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Hi! I'm Marie
You have gifts to share with the world and my job is to help you get them out there.
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Button TextWhat we’re talking about today is often a #sbd dream killer.
(#sbd = silent but deadly. Usually used to describe farts, but equally applicable to habitual mental patterns that limit your experience of success and happiness in life.)
This particular thought pattern often lingers in our minds and gets triggered when we compare ourselves to others. Sadly, it also leads to chronic creative wuss outs.
That’s when you never actually create anything because you’re too afraid it’s all been done before. The thought loop usually goes something like this…
“Whenever I see someone doing the same thing I want to do — it takes me down! It’s a confirmation there’s nothing unique or original about me or my ideas. I’m a fraud. And, they’re all light years ahead of me. What’s the use in trying anyway? It’s all been done already.”
Sound familiar?
If you’re human, it should. No matter how confident, forward-moving or creative you are, we’ve all had those kinds of #sbd thoughts at some point.
And, the more you peel back the layers in any industry, the more you start to feel like everyone is just doing the same ol’ shizz over and over and over.
But have no fear because in today’s MarieTV, we’ve got five cures for the “It’s All Been Done Before” Funk.
listen to this episode on the marie forleo podcast
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View Transcript
Sorry. You know that song right? I love that part. Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching Marie TV, the place to be. That’s right. To create a business and life you love don’t you forget it. And this is Q and A Tuesday and today’s question comes from Andrea and Ms. Andrea writes, “Hi Marie. I’ve been watching your videos because I was recently inspired to start a business doing graphic design for life coaches but lately I’ve been feeling discouraged and unworthy. Though I have some schooling in graphic design whenever I see another person doing the same thing it takes me down. I know you say we all have something unique to offer but how do you get around the fear that what you offer isn’t unique especially when you’re a complete newbie at it. Thanks for putting out such great and inspiring material. Thank you, Andrea.”
Andrea, I have heard this question from photographers, and singers, and writers, and tee-shirt makers, and yoga teachers, everybody across the whole creative spectrum and I’ve heard it from people at every stage of the journey from beginners to total pros. We have all had the thought, “It’s all been done before so why should I even bother?” But here is the thing Andrea, each and every one of us is born with a unique set of gifts that we are here to express in this world while we are alive on the planet. God does not make any extra peeps and when we hold back our gifts we are truly stealing from those who need us most.
So, here are five tips that will hopefully keep you from being a gift thief. And number one, there is more than enough to go around. You’ve got to get that there’s over 7 billion people on the planet. Now I know they’re not all life coaches but to be honest these days it feels like they are. In fact, I think I just read a stat there’s four life coaches born every minute. “Go create a business and life you love.” My point is we live in a big beautiful world and there’s more than enough to go around as long as you offer something that people actually want. Or in the words of Louise Hay and yes it’s a tweet able, “Somewhere someone is looking for exactly what you have to offer.”
Number two, you need to embrace the Abbondanza.
Abbondanza.
Think about Italian restaurants. Can you imagine if any of them said, “You know what, the world’s got enough Italian food. Everybody’s done eggplant parm.” I have several favorite Italian restaurants and I would be totally heartbroken if even just one of them didn’t exist. No. The same thing goes for singers. I mean, can you imagine if Bruno Mars said to himself, “You know what, there’s enough sexy guys that can sing and dance. Why even try?” Are you kidding me? Then myself and the whole world would have been robbed of this.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No one has or ever will have your perspective. You’re a crucial part of the universe’s Abbondanza.
Abbondanza.
If you are missing from it just wouldn’t be the same girl. Number three is stop doing shots of compare schlager. In college I had some nasty nights from this stuff called Gold Schlager. You ever heard of it? It is disgusting and you are drinking compare schlager which is even worse and it leaves you with the nastiest comparison hangovers. Look, you are watching Marie TV right now but if I started doing shots of this stuff you wouldn’t be. Why? Because I would’ve never gotten to episode two. Do you know how many other online shows there are that give business and life advice? If I went down that comparison rabbit hole I would have never got out. So my point is you need to put down the bottle girl.
Number four is be the acorn. So big beautiful oak trees start off from a tiny acorn and everything beautiful and magnificent in this world usually starts tiny, tiny, tiny. Just because you’re not the most experienced or the best pro right now doesn’t mean you won’t be. And all the people that you’re looking at that have more experience than you did not start off that way. You’ve got to know this. Every single pro starts off as an amateur. So right now you’ve just got to focus on being the acorn. And if you really want to make this happen, this next step is the most important.
Number five, you’ve got to train yourself to choose love over fear. So here’s the deal, in any given moment all of us have a choice of our thoughts, and our words, and our actions. We can either align ourselves with fear or align ourselves with love. Now when we’re aligned with fear we all feel like ass, We feel alone, we feel separate, and we feel completely unworthy. We waste a lot of time, we don’t get things done, and most of all we waste this precious gift we have called life. Now on the other hand, when we align ourselves with love everything changes instantly. We feel awesome, we feel connected to ourselves and to others, and we recognize you know what we have some genius inside and we’re here to contribute that genius to make the world an amazing place alongside a whole bunch of other people that are here to do the same.
So Andrea, those are five things that I really want you to remember the next time you start feeling like it’s all been done before. And I want to wrap up with one of my favorite quotes of all time from the incredible Martha Graham. “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It’s not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions. It’s your business to keep it yours clearly and directly to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”
That was my 80 year cue Andrea. I really hope it helps. Now I would love to hear from you. All of us can get caught up in this idea that everything’s been done before. So if you felt that way which one of these five tips most resonates with you? Or if you have another way to get yourself out of the it’s all been done before funk. I would love to hear about it.
As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at marieforleo.com so go over there and leave a comment now. Did you like this video? If so, subscribe to our channel and it would be amazing if you shared it with your friends and if you want awesome resources to create a business and life that you love plus some personal insights from me that I only get to talk about in email come on over to marieforleo.com and make sure you sign up for email updates. Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world really does need that special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time on Marie TV. B-School is coming up. Want in? For more info and free training go to joinbschool.com. What’s happening? Not yet. Not yet. Sorry, professionals. I work with professionals.
This is a really, really important episode for you to watch. Especially if you’re a big-hearted creative putting anything out into the world. Why? Because…
You matter.
Your ideas matter.
Your point of view matters.
And if you don’t express it and work every day to share your unique gifts, the world has lost something truly irreplaceable.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. Which one of these tips most resonates with you, and why? Or, what do you do to get yourself out of the “it’s all been done before” funk?
Remember that tens of thousands of ambitious, creative souls come here each week for inspiration and support so share with as much detail as you can below. You just never know if your share is one that can truly help another person break through.
Important: please share your thoughts and ideas directly in the comments. Links to other posts, videos, etc. may be deleted as they can come across as spammy.
Thanks in advance for adding to the conversation and making this corner of the Universe absolutely amazing.
All my love,
XOXO