Episode 221 Transcript: 3 Keys to Shift from Your 9-5 to Building Your Brand
Nancy Levin
[00:00:00] Life coach training isn’t just a career move, it’s a personal evolution. The more you uncover your own limiting beliefs and rewrite your story, the more confident and capable you’ll feel in guiding others to do the same.
If you are ready to take the next step of answering the call to coach, I’ve put together a brand new free workbook.
To help you identify and overcome the fears holding you back from stepping fully into your new life and new career of deep impact and fulfillment, visit nancy levin.com/rewrite and I’ll send you the free workbook now.
Again, nancy levin.com/rewrite. R-E-W-R-I-T-E. Grab it now.
[00:01:00]
Your mess.. Your most difficult moments, the ones you thought you would never survive are actually your superpower.
Why? Because those moments taught you lessons. They shaped you. Those lessons are exactly what someone else needs to hear right now.
Welcome to the Nancy Levin Show. I’m Nancy Levin, master coach, bestselling author, and founder of Levin Life Coach Academy, where I train aspiring and current coaches as well as career professionals, many of whom are in midlife transitions to become highly impactful certified life coaches who use their life experiences to guide others.
Join me each week for insights on becoming a thriving life coach. And transforming tough transitions into greater purpose that helps others while deeply transforming yourself [00:02:00] in the process.
Let’s dive in.
Well welcome back to the Nancy Levin Show. Today we are talking about how your mess can become your message.
This is about shedding old career identities to become your own personal brand. Because so many of us go through life assuming career roles. We’re checking the boxes. We are living according to other people’s expectations, but deep down, we feel like something’s missing and we know we have more to offer, but we’re stuck inside the question of where do I even begin?
Worse.
We keep doubting if we even have anything valuable to share. And so in this episode, we’re gonna explore three big ideas.
The first one is how to [00:03:00] turn your mess into your message.
The second is the importance of shedding outdated career identities to find your true brand.
And then third, why so many of us don’t step into our brand and the consequences of staying invisible.
So let’s start with this.
Your story, your mess is your greatest strength, your most difficult moments. The ones you thought you would never survive are actually your superpower. Why?
Because those moments taught you lessons. They shaped you. Those lessons are exactly what someone else needs to hear right now.
In my book Jump and Your Life will Appear, I write about the affair that I tried to bury and carry on business as usual inside of my marriage, even though I was deeply unhappy and trying to pretend everything was fine.
My affair was a huge source of shame, [00:04:00] but that specific mess later became a part of the message that has impacted countless women who felt stuck in similar places.
Because here’s the deal, people don’t connect to perfection.
They connect to authenticity. They wanna see themselves in your story. Your struggles and your triumphs, and that’s what makes your story powerful.
But here’s the catch.
Most of us don’t see our own mess as valuable. We think, who am I to share this?
Or what if no one cares? But the truth is, no one else has lived your exact story, and no one else can share it. In the way you can. One more thing here. It is essential to make sure that you have made strides in your own healing of your mess.
Before you share in Levin Life Coach [00:05:00] Academy. I often talk about how.
As coaches, we need to do our own healing work first so we can coach from the scar and not the wound, so we’re not triggered and re-traumatized by our clients. Now let’s talk about what keeps us from stepping into our true brand identity. The roles we’ve taken on over the years, for most of us, our identity gets tied into what we do, our job title, our career.
Our role as a parent, partner, or caretaker. And while those roles are important, they’re not the whole picture of who we are, but letting go of them can be terrifying.
We cling to these roles because they give us a sense of stability. And let’s face it, it’s a way we have historically measured our sense of worth.
But what happens when these roles no longer feel authentic? When the [00:06:00] job you’ve outgrown or the relationship you’ve outlasted no longer aligns with who you are?
Deep down, letting go of a role feels like stepping into the unknown. It’s scary because it forces us to ask, who am I without this title, without this paycheck, without this validation?
But here’s the truth. Your real brand identity isn’t something you have to create from scratch. It’s already inside of you.
It’s about peeling back the layers of what’s no longer true so you can uncover what’s always been there. This is exactly how I talk about reinvention being the return to the essence of the truth of who you are before you began packaging yourself to be palatable to everyone else around you.
Okay, so now let’s talk about why more of us don’t step into our [00:07:00] true brand identity.
Why do we keep our own gifts locked away inside?
For most of us, it’s fear. Fear of being seen, fear of judgment, fear of failure. We tell ourselves stories, who am I to do this? Or, it’s all been done before, or what do I have to add?
But please hear this. Those stories are just stories and they’re not true. When you keep your voice hidden, the people who need you can’t find you. That is the real tragedy.
Whether you realize it or not, someone out there is waiting for your story, your perspective, your voice. They’re waiting for you to step out of hiding.
When we stay invisible, we feel stuck, unfulfilled, like we’re living below our potential. And [00:08:00] deep down, we know we’re meant for more, but we’re too afraid to take the first step. If you’ve ever felt regret for not using your gifts, ask yourself, what will it cost me and the people I’m meant to help in this world if I continue to stay hidden?
You don’t have to have it all figured out today. Building your brand and sharing your story is a process, but it starts with one step recognizing that your voice and your experiences and personal history matter.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
If you are an aspiring coach, asking yourself, can I really become a coach? Or perhaps you’ve already had training but aren’t creating the coaching [00:09:00] practice you really longed for. I invite you to check out my free workbook, Rewrite the Story Keeping you Stuck, Become the Life Coach You’re Meant to Be.
This workbook will walk you through my five step process to uncover the limiting beliefs holding you back. And offer you the first steps in rewriting that story so you can take action to become the life coach you’re meant to be.
Head on over to nancy levin.com/rewrite to grab your free copy right now.
That’s nancy levin.com/rewrite. R-E-W-R-I-T-E. And if you’ve been impacted by this episode, please share it with someone who needs it. And please remember to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, and I’d be grateful if you’d leave a review as well. Bye for [00:10:00] now.