Wishes vs Wants
I did the thing! The scary thing. Where I create and mold a real product from an original idea, where before there was nothing.
I wanted it so bad that I snapped out of my procrastination (ahem, yes, I may have put off launching the program for 6 months)... and it has turned out SO MUCH BETTER than I ever expected.
This process of getting going on this project, (a skill which I'm now teaching in the program) is about the journey from WISHES to WANTS.
As Michael Lebeau posits in his old-school classic of a book, Know How, "wishes" have the distinct characteristic of failing to engage behavior.
aka, you can't actually be bothered.
Initially when I was thinking about adapting my 1:1 system to a group program, I "wished I could make more money per hour." But when I examine the well-formedness criteria for this wish, it really wasn't going to engage me, because of who I am.
The well-formedness criteria, per Lebeau:
Is it possible to have? Well, yes, I suppose, if I charged more.
Is it worth having? Sure. I want to give back, invest strategically, and save for retirement.
Will it get me what I really want? Mm, I dunno. Security is important to me, but getting those Benjamins has never really been what gets me up in the morning, you know?
Is it worth what it will take to get it? Wow. I'd be making my gifts totally inaccessibility to the VAST majority of people. That kind of defeats the point.
Basically, it failed the WANT test. It didn't convert to taking action, so I couldn't make a plan.
So... six months went by.
But during those six months, a real, deep hunger appeared. I was helping so many people and getting so much amazing feedback, that I suddenly discovered a new wish:
SCALING MY BUSINESS TO REACH AS MANY WOMEN AS POSSIBLE.
CREATING OUR OWN "MAFIA".
ORGANIZING A GENERATION OF WOMEN WHO FEEL THEIR POWER TO CREATE THEIR DESTINY.
Now we're talking. Those wishes? Their well-formedness criteria passes the "Want" test with flying colors. I made a plan for the group program and imagined what a successful, magnetic, intelligent person would do to make it great.
Then I did those things.
And here we are, in need of the next phase, already: a virtual program that will be able to impact yet another 10x the people.
A recent review of my coaching, if you don't mind me bragging (not sorry):
Working with Becca has been invaluable in pushing forward my understanding of the specific skills that I want to leverage as I undergo a transition into a new career path. She has gotten me through some intense moments of professional negotiation, crippling doubt, confusion about the future, and small thinking. I always look forward to my sessions with Becca and feel incredibly grateful to have access to her wisdom.
I'll just leave that there.
Back to work!
Question for you:
What's something you'd like to brag about?
or
What's your main wish right now?