AF273 - EXPERIENCE
Whether you are striving to be at the top of page one on Amazon or working on a personal or sports goal, you can accelerate your progress with one word.
Here’s how…
Today, I want to talk about a word that I feel can accelerate your progress no matter what goal you are looking to achieve.
Whether it is a business goal, personal goal, or in sports, you can accelerate your process right now!
This one key 🗝️ word holds the secrets to my accelerated progress and a lot of those others that I have looked up to - people, mentors, or other experienced, successful entrepreneurs and business owners that have crushed big goals.
If you are curious about what it takes and what it is, let me walk you through it by examining my own life and the lives of others that have achieved BIG goals.
There is a couple of common denominators among experts or when you think of somebody who has to succeed that you want to get closer to. What do they have in common?
What do they do? What is it? Is there one thing? Is there a specific thing?
I can tell you one of the things that the experts have, that the successful people have is…
EXPERIENCE.
Experience can mean several different things. It may be defined as an accumulation of knowledge or skills that came from or as a result of direct participation in events or activities.
I have 20 years of e-commerce experience. That is one kind of experience. A specific experience, first-hand knowledge of a particular event, a direct observation of a particular event, or at a particular place. Today would be an example of that kind of experience.
And I want to talk to you about the meanings of these experiences, how important they are, and how they relate to our success.
I recently read a quote from the book of Jean Chatzky. She is a leading expert in money and finance, specifically geared toward women. She's the author of many books, including How to Money, Women with Money, The Difference, and a few others. She is also the host of a podcast called Her Money. Go and subscribe to that podcast to learn more about it and how it relates to us. Hoping she will be on the Amazon files one day, and we can talk to her personally.
I want to read this quote from her because Jean is a money expert and this quote really resonated with me. I am like, “Yes, this is true for me” 🙋♀️. This is true for a lot of people, and it changes everything.
She says a lot about earning, a lot about saving and, planning and spending, where the best money is spent. And here is the quote that I want to talk about today. Jean says…
“Buy experiences, not things. Spending on experiences makes people happier than spending your money on things. Things get broken, they go out of style, they get discarded, they get forgotten. Experiences get better every time you talk about them, every time you remember them, how every time you bring them to mind, you had an experience”.
Now, why do I love this quote so much? It gets to the heart of what we all really want deep down.
We want to feel alive and connected.
Experiences are alive and fluid, creating emotion and opportunity for growth.
Experiences can be relived and revived in our minds as often as we like.
Experiences create memories that last.
We are going to prove this right now!
I am going to have you work your memory noggin 🧠 a bit…
What did you receive for Christmas last year?
Can you name a gift or a thing that you got for Christmas?
The truth is that some of us may have recalled something that we got for Christmas last year. Some of us may not be able to recall something.
Now, I am going to ask you another question.
Think about the best Christmas that you have ever received in your lifetime.
Or the best birthday since not everyone celebrates Christmas, but everyone has a birthday.
What is the best birthday you ever received?
Go back to that moment and recall your best Christmas ever. Your best birthday ever. Best event ever. Whatever is standing out in your mind.
Who was there? What was happening around you? What were the smells, the sounds, and the visuals in the room? What do you remember feeling about this best Christmas ever? What made this such a memorable moment for you? Being there, relishing the feelings at that moment in your own life, seeing the faces, and hearing the sounds in the room.
Why won’t you forget that?
Well, because you were there.
You were fully immersed at the moment that you were actively participating in that certain event in your life, which is the definition of experience. The more senses we use, the more we remember those moments. We can attach sights, smells, sounds, feelings, and environments.
Our lives are marked by experiences. Experiences change us inside.
You can not unmeet someone. You can not unhear, you can not unsee. Doing a ton of interviews on podcasts and webinars, I get this question a lot…
What is the best investment you have made into your business?
Your answer to that question with regard to your decision of what was the best investment you have made would mainly depend on your experience. Not on tools, hardware, software, or the amount of money that was put into the business. It is intentional education derived from experiences.
When I remember more, it is easier to practice what I am learning. I get faster, I get more efficient. I figure things out differently. I can get more creative when I'm not focusing all the time on the fundamentals and the basics.
I remember the two specific events and experiences that I had that changed my business and my life forever. One of them specifically in 2015, such a long time ago, and again in 2018.
One, I attended a workshop that showed me a step-by-step process for reaching the goal, which I reached after that experience. At another event I attended, I was introduced to others who have greatly helped me along my path in business.
In 2015, we were financially tight. I was just getting Mommy Income off the ground. I had just started it and was teaching people and doing webinars. I'd been about six months, and I was loving it! I was creating new content, and I was getting excited about helping people on their Amazon journey.
But…
Money was tight, and there was this conference coming up, a smaller conference. It was going to be about a 10-hour drive. I knew I could improve my Amazon skills if I was able to go to this conference and meet some of these people who have this experience and then have all this Amazon stuff figured out. I presented this case to my husband.
This is why I think I should go. This is how I am going to pay for it. This is what I hope to learn, and these are the results I hope to get. When I learn from these people, my business is going to grow. It was going to cost a couple of thousand dollars, and at the time, that was going to be a sacrifice.
I needed to travel for four whole days…
But I knew that once I learned the things I was going to learn, I could not unlearn them. I knew that I was going to earn more by going to this event, or at least that was what I hoped for. To be honest, I did not really know. I was convinced that any learning was a good learning and that it would help me grow. That was all I needed to know.
It was my first experience doing that. I was nervous. I was scared. So many thoughts swirled through my mind…
What if I get nothing out of this?
What if I spend all this money and time that I am away from my family and I do not learn a thing, or I am confused, or I am overwhelmed?
I will tell you this, I am where I am today because of the people that I met at that conference in 2015. I met with one of the industry's top educators at the time, and he nudged me to write a book. You all know I wrote a book, right? But it was not then. That was just the nudge. That was just the seed that was planted. I had to water it and weed it and cultivate it. It was not until three years later, at another event, that I was introduced to a book editor. That was no coincidence!
Since the beginning of my business, I have invested over $20,000 in events, experiences, and education for personal development, business strategy, coaching courses, conferences, retreats, and experts.
What I have learned by attending events and talking with people is that they are worth more than any tool or software or even dare I say, a course.
Yes, your course creator is telling you that sometimes these experiences can be more valuable to your growth than even a course. Although courses are necessary, we need to learn what we do not know in order to grow our business and grow ourselves personally. I am constantly educating myself one way or the other, but no one can actually take an experience from you.
I am really excited to gain some new experiences.
I am over not traveling.
I am over not staying in my little comfortable bubble.
I want to have a lot of experiences, and 2023 is no different.
As a matter of fact, one of my first experiences is going to a tradeshow. And one of yours could be the workshop in January in Dallas and another in Las Vegas. I absolutely love workshops! 💖
I can remember the faces, the places, the first times, the last times, the different events over and over, and how they have each changed my life.
If you have been to one of my workshops, first of all, thank you for coming! I do not forget you. I remember the experiences. I remember the details. I remember you guys working through your frustrations and your AHA moments, and your breakthroughs. It changes me too, and I love that because I get to grow with you. We get to grow together!
I want to have more experience. And I would love to have one with you!
So if you are considering your business growth for 2023, it's right around the corner. We have 40 days left in 2022.
As this episode airs, every year, I want to grow, change and be better than I was last year. And I do that by going and starting my year off right in my business by going to trade shows, and attending live events, especially at the beginning of the year sets the tone for my business growth for the year.
I love starting off the year with a plan and goals in mind and ways to execute those. That is how I crush goals. I set really small goals.
If you've let you've read my book, Dream Big, Step Small, you would know this.
I need to attain my goals. I can not set these huge lofty goals that people have.
WHY???
Because if I fall short, it becomes a really BIG bruise and hurdle I have to jump through.
For others they may be able to brush it off since they are reaching higher than they were before. That is a great concept for a lot of people.
For those who want to dig really deep and get super vulnerable and get super intimate and get super serious about your goal…
We are going to have a Mommy Income retreat this year. Join the waitlist!
All of you are working hard right now, and you deserve to have fun in your life and enjoy the fruits of your labor. We were not built to work ourselves to death. We need to enjoy not only the process but the fruits of our labor. You work to make money so that money can get you the things that you want or the peace that you want or get away from that boss that you can not stand.
The goals are real, no matter how big or how small they are. Your goals are important and real, and I intend to help you with that.
WATCH:
LISTEN:
QUOTE:
“I mean, why do employers say experience required rather than we only accept Harvard graduates? Y'all. People want experience. It gives you confidence and credibility, not just having an experience, like going to an event and talking with people and learning new things and putting those things into practice, but actually gaining experience for yourself.”
-Kristin Ostrander
Make sure you go to mommy income.com/events and see which one might be right for you. There's only a limited number of spots at my events because I intend to personally meet everyone, work with you one on one individually and in groups, and get to know you and your business. I can't do that for hundreds and hundreds of people at a time. So they're small gatherings so that we can maximize our learning opportunities and our experience. I'm excited to meet you. Get a special discount. It's Workshop 2023.
RESOURCES:
- 2023 Mommy Income LIVE Events
- Why You Should Sell Wholesale Bundles on Amazon
- Everything You Need to Know - Dallas Total Home & Gift Market
- 3 Reasons to Attend a Tradeshow Walkthrough
- Wholesale Bundle System 3.0
Share your AHA moments with me on my free private Facebook group - the Amazon Files (use the code word EXPERIENCE) and tag me so I can celebrate with you!
Have questions? Email me directly at [email protected] with all your questions, concerns, or doubts. I would love to answer them all for you.
Keep on bundling…
-KO
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