When I was fifteen, the app Formspring came out. For those of you who don’t know – it was basically you could ask questions anonymously. This was the early 2010s so there wasn’t any information about cyberbullying

This was gasoline in an already dramatic small town.

For context, in my freshman year, I moved 4 hours away from all my friends and family. I started a new high school with kids who had known each other for YEARS. I was currently placed in MY own version of hell because they had known each other since pre-K

Every day, I would come home in tears about something new. Between the countless rumors, being homesick for my other Fridays, and the never-ending drama…. It was always something new with them

When Formspring launched – I did what everyone else did.

Staring at my inbox were MEANER comments

your hair is gross

you are a boyfriend stealer

No One Likes you

It felt like they came in numbers… So no WONDER I was afraid of putting myself out there when I started my business.

You too?

You’ve probably been in the same place before. You have BOLD opinions and seeing the shares go up (and it not being on stories)

For me, that feeling creeps in and I stop being the person I want to be.

Recently, I disclosed the same information to my coach. I felt like I couldn’t be me and make money (even if I had already made money being myself)

Further reading: I got caught using a sales script

The Best Advice You’ll Hear

and it was the same advice that my mom gave fifteen-year-old meghan “What other people think about me is really none of my opinions, even when it feels like it is”

You can’t be liked by everyone and while most people try to be – what happens is you mold yourself to fit them. You water down your content to stay safe and most of the time, your sales slump with it

you didn’t start your business to be like everyone else, so why would you make your content like that

You started your business for the person you want to help, the person who is sitting at the other end of your stories wondering IF today is the day to reach out

You started your business to liberate yourself from the working hours we all hate (okay, not all the time but some of the time)

you started to create your legacy on whatever terms that is for you

So, take a moment today and revisit where you water yourself down to avoid someone else’s projection of you