Feedback vs. Impact

As you’re bringing your products & services to market, it can be tempting to look at all the wrong data to gauge your impact.

“If I’m making money, I’m having a positive impact”, says the idealist entrepreneur. 

Bernie Madoff pulled in a cool 18 billion with the largest financial fraud in US History.

This financial windfall had a massive negative impact on the lives of many and delivered a 150 year prison sentence to the founder.

Clearly, money was a terrible measure of positive impact in this scenario.

“If people are liking, commenting and sharing my content, then I’m having a positive impact in the market.”

Several problems arise with this type of feedback.

• Many people who are impacted by what you share will never take the time to let you know how their lives have been enhanced by your work.

Consider the books you’ve read that have impacted your life.  Did you take the time to go the Author’s Facebook page and leave them a comment?

You can also notice how many influential and impactful people have little to no social media engagement.   (Clearly, engagement and feedback from the market is also not a perfect measure of impact)

• Additionally, if you’re a creator or change agent, it’s likely that what you do won’t be popular during the introductory phase of your business expansion.

“Strength in numbers is the delight of the timid. The valiant in spirit glory in fighting alone.” -Ghandi

So if money and popularity are not the best measures of impact, what then is to be our guide?

First and foremost, the inner voice of intuition that tells you…

“You are on the right path, you are moving in the right direction, keep going – your time is coming.”

As you continue to align your inner compass with the infinite compass, the needle of direction will pop up with messages of confirmation just when you need them most.

And from time to time, all along the way, so too will the people you were meant to serve – jump from the background and tell you how much you’ve meant to them.

These then are the voices that speak of your real impact.

These, the reliable guides.

Learning to live from the inside out rather than from the outside in, is the wisdom we seek.

If we are to continue to grow, evolve and expand ourselves and the world around us,

…a duplicate copy of what the world already loves and agrees with is not the proper measure of our continued role in creation.

The voice that whispers, is.