Spending more time at home, itโs easy to get stuck in a rut. Ashley Stahl understands. At the same time, the counterterrorism professional and career coach refuses to accept excuses.
She set off as an entrepreneur at age 23 and follows these principles:
- Success takes work, but it doesnโt have to be hard or painful.
- Growing a business is easy when you follow a proven step-by-step system.
- You can hit the six-figure mark within your first year if youโre focused and clear on your steps.
- You donโt need to post on social media or spend money on advertising to get clients.
- You donโt need to sign up for more certification programs.
Not only has success reinforced her determination, Stahl has written an entrepreneurial tell-all book, โYou Turn: Get Unstuck, Discover Your Direction, Design Your Dream Career.โ
โAshley provides so much personal wisdom and professional takeaways in the 11-step road map that she has shared with thousands of coaching clients to help in self-discovery and find success,โ said Chelsea Krost, who is also a successful millennial entrepreneur, renown as a speaker and LinkedIn instructor.
She and Stahl talked during Krostโs #MillennialTalk Twitter chat about how to get unstuck and jumpstart your brand and business career.
To begin without getting overwhelmed, force yourself to be patient. The drive to get back to normal has to be tempered with avoiding unnecessary mistakes along the way.
Interest doesnโt equal success
โFocus on your best skill set and not just on what industry you want to possibly be in or passions you have,โ Stahl said. โAn interest in something doesnโt guarantee a successful career in it.
โThere are two dynamics in our careers: the what โ the skill set weโre using โ versus the how โ how our job looks, what environment weโre in,โ she said. โThe how has a lot to do with knowing your non-negotiable core values.โ
Krost said everyone has to acknowledge being part of a year that no one could have ever prepared for.
โWe are charged with the mental task to view what we went through as an opportunity to reboot,โ she said. โโYou Turn,โ and come back stronger.โ
Many people have developed new core skills as theyโve gone along, finding others who also have found their skills to link up in new online communities.
โAccording to research, other people sometimes recognize our best skills better than we do,โ Stahl said. โAsk friends, colleagues and family members, โWhen have you seen me at my best?โ
โWhen you collect feedback โ I like to text it to people so I can read the replies and mentally process them โ notice what skill set you seem to be using when people think youโre shining,โ she said.
That might well be innate talent emerging.
โYour core skill set is something that comes naturally to you,โ Krost said. โItโs that X-factor that people compliment you on. Itโs that thing that you excel at while feeling motivated to do it.โ
Grief versus greatness
Life is guaranteed to have grief along the way, but greatness has to be earned. Itโs not so much waiting for grief to be great, but being ready to jump on opportunities so you donโt look back in grief later.
โThere is so much wisdom we can find at rock bottom,โStahl said. โI wish it on no one because it hurts to be there, but if you look back in time, ask yourself: How did I become better because of my last rock bottom or crisis?
โOne thing I write about a lot in my book is the lessons and failures from starting my first business and getting success โtoo early,โโ she said. โThere were lessons at my rock bottom I had to learn to create sustainable and aligned success later on.โ
That is the point where people are most vulnerable to getting stuck.
โThere is such a fine line between feeling something and indulging in it to the point where youโre not moving forward in any way at all,โ Stahl said.
Krost took the point deeper.
โGrief and greatness can go hand in hand if we treat grief-failure-hardship as a breakdown for a breakthrough,โ she said. โEach challenge always provides a learning opportunity or silver lining. Itโs our choice to learn from it.โ
Stahl and Krost also talked about the importance of networking, interviews and personal brands in the rest of their conversation.