Your story can help someone else, even if you’ve never thought of yourself as someone with a story worth sharing.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I do what I do.
Why do I record this podcast?
Why do I coach?
Why do I speak?
Why do I keep sharing lessons from my career, businesses, relationships, successes, mistakes, and some of the hardest seasons of my life?
For me, the answer comes back to something deeply personal.
I believe God has allowed me to walk through certain experiences for a reason.
Some were wonderful.
Some I would happily have skipped.
But all of them taught me something.
And at this stage of my life, keeping everything I’ve learned to myself feels like a waste.
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Your Story Can Help Someone Else Without Being Perfect
Sometimes I think we assume we need to reach some imaginary finish line before we have anything valuable to share.
Once I’ve figured this out, then I’ll talk about it.
Once I’m successful enough, then I’ll mentor someone.
Once I’m completely on the other side of this, then maybe my experience will matter.
But life doesn’t really work that way.
You don’t need to know everything to know something that could help another person.
You may be ten years ahead of someone in one area of life and two steps behind them in another.
That’s okay.
Maybe you’ve built a business and learned some things the hard way.
Maybe you’ve navigated a divorce.
Maybe you’ve raised children and entered a completely different season once they left home.
Maybe you’ve led teams, changed careers, lost something important, started over, made mistakes, or taken a risk that taught you more than success ever could.
There’s wisdom in those experiences.
Some of My Hardest Seasons Taught Me the Most
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When I look back over my own life, some of the lessons I talk about today didn’t come from the seasons when everything was going beautifully.
They came from things not going according to plan.
They came from rebuilding.
From making mistakes.
From wondering what I was supposed to do next.
I’ve shared many of those experiences on this podcast because I know I’m not the only person who has gone through them.
The details of your story and mine may be different.
But disappointment feels like disappointment.
Self-doubt feels like self-doubt.
Starting over feels like starting over.
Sometimes hearing someone say, “I’ve been there too, and here’s what I learned,” is enough to make us feel a little less alone in whatever we’re navigating.
Your Successes Matter Too
We talk a lot about turning pain into purpose, and I believe there’s truth in that.
But I don’t think everything valuable has to come from hardship.
Your successes can help people too.
What have you figured out?
What comes naturally to you now because you’ve spent 20 years learning how to do it?
What mistakes could you help someone avoid?
What would you tell the younger version of yourself if she were sitting across the table from you today?
Sometimes we dismiss our own knowledge because it has become so familiar to us.
You may think, “Everybody knows that.”
They don’t.
What feels obvious to you today may only feel obvious because you spent years learning it.
Sharing Your Story Doesn’t Require a Stage
You don’t need a podcast.
You don’t need to become a coach.
And you certainly don’t need thousands of social media followers.
Helping someone with what you’ve learned can look much simpler than that.
It might be mentoring someone earlier in her career.
Calling a friend who’s walking through something you’ve experienced.
Sharing honestly with your team.
Encouraging another business owner.
Having a conversation with your son or daughter about something you wish you’d understood sooner.
Sometimes your “platform” is one person sitting across from you.
That still matters.
What Have Your Experiences Taught You?
Here’s what I want you to think about this week:
What have I learned through my own experiences that could help someone else?
Don’t immediately dismiss the answer because it seems too small or too ordinary.
Think about the person you were five, ten, or twenty years ago.
What does the person you are today understand that she didn’t?
There’s probably something there worth sharing.
For me, I’ve reached a point where I see my experiences differently.
The wins matter.
The failures matter.
The businesses I’ve built matter.
The relationships matter.
The things that didn’t work matter.
Even the chapters I wouldn’t have chosen have given me something I can use today.
Maybe the same is true for you.
Maybe some of what you’ve lived through wasn’t only meant to change you.
Maybe part of its purpose is what you choose to do with it now.
If you’re looking for coaching opportunities to live your life to the fullest you can learn more here about my one-on-one coaching opportunities or my Flourishing Edge Membership with my Flourishing Edge program.
