Successful Business Owners Use this Strategy to Celebrate
Do you remember that last day of elementary school when your teacher handed you a keepsake folder with your name on it, bursting with the work you’d created throughout the school year?
I would open mine with great anticipation. It brought me fondly back, reflecting on my year and all I’d accomplished.
Those end-of-year folders are not just for kids and not just for end-of-year!
I was giving a workshop this week where I referenced my Hype Folder. A folder where I keep a record of the feedback I’ve received, positive reactions to reading this newsletter, comments on my social media, testimonials, texts from clients, and shoutouts on LinkedIn. I include even the smallest of kind notes.
I collect them to remind myself of the impact my work is having in order to build belief in myself.
Pointing out what isn’t working is easy and almost routine: I'm behind! I'm not making my goal! Or when someone says one thing that hits in the wrong way sparking a negative thought spiral. Then, our minds go to collecting evidence to prove our negative thoughts right, and the spiral continues.
The search for truth is the pursuit of comfort in the face of doubt.
Scott Galloway
My Hype Folder is a business strategy. I use it to collect evidence of all that HAS worked.
Evidence of my impact.
Evidence of my year.
Evidence of what I’ve accomplished.
Evidence that is proof.
This is the kind of proof that pulls me from doubt and is as true as true can be as it comes from someone else who has taken their precious time to give me the gift of positive feedback.
Each time I drop a new hype into my Hype Folder, it gives me a boost.
During the workshop, I asked attendees what they called their Hype Folders, and I just loved the names they shared:
The Smile File
Yays & Praise
Rave Folder
Testimonial Keeper
Titling your folder is half the fun here.
Where do you keep all of the good stuff that people share with you - about you?
If you don’t have one, consider doing this exercise. Go in search of the comments, thoughts, and feedback in as many places as you can look. The time invested in this exercise will produce an enormous emotional ROI. And, when you need it most, you won't have to go in search of evidence. It will already be there, simply a click away.
If you are in business and don't have a customer feedback or testimonial initiative, I highly recommend it to learn about what's working, what can be improved, and to get feedback for growth. One of the most effective sales strategies is using your own customer's words to describe what it is like to work with you and your company. Words pulled directly from your Hype Folder.
I don’t look at the folder as much as I might think I would. I think that’s because I know it is there. But, when I do dig into it, it provides me with evidence and helps me refocus on who I am and who I’m becoming.
My son recently received a glowing email from an EVP in his company, and as you might expect, I told him to create a Hype Folder with this note (it's hard having a Mom who is a Coach). I wish I had started my folder in my twenties, as it might have helped get me out of years of deep self-doubt and insecurities, confidence power outages, and negative thought spirals sooner.
I worried as I wrote this email that it was too simple. But then, to prepare for it, I read my Hype Folder and was reminded that purpose combined with strategy always trumps complexity that goes undone.
'Keep it simple stupid.'
Negative spirals will always come. It’s how the brain is wired, but having a business strategy to call on when you need it makes for a business covered with a little Teflon.
Remember, what goes around comes around: when you appreciate somebody's effort - a person, a company - let them know about it! Help them fill their Hype Folder.
If you are considering working with a High-Performance Success Coach or want to know more about the components of a coaching engagement, let’s get on a coaching call. As a business coach for women entrepreneurs, Executives, and Teams, my proven engagement method is highly results driven.
The question I get most frequently is, ‘What results can I achieve?’ Here’s what one client shared:
“Coaching is by far the most ROI-positive investment you can make in yourself. Do it! Even if you go in with a specific issue or question, you will be amazed by how the process can change your thinking about who you are, your skills, and where you want to go.”
You can wait for life to no longer be hard. If you are a dreamer and a doer, let’s have a conversation.
High-performance success coaching and business coaching, and life coaching combined for massive value and impact on your life and business.
