Let me tell you…
I had taken all the fundraising training you could think of.
I knew all of the ‘technical’ skills that you needed for fundraising.
And yet, fundraising was REALLY hard.
And stressful.
And scary.
If you asked me what the worst part of being an ED was, I would have said the fundraising expectations.
I dreaded it.
But then something changed.
And it became my favorite part of my job.
And it all changed by switching up my morning ritual.
First, I identified the thoughts and beliefs that were ‘scaring’ me about fundraising. What I believed to be true about money, value, transaction, and philanthropy that were leading to my stress and anxiety.
I changed those.
I stopped believing that fundraising was an ask and instead started to see it for the offer that it is.
But I still had some fear. Every time I’d press send on a major donor email, I’d feel a little burst in my belly.
What if they’re mad that I asked for more?
What if they like me less now?
What if I misunderstood how much to ask for?
I should have made that proposal for less….
I haven’t heard from them after my last email; they probably don’t want to work with me anymore.
MORE STORIES.
All false.
All catabolic.
I realized that this fear was weighing me down.
My catabolic energy was like two fingers in my side, distracting me at all times, all day long.
It was holding me back from being the leader I needed to be.
So, I invented The Fearless Forty-Five
Every morning, I would wake up and look at my to-do list and find all of the things on it that were 2-15min long and SCARY (meeting invites for donors, phone calls to donors, follow-up from a proposal, etc.) and I would do them in the first 45min of the day.
I would just BE fearless.
Push through.
Get them down.
What happened next?
I WAS FREE.
I spent the rest of the day in powerful and mobilizing anabolic energy.
I was more creative, effective, and inspired – I was happier. I started to love my job in a new way.
And guess what else?
I brought in WAY more money.
1.5 million more than the year before. With NO additional human capacity.
But I created more capacity within ME.
Who wants to start doing The Fearless Forty-Five and see how it transforms your life?
