Do you typically follow recipes exactly? Me neither. You tweak the recipe based on the spark of your own creative ideas and the ingredients you have on hand. Even when the recipe is by a master chef, you don’t hesitate to make it work for you, right?
Yet what happens when a “business guru” gives you a step-by-step recipe for success?
Many introverted solopreneurs who’ve come into my orbit say they ignored their intuition and tried to follow exactly the “recipe” they were given by their business coach.
They finally give up after much discouragement, heartache, and expense. If this has happened to you, it’s not your fault. You were told that unless you followed the steps exactly, you would fail!
I like to think of everything as a valuable lesson, so that no experience – however negative – is fruitless.
The lesson here is that we introverts need to “adapt the recipe” to fit our nature, the way we’re wired.
Listen to your intuition. Pay attention to how your gut feels when you’re instructed to do anything that fills you with dread. Never give your power away.
If you’re a solopreneur trying to get traction in your business, naturally you’re going to seek out and pay attention to how-to information and guidance. Unfortunately, most of this advice is aimed at optimal extrovert functioning.
When I was first starting out, an extroverted friend advised me to start making cold phone calls to CEOs. “It’s easy,” she said. “Just pick up the phone and call!” (I know, right? If you’re an introvert, your own stomach just tightened up, didn’t it?)
In that moment, I realized that, yes, it would be easy for HER because she’s an extrovert. Making cold calls is actually inside her Comfort Zone.
Immediately, my mind started “adapting the recipe” to come up with ways to reach CEOs that felt more comfortable for me.
“Adapting the recipe” is one of the somewhat radical shifts I advise for introverts in business.
If your business coach tells you that you have to make 5 cold reachouts a day or else you’ll fail and that paralyzes you, get out your red pen and start adapting that “recipe” to more comfortable steps to connecting with new people.
And school your business coach about the brain and nervous system wiring differences between extroverts and introverts. (Or send them to me for this.)
Embrace the idea of “adapting the recipe” so you can enjoy your solopreneur journey to success and love all aspects of your business.
Funny story about adapting a recipe: I once made a green bean dish from a recipe I’d found in an Indian cookbook. Everyone enjoyed it, and one person insisted on having the recipe. As I began copying it out, I found myself muttering over and over, “Oh, actually, I didn’t use that.” By the time I finished copying out the recipe, I realized that the only thing that matched the printed recipe was the green beans! Now that’s a radical recipe adaptation!
If you think you might need strategy coaching to help you figure out how to reach your goals from inside your Comfort Zone, let’s talk soon in a free connection call. Sign up for a chat and let’s get you going where you want to be. Click HERE to schedule an exploratory consult.