Selfless service

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This last weekend, my family and I road-tripped to Boise, Idaho so I could attend the second annual Craft + Commerce conference by Seva (formerly ConvertKit). I was surrounded by creators, bloggers, freelancers, entrepreneurs and the likes of Casey Neistat, Pat Flynn and dozens of other influencers. And even though the niches that were represented varied from Goat Farming to Building LEGO, we were all attending to learn one thing…

How to be better at what we do, so we could best serve the people we help.

I want to share the 3 key takeaways I had from this unique experience, and why it matters to you.

1. There are no unique messages, only unique messengers

Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com took the stage on Saturday morning, and there’s one thing he said that truly stood out to me, and that was “there are no unique messages, only unique messengers”. I couldn’t agree more!

The amount of daily content that is produced across the Internet is overwhelming — and this means that everything has already been written about, filmed, produced and shared by somebody. Does this mean that you should give up on trying to share your message, because somebody has already done it? Why would somebody care if you shared that message? Because you have something to say about it. You’re the unique key in the equation.

So relax! And do your thing. People need more of you.

2. Focus on the mission, not the tactics

Some entrepreneurs are very technically inclined, and love diving deep into the details and the “how”; while others are very creatively inclined and would rather focus on the vision and the “why”. If you happen to be one or the other, you can stick to your wheelhouse and get someone to take care of the rest.

I have the fortune of being both very technical and very creative. The benefit of this is, I can do everything myself! The downside of this is… I do everything myself.

I suffer from “superhero syndrome” as Chris Ducker says in his book, “Virtual Freedom”, which means because I have the ability to do everything myself, I find it difficult letting others help me.

This is a problem. When I first started this journey of teaching people how to become great web designers and live a meaningful life, it was easy — I had a tiny audience, one course, and not much was expected of me.

But my audience has grown to the tune of tens of thousands — hundreds of thousands if you count my reach on Udemy and YouTube. One course has turned into hundreds of hours of video content, tutorials, membership sites, coaching programs and a community of talented people who have gathered around the message I started back in 2013.

This is amazing. I’m truly blessed and grateful to have a real impact on people.

But this means I have major expectations set upon me to continue serving my audience, create new content, and help transform a larger tribe of people.

I’m not complaining. I really love the challenge, and that this is what my “work” is all about. The point I’m trying to make is, I’ve spent so much time with my head down in the details, focusing on tactics & strategies — you know, sweating the small stuff — and not enough time focusing on my mission.

Which is to serve my audience every day with the message I have to offer. I love teaching people, I love inspiring people, I love creating.

It’s time I take my own advice…

Focus on my strengths and do only what I can do in my business. And that’s create more, inspire more, serve more.

And let talented people handle the rest.

I’ll handle the “why” and have others handle the “how”.

3. It’s not about you, it’s about who you serve

There’s a saying that goes something like, “if you want to be successful, you must first help others succeed.”

When I look back on my journey, I’ve been most successful and fulfilled when my work has been focused on selflessly serving others so they could succeed. On the flip side, when I’ve spent time selfishly serving myself first… I experience dissatisfaction and little growth in my business.

So, if the key to success and fulfilment is to serve first, why aren’t we doing more of that? I know what I’m gonna do!

My weekend in Boise, Idaho was wonderful. Hanging out, learning and workshopping for 3 days with a community of online creators is like floating in a bubble of perpetual inspiration. I feel more inspired than ever to create more, be “weirdly me” (as Pat Flynn said), and serve first.

The key is to turn the inspiration into action. I plan to do just that.