Page 20 - iNET Magazine April 2022
P. 20

By Jackie Simmons
            I’m a hot mess.

            Well, not so much today, but a few years ago
            that’s how I described myself. And I had plenty
            of evidence to support it. Everywhere I looked
            in my life things were messy. I walked into my
            office and the notebooks piled on the corners
            of my desk called for my attention. But before
            I could pick one up to see what task I had left
            undone, the papers on the TV Tray I had used
            for something and that was now just another
            surface  piled  with  reminders  of  what  wasn’t
            done, called out to me first.                     I paused my group program.

            And  then  there  was  the  course  that  I  was  Kelly, one of my private clients, asked: “Jackie,
            teaching  without  knowing  where  it  was        will you teach me how to do what you do?”
            leading.  I  knew  what  to  teach,  I  just  wasn’t  I’m forever grateful for that question. In that
            sure why. Not knowing why was making it hard      instant, I got to see myself through her eyes.
            to  know  what  would  come  next  for  my
            students.                                         Where I saw a hot mess with no clear path for
                                                              my business that I was happy with, Kelly saw a
            My  mentors  were  insisting  that  I  create  and  “multi-certified  expert”  with  a  skill  that  she
            talk  about  “what’s  next”  and  I  knew  that  I  wanted to learn.
            wasn’t ready. After all, how could I be ready to
            guide my students to “success” when I was a       I believe that her question saved my sanity. It
            hot mess?                                         certainly  saved  me  from  continuing  the
                                                              pattern  of  hiring  one  mentor  after  another
            The journey to understand that the notebooks      hoping  that  the  next  process,  strategy,
            and papers all over the office that had spilled   blueprint, or roadmap would be the one to lead
            out  onto  the  dining  room  table  were  not  me  to my success.
            and really said nothing about me.
                                                              I’d  like  to  pay  that  forward  by  asking  you  a
            And the course that was draining me to teach      question. “How do you describe yourself?”
            based on what my “ideal client” told me they
            wanted, also wasn’t about me and really told      Now  that  you  know  that  what  you  say  to
            nothing about me.                                 yourself  about  yourself  can  become  a  self-
                                                              fulfilling  prophecy,  how  will  you  describe
            AND that was the problem. Somewhere along         yourself tomorrow?
            the  way  to  follow  the  rules  of  being  an
            entrepreneur and create a course that clients     If  you  want  help  with  that,  ask  your  favorite
            would  buy,  I  had  lost  my  connection  to  who  I  client how they describe you and try it on for
            am and my why.                                    size.

            I  labeled  myself  a  “hot  mess”  not  knowing   Author  and  TED  Speaker,  Jackie  Simmons,  believes  in
            that was a self-fulfilling prophecy.               tackling  complex  and  challenging  topics  and  making  sense
                                                               out  of  them. Jackie  always  shares  alternatives  to  get  you
            Because I didn’t know what I was doing I hired     unstuck so that you can have what you want and what you

            another  mentor  and  took  yet  another           deserve.  She  believes  you  deserve  to  experience  yourself
            certification  program.  I  studied,  supported,   as great even though life often hands us the opposite.
            and sang their song for as long as I could, and    Jackie  imagines  a  world  where  emotions  are  under  your
            then I stopped.                                    control  and  what  other  people  say  and  do  say  a  lot  about
                                                               them and nothing about you.


                                                                     Jackie Simmons, Success Journey Academy

             iNETrepreneur Magazine | Page 20                                        http://SJAEventHub.com

                                                                             Email: Jackie@JackieSimmons.com
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