I've said it before - and I stand by the statement. You have to make the case for what you've done in order to get what you want now.

 

Simply having the epiphany that you want to use your skills differently is not enough - you need receipts to back up your claims if you want people to pay you.

 

But where I see most people getting stuck is they fail to look at the evidence and results they're closest to.

 

The unpaid work, the help you lended a friend, that time you totally helped a family member regroup, save money, or plan the vacation of a lifetime.

 

Most people think that if their results aren't tied to paid work, they don't count.Or if they're not tied to formal training, they don't count.

 

But all you need to have evidence that you can do what you're telling people you can do is a repeated pattern of success.

 

Whether you trained for it or came by it naturally, if people keep showing up to get a solution from you and you keep delivering, this is work you're capable of being compensated for.

 

When you look over the evidence, what is your life telling you?

What is your work telling you?

What are your results telling you?

 

Now look closely at the support you give people who may not compensate you. Notice I didn't say the work you do for people who don't compensate you, because often times the genius we share in those moments almost feels accidental; it's not difficult, it requires such little effort from us that if it weren't for the praise others give us, we wouldn't even realize the impact we've made.

 

And it can be a tough thing to think about building a business around something that feels effortless, because work is supposed to require effort, right? Work is supposed to be hard!

 

If I were to go out on a limb, I'd bet you that day after day, month after month, the people with immediate access to you are benefitting from your most purposeful work - the work that doesn't require you to be anything other than who you are naturally at your core.

 

And you are probably leaving some impact on the table if you're not open to widening the circle of people who have the opportunity to experience your most natural gifts.

 

Whatever form those gifts take.

 

Even if you already have a successful business or career, more often than not, there's some gem you're leaving on the table if you can find your effortless evidence.

 

Even if you're happy with what you're doing now, that thing you do so easily could be the key to the next service you offer, the next level of growth, or your next professional pivot.

 

Here's an exercise - let's underthink our results. Let's under think our evidence.

 

Let's look for the evidence that it doesn't even feel right to claim because the work didn't feel like work, and the task was so easy.

 

It is there in that effortless evidence our true purpose can be found.