I joined Threads this week, after not wanting to be on yet another social media platform for ages, and I was pleasantly surprised. There was this sigh of relief, a space without the super hyped up sales tactics and the constant pushing and bragging. It was as if I found a room full of tired entrepreneurs chilling out, and being very honest with one another. “We are exhausted”, they seemed to say. “Let’s not talk about business or ‘ideal clients right now’, but just talk a little. I liked it. Are you a tired entrepreneur too?
Because, let’s face it, it is exhausting having to constantly ‘show up as your best self’, thinking about how your content will land with your audience so that they will buy from you? To always be ‘on message’, and try and get a lead?
I am on Instagram, like most of you all. And I post. And I post. I make reels. Think of interesting stuff to say. And always trying to make it relevant to my followers. I mean, that is what I teach my own clients, right? “Be relevant, have a clear message, have your target audience clear”, etc etc. But there comes a point when we just need a rest. And a virtual hug from a fellow business owner who feels the same.
6 figure parrots and secret formulas
We are also having to deal with the constant noise and saturation on Instagram of coaches and course providers. It’s like being in a cage full of parrots. “Buy my programme, I’ll show you how to make consistent 10k months”. “Buy my programme, I’ll share my secret formula that got me to 7 figures”. It is too much. Shut. Up.
Not only is it too much, it is also incredibly empty and soulless. Sure, we all need income, but really, is THAT the reason why we started our businesses? To sell ‘formulas’ to other desperate people, and get rich in the process? And so that our students then go on selling this exact same ‘formula’ and also get rich in the process? What is this, a pyramid scheme?
I did not become a business coach in order to get rich. I also did not become a business coach to make other people millionnaires. These are not my drivers. I want to help people build fun, creative businesses that pay the bills.
But along the way, being in this coaching environment and surrounded by all the noise on social media, even I suffer from the 6 figure FOMO. You try and be immune, but you start wondering if that is what people want, someone who teaches them how to get to 6 figures. Because that’s what seems to get other coaches clients, right?
Becoming insecure and doubting yourself
And then you start to divert from your core values a little, you start to doubt your own message, your own approach and ways of working. Maybe people don’t actually want what I offer. Perhaps creating focus, clarity and a business that ‘pays the bills’ is not enough. Perhaps I should promise bigger, shinier results – and 10k months, too.
When I joined Threads this week, I felt I was stepping into a space where all my fellow coaches and entrepreneurs were slumped into a corner taking a rest from all of this pressure. And when I posted one of my first threads, voicing what I had been feeling for a while now, it appeared that I had touched on something that was felt by many. I resonated with the tired entrepreneur.
“I wish coaches would stop talking about how much money they make and start sharing beautiful stories that inspire us all. We need a balm for our tired soul. Reading that you make 7 figures is not making the world a better place.” I wrote. It got well over a 100 likes, nearly 50 comments and a handful of shares. That’s more engagement than I get on Instagram.
Building meaningful businesses
We want meaning in our life. 6 figures, 7 figures, ‘consistent 50k months’, what do these figures all mean? We didn’t start our businesses with these goals in mind, did we? We started our businesses to create beauty, help others, solve problems, have a positive impact on our world, our planet, humanity. If we wanted to get rich, we would have become bankers or stockbrokers.
We are creatives, movers and shakers, deep thinkers and storytellers.
Seriously, I hope more coaches will have the guts to step out of their high pressure cooker, and start slowing down and connect to their heart. I want less sob stories as sales tactics, less selling the Bali lifestyle posts, and less ‘secret formulas’ that give me a big bank account. It is all BS. And they know it.
Stop the 6 figure FOMO, save the tired entrepreneur
I want to start a campaign, I really do, to help the tired entrepreneur reconnect with their truth, and feel secure in themselves. These 6 or 7 figure posts make everyone insecure, like we are not good enough if we ‘just’ make 2k or 5k a month. It is nobody’s business how much we earn, or how much we want to earn. It should be their business how much we can inspire, help or serve them with our skills and talents. Are you with me?
#stopthe6figurefomo.
If you want an honest conversation with a business coach who looks further than getting you cold hard cash, speak to me.
