Friday reflection

It only takes 5%

Photo of Amanda Hirsch with a speech bubble that reads, "It only takes 5%!"

You give 110% at work.

And then here I come, encouraging you to show up authentically and consistently online, and it’s like, “Oh yeah, let me just reach into my bag of extra time — I’ll get right on that.”

(Side note: How awesome would it be to have a bag of extra time?!)

I get it. I do. But — and — as I argue in this article I wrote last year, we do not serve ourselves by giving 110% to our current job, and 0% to our larger purpose. By “larger purpose,” I mean the values and vision and passion and voice that transcend the organization for which we currently work…even if that “organization” is our own business.

Trust me: A day will come when, if all you did was make sales calls and serve your current clients, but you never told your larger story online, your world will feel small, and your opportunities will feel limited.

Similarly, if all you do is work your ass off for a company, even a super shiny one, or one whose mission you believe in deep in your bones, the day will still come when you want to move on. Maybe it’s the culture, or your boss, or you don’t agree with the org’s strategic direction, or your family is moving, or your interests have changed. Well, if your online presence has been the equivalent of a “Closed” sign hanging in a store window, it’s going to feel daunting and impossible to make a change…which is likely to keep you somewhere you don’t want to be, for longer than you need to be there.

This is where 5% comes in.

When instead of devoting 0% of our lives to our larger purpose, we devote 5%, we create, bit by bit, a mighty beacon — a Bat signal — that attracts meaningful opportunities and relationships our way, while expanding our impact. We lay breadcrumbs that help allies and collaborators and sources of inspiration find us, alongside future employers and publishers and conference organizers. We stay connected with the people already in our network, with them aware of who we are and what we’re up to today (versus, say, five years ago, when we met them), and we expand that network in ways that are meaningful to us.

If the word “network” makes you want to run away screaming, please consider that I am not talking about handing out business cards and checking boxes in service of transactional benefits; I’m talking about being known by people, and knowing people, who share your values and respect your vision. I’m talking about being in a professional community, not only because of what that might lead to (someone thinking of you for a dream job, or recommending you for a panel, for example) but also because it brings deep feelings of connection and belonging to your life.

…Feelings that, it turns out, are essential to our mental health.

I’m talking about having active connections with people who energize and educate you, who are doing work that makes you feel inspired, and who help you see around corners and into possibilities you might otherwise miss, with your head down in your to-do list.

Just 5%. Imagine what it might look like. Set aside 15 minutes on your calendar twice a week, for example, to check in on LinkedIn, comment on things that provoke a genuine response, and share some of the thinking in that big brain of yours — and some of the vision and values in your big old heart.

Imagine every woman carving out that 5%. Imagine how much more energized and empowered we might feel.

Give it a try — and let me know what happens.

You are a mighty force -

Amanda

P.S. Will you please share this newsletter with a woman for whom you think it will resonate? I’m getting ready to send out a book proposal, and the more email subscribers I have, the more likely they’ll be to help me bring the message of Mighty Forces to a broader audience. Thank you!