If you want to make something happen, you have to work for it.
Sometimes that "work" is easier and less time consuming, and sometimes it takes everything you have. But either way, you've got to do it. Period.
I talk to people every single day who want to know the easy way to get what they want. The shortcut or secret password to success. They talk to me about their ideas and vision, and how far it feels between where they are and where they want to be. They're shifty and unsettled, because they just "don't know what to do" to see the success level they desire.
But really, it's pretty simple: do the work.
I've been blessed to be surrounded by some pretty amazing people as I've built my business: talented coaches, brilliant creatives and phenomenal product creators. People with powerful things to give to the world, who never really got to where they wanted to be.
Instead, many of them sat around talking about how things weren't working like they wanted, or how far off and impossible it seemed to reach "success" by their definition. They'd obsessively watch the big names in their industry, and hate on their colleagues that were seeing the visibility they wanted. They launched products and programs and poured money into their websites, but they didn't see much traction, despite having a site and products and programs that rivaled those people they were jealous of.
It's not because they don't have what it takes, or that they're just not worthy of success. They're just missing some super key ingredients. Hustle. Willingness to put in the real, hard, time-consuming work. Patience and perseverance. Focus on only their own path. Pouring their energy 100 percent into their work.
I've told my friends and my clients exactly how to create the success they want, and yet they often don't really do the work. They do a little here and a little there, and then they stop and wonder why nothing's happened yet.
In case you forgot, there's no such thing as an overnight success. That's just not how it works.
While my friends and clients and colleagues were busy kind of doing the work, obsessing over everyone else's success and wondering why they haven't made it yet, I've been hustling. And I've been hustling hard.
I've been doing the time-consuming work needed to build a strong social media following and a big email list. I've been creating content like a machine and pushing it out wherever I can, putting myself in the position to get noticed and invited to do larger things. I've been serving, fully and with all my heart, the few people who signed up for every new thing I've launched. I've been trying and failing more times than I can count. I've been experimenting until I find what works.
I've had my head down, doing the real, hard work.
If you want to build a successful brand and business, don't email me and ask me how you can skip the important steps. You can't dump everything into a fancy website that looks like So-And-So Big Name's and put together a high end program and expect the money to come rolling in... you have to do the work. You have to lay the foundation and make sure it's really, really solid. You have to hustle to get in front of the right people. You have to build trust over time.
You have to do the work.
There's no way around it.
And let's be honest, you probably already know what that work is for you, don't you? Even if you don't, you probably know what you need to do to find out. So it's time to do it. Because the longer you dilly dally around and wait to get started, the longer it's going to take to get to where you want to be.
This work isn't easy, no one said it would be. But I promise you, when you start getting the traction you desire, and seeing the results you want, it will be worth every painstaking step. Every failed launch and cricket on social media. When you start serving people the way you feel called to, and are doing the work you're here to do, you'll see how truly worth the time and energy of hustling is. It's so worth it.
What work will you be committed to doing to see the results, growth, and success you desire?
Stephenie Zamora is the founder of Stephenie Zamora Media, a full-service, life-purpose development, branding, and online marketing boutique. Here she merges the worlds of personal development, branding, and online marketing to help turn passionate individuals into profitable entrepreneurs.
With over a decade of experience in design, development, and brand/marketing strategy, she's currently helping coaches, solopreneuers, and small businesses create their beautifully branded online presence, without breaking the bank, through her highly regarded Jumpstart Website Design Package.