The reading level for this article is All Levels
Toward the end of the year I heard a few so-called marketing experts talking about how you can earn a lot with no effort. My B.S. meter went off the charts and it got me thinking hard about authenticity.
While I was on vacation in January, I thought a lot about the importance of authenticity in ones products, services, and marketing. Authenticity is about more than just delivering what you promise; its also about being true to yourself. In other words, its about creating a business based on your values and priorities.
Finding your path
It feels great to be able to attach your name and face to a business that you truly believe in, and believing in your business is the best way to earn a lot without feeling like you are doing work. As Confucius said Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
On vacation, I also admitted to myself that there was one aspect of my business that I had been resisting: working on my JJS Members Inner Circle site. I love facilitating groups, public speaking, offering programs, and working with my private clients, but the weekly video shoot for the Inner Circle members site was starting to feel too much like a job (in a bad way). I had been putting off shoots till the last minute, and I was not having fun. I realized I needed a change, but I was not sure what that change would look like.
Last week I spoke with a client who told me she was going through an existential correction. She felt a bit lost and said, I am not excited about it because I do not know what it is. Together we realized that she had veered off course form her values and priorities. We worked to redirect her to her right path, and by the end of our session she kept saying how excited she was and that her new plan felt right. She even said she was excited about her fieldwork!
This of course rang a bell in my mind because I have been going through my own existential correction. I have been examining my values and priorities and making a few changes to my services and product funnel. One change will be to revamp the JJS Members Inner Circle to support the programs, workshops, groups, and clients that I love. I am speaking with Ken Gary (my personal Membership Site Expert) about the best path forward. I will keep you updated on this.
Acting on your values
Having a clear idea of who you are (your values) and what is important to you (your priorities) will help you create a successful and profitable business. Trying to build a successful business that isn it in line with your values and priorities is extremely hard, and in the end you will either fail or succeed and be miserable. Its so much easier to find success and happiness by matching your actions with your priorities and values.
When your business is in sync with your values, you feel invigorated. Actions required for success feel incredibly easy to do. You feel inspired. For example, if one of your values is to help others and in your business you solve a clients problem, you will feel good really good! Working with that client becomes easy, exciting, and fun. Your values energize every action you take.
Meanwhile, when you consistently take actions that mesh with your values, you will find that opportunities, clients, and income come naturally to you. Your values will give you clarity and focus. Identifying and prioritizing your values will create positive results in all important areas of life and business, and it will ensure that the two interconnect in positive ways.
To be successful without struggling and to be happy with what you create, consistently take actions that are aligned with your values and priorities. Its a simple formula:
Values + Priorities = Business success and happiness with greater ease.
Fieldwork
1. Create a list of the top 5 things you LOVE to do in your business. These are the actions that do not feel like work, the things you wake up in the morning excited about or the moments that time gets away from you.

2. Create a list of the top 5 things you consistently avoid in your business. These are the actions that feel like work, the things you wish someone would take off your plate, or wake up in the morning dreading.

3. Compare your love and hate list to your priorities and values. Do you need to make a change in your business?
