Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have Her Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. Her Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career in life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside her collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. Have you ever found yourself caught up in the comparison trap? You know, where you're looking at someone else's Instagram or social media and you're thinking about how they've got it all together. Maybe they have the fitness routine nailed down or maybe they are that mom that has the organic bento box lunches all packed and ready to go for their kids perfectly curated summer schedule. No hate here.

That's just not me. Or maybe you're looking at a stranger's LinkedIn and you are seeing that they are sitting in the c suite of a startup and you're thinking that there is just no way in hell that you are ever gonna get to that level. I know from firsthand experience how discouraging it can be to see others who've climbed the ladder of success and feel like some aspect of my life is a lost cause. Are you with me today? We're gonna talk about the journey specifically your unique journey and the timing of your journey and how it is not one for comparison and why it is never too late to get started on your goals.

This is a topic that is so near and dear to my heart because going down this path of growing my social media, following growing my business and making a difference can be super frustrating at times. If I'm being honest, I love to follow other people on all of the social platforms to see what they're doing and to learn from how they are doing it, but I also catch myself looking at everything that they have achieved, and I start to just feel like I will never get there. I'll never have that level of following.

I'll never speak on that big of a stage. I will never make that kind of money. Have you ever felt like that? Now I'll just go out on a limb here and say that I don't think I'm alone, but I wanna explore why it is never too late to get started regardless of where you are in life. Now first and foremost, you have to understand that time is a human construct.

I really had to ponder this one for a while because society has imposed these certain expectations and timelines on what we do and what we achieve and by when. So literally, let's think about it. We have all these ideas of when we should get married, at what age we should have kids, at what point in our career we should advance and buy a home, etcetera, etcetera. First of all, who the hell put all that into place? Seriously.

And guess what? You don't have to follow those timelines that other people in society have set. Your dreams and aspirations do not have an expiration date, and age is just a number. For example, if you've always wanted to get an MBA, but you feel like everyone your age has either already done it and that you just completely missed the timeline for that, you're wrong. You could be 40, 50, 60, even 70 and go back to school.

Seriously, I was really interested in this, and I actually Googled who was the oldest person to earn a college degree. And Nola Ochs was a woman from Kansas who in 2007 at the age of 95, 95 y'all, graduated from college and was certified by the Guinness World Book of Records as the oldest person in the world to become a college graduate. Then she was beat out by a Japanese man who turned 96 and earned his degree in 2016. So for real, guys, you could be any age and do anything you wanna do. If you just remove these internal barriers, these expectations around age and time, you will open up a world of possibilities.

But this is what we do. And what today what we are talking about, giving up completely, is stopping the god awful habit of comparing ourselves to others. When we compare our starting point, our progress to someone else's, we rob ourselves of the joy and the fulfillment that comes from our unique journey. That person that you're following on Instagram with 1,000,000 followers or that CEO you're watching on LinkedIn who just got another round of funding for her startup, their journey had different twists and turns, different obstacles and victories that you don't necessarily see. Now I can't stress this enough, but social media is the highlight reel of someone's life.

It truly is. I think that some people are out there, honestly, shifting what they put out on social media to include both the good and the bad, the wins and the losses, but let's be real. We would so rather be praised and be seen as a success than highlight our failures and where we're falling short. I want you to instead embrace your path and trust that it is leading you to exactly where you need to be. Now you're probably wondering, well, hell, Erica.

That's easier said than done, and how do I even get started? And don't you worry. I got your back. I have a few strategies to share with you that will help you, and it's what helps me take that first step no matter what your circumstances are. First, I want you to identify your passion.

What lights you up? What brings a smile to your face? And it's something that really lights up that fire within you. Your passion is going to be the driving force behind your goals, which is gonna propel you forward even when you face challenges. For me, I couldn't ignore how I felt after coaching women and helping them go confidently up the corporate ladder.

Yes. There was so much work that I had to put in there to get to those places to even coach people, but the joy, the fulfillment that I felt after every single coaching session, I couldn't ignore that. So what does that for you? Take some time, reflect, and think about what truly lights you up. Next, break it down.

Sometimes those goals can feel overwhelming, especially if we aren't meeting those timelines that society or our families or even ourselves have set. The key here is to ignore age. K? Ignore the year and focus on small, manageable steps that you can take. If you wanna go back to school, I don't want you to think about that it is a four or six year process because you already have a job and kids, and it's gonna take you so much time to even get that degree.

Do not think about, oh my god. I'm gonna be 45 or 50 if I start now. I want you to focus on the small, manageable steps like, okay. I can sign up for two classes this week. And then I want you to celebrate each step that you take, each milestone that you successfully finish.

Because remember, progress is progress. No matter the speed, no matter how small, it is still progress. And if you find yourself getting hung up on how long something is gonna take, remember this. The time is going to pass anyways, so you might as well just get started. Now the next step is to truly adopt and foster a growth mindset.

Understand that this journey towards your goals, it's not always going to be smooth sailing. If it was, everybody would be doing it. Hello? Am I right? You must embrace the challenges and the setbacks and view them not as failures or roadblocks, but as opportunities for growth and for learning.

Shift this I can't perspective into one of I haven't yet, and watch how it transforms how you approach every single goal that you set. And last but certainly not least, perhaps one of the most important steps is make sure that you are surrounding yourself with supportive people. Seek out those people who lift you up and who encourage you and who believe in your potential. Build a network of like minded individuals who share your drive and your passion. And I'm gonna give you a prime example of why this is important.

When I started sharing my vision to start my own business, I had two types of people in my life. Those who said, oh my god. This is fantastic. How are you gonna do that? And how can I help?

And then I had those people who said, how are you gonna do that? That first group of people, the supporters, those are my kind of people. They helped me to feel excited about my goals and what I was gonna be doing. And, honestly, when I'm frustrated or unsure about what I'm doing, they hype me up and they keep me going. That second group of people, the how are you gonna do that group of people, I don't keep them around anymore, and I don't share those goals and dreams with them because those were the people that made me feel really bad about myself.

They made me question myself and second guess why I would even do anything out of the, quote, norm. Those are the people that keep you small. And, honey, you are not made to be small. So today, we covered a lot. We talked about comparison being the devil and the killer of all goals.

We talked about the construct of time and how it is really BS. And if if you're struggling with that one, go back and listen to it again because it is so important to understand the construct of time. But we talked about what you can do about it. And if you walk away with just one thing today, let it be this. It is never too late to start on your goals.

The only thing holding you back is the BS belief that it is too late. It is time that you let go of that limiting belief, that sticky floor, and embrace the power of today. Your dreams are right there waiting for you to take action. So, seriously, what are you waiting for? And I hope today gave you that inspiration and the motivation that you need to kick start your goals no matter where you are in life.

And you know what? If you need a little more, take your butts over to Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow me there. I promise you, you're gonna love the stuff that I put out there, and we can even message back and forth. If you need a hype girl, I am it.

And one final reminder just for you, it is time to stop putting a ceiling on what is possible and break through it. I'll see you next time.