When I first decided to build an online business, I invested in some online courses. I'm all about learning from other people who have done what I want to do. I also really love a good structure, so when some online experts told me they'd share the exact steps they took to achieve online success, I was sold. 

The importance of being your authentic self was casually raised in module one of my first-ever online course (about how to build an online business).

At first glance, it seemed easy. Be authentic. Got it. Let’s get on to the ‘real stuff’ like showing me the exact steps on how to build my social media following and actually make money while I’m growing my business (like it said in your marketing blurb which, by the way, totally drew me in).  

The real stuff involved a lot of content building. Not just any content, content that is extremely valuable to your audience. Content that could be delivered in a myriad of ways -...

WHO THE F IS MY AUTHENTIC SELF?

We live in a time where we no longer have to hit our 30s, have our children and get stuck with the decision of whether to continue in our less-than-fulfilling, not-quite-flexible-enough jobs, OR become a stay-at-home parent. We live in a time where we have so many more options now. We can create our own opportunities, some say, because we can access 'the world' with little more than a smartphone and an internet connection.

But because it is easier than ever before to start a personal brand based business, LOTS of people are doing it. There are minimal barriers to entry (or so it appears at first glance) and the marketplace is NOISY.

If you want to be heard over the noise, it's no longer enough to be better. It's no longer enough even to be different. You need to be able to genuinely connect with your audience. You need to know not only who you are and what it is that is that sets you apart, but how to communicate that online...

When I see world-class, life-changing work, I never think "I could do that!"

When I read an average book, see an average-quality blog, watch an awkward video, sit through a shitty workshop, complete a lack-luster course, or listen to a boring person speak, I often think "I can do this!"

Brilliant work is enjoyable, phenomenal, inspiring.

Mediocre work moves me to act. 

In fact it's how my career started. A friend of mine in high-school was in a catastrophic car accident. He worked very effectively with his Physiotherapist. However, he refused to work with his Occupational Therapist. Not because the work wasn't important, but because her approach didn't have the chemistry he needed to be inspired to act. 

I looked at her and thought, 'I like the meaning behind this. I can be effective at this.'

The world is made up of mediocre people doing brave things. People who are not as smart, funny, creative, confident, experienced, knowledgeable, inspiring or committed to...

Two years ago I made the extremely exciting decision to build my online business.

I wanted what we all want: to quit my day job, leverage my income, to work from anywhere, to be able to work flexibly around my children, all the things that are attractive to this vocation.

I got caught up in the whole “All you need is a laptop and an internet connection and you can make money online” thing and started an online course about how to build my online business.

The very first thing you learn from the plethora of people vying to teach you how to launch your 6 and 7-figure business is some variance of ‘the world needs that thing that only you can offer’, ‘just be your authentic self' and, ‘if I can do it so can you’.

So many of these online business courses then follow a similar line in my experience, with the whole ‘you can make money before you’ve even built your online course’ thing. They teach us to do a Beta Test of some sort...

I've got a massive fire in my belly about enabling my kids to experience self-worth. 

Maintaining or building self-worth, I believe, is a life-long project. I say I want to enable my kids to experience it because it's not content based learning. It's not something you can teach by repeating "You are worthy! You are worthy!" We have to create an environment that allows them to experience it as part of their own truth.

This morning George (4) wakes up, stumbles bleary-eyed to my side of the bed and wiggles down into my arms under the blankets. 

"Good morning George."

"Good morning Mum."

Pause. Cuddle.

"I'm very proud of you."

"Why? What did I do?"

Break through Mother moment. At 4, George already feels as though he has to do something tangible, physical or external for me to be telling him I'm proud of him. That he has to have been good at something, to have been kind, helpful, beautifully behaved, made great choices, you know, some display of pure awesomeness if...

SHOCK. THE ONLINE BUSINESS COURSE YOU DID DIDN'T HELP YOU LAUNCH YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE!

So you’ve done an online course about building a business, and it turns out it’s freaking way bigger, way more challenging and way more expensive with more moving parts than (a) you could have dreamed of and (b) ‘they’ first lead you to believe when you made that *huge* step and purchased the $2K course!

If you’re anything like me, you got drawn in with promises like:

“All you need is a laptop and an internet connection and you can start making money online”

and

“Anyone can build an online course; you have a unique gift that only you can share with the world!”

and my favourite,

“I’m going to show you the RIGHT STEPS in the RIGHT ORDER (or the ever popular my exact BLUEPRINT) so you can build a business and life that you love.” 

HOW YOU FEEL

You've done the course, you've an idea of what steps you...

2 December, 2016

To my daughter,

You are an inspiration to me every day.

I love your determination. Your ability to decide what you want and go after it, to achieve it at any cost.

I love that you never let the size of your body hold you back. In fact the size of your body is completely irrelevant to you. No goal is out of reach when you are fearless and have persistence and tenacity in spades. You are proof time and time again that little really can beat big.

I love your resilience and grit. That you fall down everyday but you get back up and try again. You may rest, but you never give up.

That you fight back, tooth and nail if anyone ever tries to take advantage of you. Boy, girl, man or woman.

I love that you laugh openly. Totally free of inhibition. Laugh and snort. Really cack yourself! But you don't feel obliged to. You feel your feelings and if you feel stern, you be stern. It's not your job to be anything for anyone else.

I love that you dance. With fervour. With your whole...

I've done a lot of soul-searching around why I so passionately want to launch my online presence - it's not something that comes naturally to me at all! I've been on quite a journey over the past five years or so and everything that has happened in that time has led me to this point. This point where I have this huge fire in my belly! Where suddenly I've got a real sparkle in my eye, energy in my step, I motivated, I'm learning and developing, I'm loving life! But I've been searching for the big why. Why this? Why now? Why do I value this so much? Why am I so motivated in this specific areas of my life?

And it hit me not so long ago!

I am passionate about people, myself included who have this perception that they have lost their power. Not their power over the world, not power over anyone else. Their. Own. Power.

 
My name is Louise Wildbore. I am an occupational therapist and director of my own health and fitness business and in my lifetime, I have allowed other people to take...