy Assessment here

Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy
I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
34 min
March 26, 2019PYG 71: 5 Types of Advice Experts Can Repackage for Visibility and Revenue
Experts: stop overthinking it!
Visibility does not have to be as hard as we're making it.
After countless conversations with students, clients and friends, I wanted to establish once and for all how easy it is take what you're already doing and repurpose it for visibility and even revenue, if you're so inclined.
Regardless of where you are in the personal branding process, you can repurpose your advice - the thoughts you have and expertise you share - into more tangible ways to support infinitely scalable more people.
Want to reach more people?
Here are 5 types of advice you can repurpose:
1) 1:1 Client Sessions - Do you have coaching, consulting or strategy sessions with your clients? Do you frequently brainstorm with work colleagues one on one?
If you're frequently giving the same advice over and over again, maybe it's time for you to repurpose that into something bigger. You can repurpose the advice you've given during your 1:1 client conversations into:
media interviews - sessions provide great fodder for talking points and soundbites
podcast episodes - you can tell a great story using what you worked on in your sessions
newsletter articles and blog posts - mine client sessions for "stories" that can bring what you do to life in your newsletter or blog posts
guest post submissions to larger sites - share the results your clients received in a teachable moment for others
2) Session Notes - Do you take detailed session notes for your individual or group clients? Do you keep seeing the same themes pop up over and over again? Why not repurpose them into:
Blank worksheets - you can give these away to build your email list or use them with new clients
Workbooks - if you notice multiple themes towards one big goal, i.e. how to get media interviews, how to get speaking engagements, and how to grow your social media following - maybe all of those can be packaged together into a workbook
Workshop or Conference Curriculum - I frequently reflect on my client session notes to pull out what makes most sense to share during events and retreats
A book - depending on how many themes you can find, your book may be inside of these notes
A course - similarly, if courses are more your speed, there's likely a bank of videos you can create simply from the roadmap of your client session notes. Don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to!
3) Your Speaking Opportunities - Do you do a ton of paid talks? Do you create several slide decks each year to correspond with your workshops? Why not repurpose those into more content like:
Media Segments/Interview Pitches - if you've prepared a good deck, those talking points are done.
Book outlines and books - My book Package Your Genius 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand started from my notes and speaking decks. I used my signature presentation content as the outline for the book and filled in the blanks from there.
Course Modules - the deck is the hardest part. If you have a few SOLID presentation decks on a similar theme, all they need is your voiceover to turn them into video course modules. You can record them using a tool like Screenflow or Camtasia, OR you can teach live masterclass and turn the video recordings into your course.
4) Content series - I recently discovered the power of creating video content during an event. You can use your own telesummit or virtual conference to help you develop a massive amount of content for
a podcast launch - this is an easy way to create a bank of interviews you can use to launch your new show.
Course videos - Once the virtual event is done, repurpose those videos into the modules for your online course.
Membership site content - another smart way to develop a bank of content for a new membership site
5) Frequently asked questions and general advice - We all give it. Why not repurpose it? Furthermore, why not monetize it?
a blog post - the most basic format to repurpose your FAQs; you can even write the most epic blog post and submit it to a larger site like Business Insider if you want to use it to grow your email list
a media pitch - This is where I typically start with PR for experts. I have them take their most frequently asked questions and position that advice as the basis for a media interview. You're already giving out this advice - why not capture your gems on tv or radio?
a keynote presentation or book - Again, if you're always giving out the same gems, perhaps they're the basis for your signature talk or keynote presentation, your book - or both.
a paid signature consulting session - If people are getting get results from your free advice, why not package what you're telling people into a paid consulting session? That was one of the first ways I monetized my ideas and it's been amazing.

Applications are open for the next round of
Package Your Genius Academy
I'm ready to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
22 min
March 12, 2019 PYG 70: How to Anticipate Seasons of Brand Growth and Make a Record of Your Expert Ideas
Spring is almost here, and in my opinion, this is the perfect time to be thinking like a planter.
If you owned a farm and were preparing for the spring planting season, what would you be doing?
Likely assessing last year's harvest to determine what worked and what didn't.
You may talk to your customers to find out which crops were most in demand, and which ones you could plant less of.
You'd be spending time making the decisions that would impact your season of growth.
The same can be true for your brand. At this point in the year, you likely know about the major speaking engagements that are on the calendar. You know about most of your major travel. If you're an entrepreneur, you have an idea of the major service or program launches happening soon or later in the fall.
How are you preparing?
Better yet, how are you planning to make a record of the success you're going to create in the upcoming growth months of the year?
I spoke with a current Package Your Genius Academy student who has a number of big speaking engagements on her calendar this spring. Some of these talks occur at major annual conferences for her industry. I asked her to consider preparing for the opportunities coming her way - not simply by preparing her remarks and shaping her deck; I challenged her to think about how could she be intentional about snagging other visibility opportunities to coincide with her talks.
For example, could she write an op ed and pitch it to either a major national newspaper or an industry publication all her peers read? Could she look at the cities where she'll be speaking and research local news outlets where she could potentially book a segment while she's in town? How can she leverage the hard work she's already doing to deliver an amazing talk and create a way for others in her industry to learn from her?
How could she plan to make sure there's a record of her being there, saying what she said and delivering her genius?
That's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about media. Say what you will about it, media coverage creates a record of what happened. It reminds the world of what you did, what you said, and that you were there.
In an era of disappearing media as Dr. Richardson discussed on episode 69, it's all the more important in today's digital age to make sure your story is being recorded permanently.
What's coming up on your agenda? What do you want to add to the historical record? What op ed can you write? What coverage can you go after to make a record that you said what you said, did what you did and made the contribution you made?

As Mentioned During the Episode
During the recent Virtual PR Conference I announced a new PR program we're launching specifically for experts who are building their personal brands. Maximum Exposure is an opportunity for you to work with my team of experts to meet with journalists, brainstorm story ideas, fine tune your message and pitch the media every single month. We're accepting applications, so if PR is on your agenda for this year, submit your application and plan to join us. Submit your application
21 min
March 05, 2019PYG 69: Making Storytelling and Visibility Accessible to Combat Erasure with Dr. Allissa Richardson
Allissa Richardson, PhD is the assistant professor of Journalism at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. A 2016 graduate of Package Your Genius Academy, Dr. Richardson is also a pioneer in mobile journalism, and was one of the first professional journalists to teach storytelling and reporting using smartphones and mobile cameras.
Allissa trains youth to use only smartphones, MP3 players and tablets to report news. She calls her students mobile journalists, or MOJOs. At age 25, she joined the faculty of Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She served as coordinator of its journalism program, and launched and directed the Morgan MOJO Lab in 2010. Under her leadership, Morgan State became the first and only historically black college in the country to offer mobile journalism courses.
The National Association of Black Journalists said Richardson empowered her students around the globe “to speak truth to power using new media.” In spring 2012, NABJ recognized her as its Journalism Educator of the Year for her international work. In 2013, Apple, Inc. inducted Richardson into its elite Distinguished Educator program for her innovative uses of its products.
Richardson is the founder of MOJO MediaWorks. Her firm designs mobile journalism workshops for youth, educators and working journalists. Her clients include The Washington Post, PBS, Black Girls Code, GlobalGirl Media, Journalism Educators Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Black Enterprise has called Richardson’s fast-growing company a “feel-good tech firm on the rise.”
Richardson’s writing has appeared in Oprah Magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, JET Magazine, Baltimore Sun.com, the Miami Herald and the Chicago Tribune. She earned the Weinstein-Luby Outstanding Young Journalist Award in 2002, and the Freedom Forum’s Chips Quinn Scholars award that same year. And Harvard University selected her for its prestigious Nieman Foundation Journalism Fellowship to work on a project that advances the industry.
Richardson holds a Ph.D. in Journalism Studies from the University of Maryland College Park, a Master's Degree in Magazine Publishing from Northwestern University's Medill School, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana.
Our conversation touched on
Personal branding in academia and how Dr. Richardson used her brand to get on the tenure track.
How positioning herself as an expert helped her snag a Harvard fellowship and international teaching opportunities
Why she loves the freedom and schedule of academia
Her forthcoming book Bearing Witness While Black and how she landed a book deal at the top academic press
Why writing and authorship are important to her
How visibility combats erasure and why it's important for people of color to tell their stories

As mentioned on the episode
On Wednesday March 6, I'm excited to my first ever all day virtual conference. Maximum Exposure is a daylong online event where I'll be speaking with host journalists and experts about how you can gain valuable media exposure for your personal brand.
Join us for the conference by registering on Crowdcast: http://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGAMaximumExposure/register
1 hr 3 min
February 26, 2019 PYG 68: 3 Reasons You Need Maximum Exposure, ESPECIALLY IF you're Uncomfortable Being Seen
I'm passionate about visibility, and not because I'm an attention-whore.
I'm passionate about visibility because I know how POWERFUL it can be, and what it can do for your life.
Sharing and becoming visible POSITIONS YOU AS THE EXPERT in other peoples' minds. It makes you visible to your industry and your network. You're already doing the work. Visibility enhances the perception of how valuable you are.
Sharing and becoming visible STRETCHES YOU AND DEMOLISHES YOUR OWN MENTAL WALLS. It disputes the false stories you're telling yourself about yourself. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "The mind once stretched by a new idea will never regain its original dimensions." Once you see yourself and are seen for who you truly are by others, you can never go back.
Sharing your message and becoming visible BRINGS YOU CLOSER TO YOURSELF because you're staying true to yourself. You're being "more loyal to your dreams than to your fears" as author Tara Mohr puts it. It seems counterintuitive to think that you grow closer to yourself by connecting with many others, but it's true.
I am dogged about visibility because it helps combat erasure. We have to tell our stories, lest history be revised.

I'm dogged about visibility because I know how painful it is to never be seen for who you really are, and what you have to offer.

I am dogged about visibility because traditionally only certain people have been allowed to be seen. Visibility is about justice, equality and parity.

I was given a gift of storytelling, promotion, packaging and translating people's messages so they can be understood. One of the most powerful ways I know of to turn the volume up on your message and help you be seen, heard, and understood more widely is MEDIA.
That's why I'm hosting a free one day virtual conference on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
Maximum Exposure - Land Media for Your Personal Brand
It’s a virtual (read: online) conference – and it’s all about how to land valuable media for your personal brand.
I’ve invited friends of the academy – working journalists, a top podcaster, and a communications exec – to be your thought partners for the day.
Together, we’ll be pulling back the curtain on what it takes to get the MAXIMUM EXPOSURE your mission and message deserve.
Check out the schedule, review the speaker lineup, and REGISTER here >> Maximum Exposure: A Virtual Conference
And do me a huge favor – please invite your friends who are doing big, world-changing things, too!
This event is free, but space is limited.
So if getting your mission out there in a bigger way – even if it’s a little scary – is something you know you need to work on, I invite you to join us.
Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGAMaximumExposure/register
32 min
February 20, 2019PYG 67: Expect Success When You've Done the Work
I wouldn't call myself a 'workaholic', but I admit, I love my work.
I love the actual process of what I do - not just outcome. It makes me happy.
So even when results aren't immediately evident, (you mean I didn't make the NYTimes Bestseller list on the first day??? *flips over a table*) it's okay, because I honestly love the work.
The work energizes me, gives me a sense of purpose, and fills my days with meaning in a way that few other things do.
It's easy to plant seeds day after day, week after week, and month after month because - to extend the planting metaphor - I love the feeling of the earth between my fingers.
I love the process of showing up every day to nurture an idea and help it grow.
I love waking up with the sun, running to the window and surveying the land to see what small changes may have taken place overnight, while the rest of the world was sleeping.
But the downside of loving the work this way is this: it can become easy to get so used to planting, that you forget the harvest is coming eventually.
And reaping that harvest feels almost...unfamiliar.
You get so in the weeds of doing the work, making tiny tweaks, and fighting off threats that you tend to forget what all your maneuvering is adding up to.
But I got a clear reminder last week. Last week was all about harvesting:
I found out that after two arduous years of pep talks, practice tests, applications, wait lists, and interviews, my children were accepted into our family's dream educational institution - an independent school that will allow them to continue studying Mandarin and even possibly study abroad at sister campuses as middle and high school students.
A subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson placed a bulk order of my book for an upcoming event.
Two other corporations invited me to deliver paid talks based on the content of Package Your Genius - a book I wrote and self-published only a few short months ago.
After pouring into my Package Your Genius Academy students since 2016, last week I invited one of my former students to deliver a guest lecture on the topic of his expertise to our academy's newly enrolled cohort. He nailed it! I was so proud.
I spoke with three separate PYGA alum who are all doing inspiring things - from doubling their salaries, to landing prestigious book deals, to signing their first 12 paid coaching clients in 30 days - all because of the work we did together.
At first, I was almost in disbelief at the abundance that kept showing up in my inbox. It was overwhelming.
Because quite honestly, I had gotten used to the grind. The pep talks and practice tests and applications had become my fall routine (whoever thought they'd actually get in, lol).
I'd told myself that sitting down and writing the book had been the real work (you mean people want to buy why what I wrote???)
And I'd so fully poured myself into teaching my students that I hadn't given much thought to how those lessons would continue to pay dividends for them.
But it finally dawned on me that *this* is the glorious morning I'd been dreaming about.
This is the ample harvest I had tilled and watered and worked my fingers to the bone for.
So while I may find joy in doing the work, I need to also learn to find joy in the harvest - to expect it, to rejoice in it, to be present to the magic of it.
Firstly because with all the seeds I've planted, it's inevitable, right?
But also because what else, if not this, have I been working towards?
If you've put years into becoming great at what you do, you may have also adopted the identity of 'diligent workhorse' and given little thought to where all of your hard work is taking you.
You may have shown up consistently every day and done your best.
You engrossed yourself in the work.
You hit a major milestone, and then moved on to the next big project.
You told yourself that you weren't doing it for the applause, but still..the applause may be in order.
And when the applause comes, if you're uncomfortable or even caught off guard like I was, ask yourself why.
Standing ovations shouldn't freak you out - you should expect them at this point.
A bountiful harvest shouldn't be a shock when you've been planting, watering and nurturing the seeds day in and day out.
Success shouldn't catch you by surprise when you've put in the work.
I'm still learning that lesson, with each new level.

Elsewhere in PYG-Land...
I'm excited about bring A NEW PR SERVICE to experts who want to get more visibility through getting featured consistently in the media. If you have an established expertise and want to see your ideas featured in media outlets like Forbes, The NYTimes and Sirius Radiothis year, book a consult call to discuss our new program.

Thank you JAI L. for your rave review of Package Your Genius:

5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS is gold. Only for those who are ready.

From Amazon:
"This book, and the workbook, are life-changing for those who are ready for more. Amanda Miller Littlejohn does not hold back. Read it, study it, believe in what you discover about yourself and go with it, without apology. I was happy to meet her a few years ago at a conference. I had no idea then she would change my life. This is gold."

Get the Books
Order your copy of Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand and/or the Companion Personal Branding Workbook
24 min
February 12, 2019 PYG 66: How to Make New Goals Stick with Psychologist and Early Accountability Coach Kimi Walker
Kimi Walker is a School Psychologist who teaches how we can use tools of behavior change to make our goals stick. She is the host of the Early Accountability Podcast, and a 2017 graduate of Package Your Genius Academy.
An expert on early accountability, an educator, and a psychologist who personally changed her life by losing over 100 pounds, Kimi has learned what it takes to take new, scary actions and create an environment that encourages our new habits to stick.
With a background in school psychology Kimi regularly conducts psychological evaluations, and is the go-to person when dealing with cases that require behavior change.
The parallels between working in schools and working with adults who are trying to spark a new behavior are many. As Kimi shares during our interview, everyone responds differently to stimuli, so she works hard to assess each client and figure out what each person needs to succeed. She customizes solutions for students and coaching clients alike using her philosophy of "Results, Not Resolutions."

Kimi’s Steps for Sticking to New Goals
1. Know what you're working toward. Set a big goal. Remind yourself of your goal often.
2. Know your achievement style and what works best for you to achieve. What do you need in order to be able to execute?
3. Find something fun you like to do, or a milestone you can work towards that supports that new goal (i.e. Goal - weight loss, Milestone - train for a marathon).
4. Be intentional about getting support and accountability. Find a coach or other expert who can cut your learning curve.

As mentioned in the episode
Get Kimi’s Level Up and Launch Checklist by texting HELPMELAUNCH to 44222
As always, grab Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon

51 min

About PURPOSESCAPING : Build confidence to reinvent and find purpose in midlife

From the publisher's feed

The Purposescaping® Podcast is where seasonal living, personal branding, and the radical power of rest intersect to help you reclaim your energy, creativity, and voice. Hosted by Amanda Miller Littlejohn — personal branding strategist, mental health journalist, author of The Rest Revolution, and creator of the Purposescaping® framework — this show offers a soul-aligned roadmap for ambitious high achievers ready to lead, live, and create in harmony with their natural rhythm.