Wow.

I didn't realize I'd turn 50 and become a cliche. I thought I had a pretty clear path in front of me and that I had done the inner work to finally be confident that I know who I am and what I want to do. But, it turns out, those thoughts of doubt, fear and insecurity come creeping in with a vengeance when you start to wonder if this is really what you are supposed to be doing with your life.

Like any good internet marketer and online junky, I turned to Google searches to help me (re)define me. At first, I clicked on a generic, "get more clarity on your values" site, but that wasn't quite what I wanted. I didn't want to know how strongly I sensed my purpose, I wanted to articulate what my purpose is.

The second site lead me to an AI-driven chat-bot model (which I do love, honestly), and an extensive multiple choice and open-ended Q&A session. What I didn't realize until I finished the 15+ minute quiz is that the generic result would be disappointing ("go be an educational consultant") in addition to $35 paywall to see anything else in the analysis. 

Still not feeling any closer to defining my purpose, I continued my Google search. One great thing  I've learned in niche marketing and key-word analysis is how to generate a solid Google search term. I found, and took, a final, short 7-part questionnaire and downloaded some workbooks to explore. 

From this short questionnaire, I think I have found words to define my purpose and some guiding words to help me relax into what I am meant to do and to be! It's not a job description, but rather some guiding principals that I had lost track of in my sudden onset midlife-crisis-omg-am-I-wasting-my-time-what-am-I-doing mode. The goal here is to get unstuck and put words to what matters. The following didn't originate from my own words, but I can own the words and use them to stay focused on what really matters to me. It's nice to have reminders of my strengths when the doubts and fears come knocking.

In the context of Marketing Without Makeup, I am using the following statements as guidance to remembering my authentic self, butalso as promises to you. These are my promises to you and what you can expect from me as I tap into my greatest strengths. 

It's funny that an existential and identity crisis culminated at a single birthday number while also being resolved in a few online web searches. But, that's the power of the web and power of thinking: you can find peace anywhere if you are willing to look for it and open to taking the hints. It's all about being - and doing - better regardless of where the message or inspiration originate from.

With your business, I will be an intelligent, creative builder and communicator.
My highest purpose involves creating and communicating.