I'm a 1%er. And It Has Nothing to Do With Money.

What happens when we stop comparing ourselves to others and start recognizing the extraordinary value of who we already are?

A few weeks ago, I went to a retreat.

And for once, it wasn't mine.

That alone was an experience.

I'm used to being the one at the front of the room. The facilitator. The coach. The woman holding the space.

This time, I was the client.

And here's the interesting part: I really didn't know what I was going there for.

I didn't have some big outcome I was chasing. I didn't know exactly what we were going to do.

I just had a very strong nudge:

GO.

So I went.

Sometimes Growth Means Being in a Different Room

For three days, I sat in a room hosted by two extraordinary women, Jen Conkey and Meredith Banka, both gifted and intuitive business owners and leaders.

I was surrounded by women with six- to nine-figure businesses and portfolios.

I was intentionally putting myself in a new room.

Because if I'm going to keep growing as a business partner, speaker, facilitator, and woman, I need to be in rooms that stretch me.

Before I went, I made one decision:

Go all in.

Don't sit back and evaluate how they facilitate compared to how I facilitate.

Don't decide how I would have done it.

Don't compare.

Be the client. Experience it. Learn.

Sounds great, right?

Yeah. Then came the homework.

When Comparison Sneaks In

We were asked to take a hard look at our businesses. Operations, finances, products, revenue.

And my brain immediately translated that into:

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

Why do they need to know this?

This feels personal.

This feels vulnerable.

And as I worked through it, I discovered gaps in my operational knowledge.

Cue the shame.

Shouldn't I know this?

I'm a business owner. We've been doing this for ten years.

And just like that, I went from being curious and open to questioning my own competence.

Then I remembered something.

Didn't I just say we all have different gifts?

There are things Jessica does brilliantly in our business that I don't do.

And there are things I do brilliantly that she doesn't do.

That's why we're partners.

Funny how easily we celebrate other people's gifts until we decide those same gifts are evidence of our own inadequacy.

There I was, comparing what I knew to what I thought I should know.

And I came back to something I say all the time:

Here I Am.

Not where I should be.

Not where someone else is.

Not right. Not wrong.

Right here.

And from here, I can learn.

I can ask questions.

I can be poured into.

And I was.

Over those three days, my questions were answered from both a client perspective and a business-leader perspective. We shared different viewpoints, different approaches, and different ways of delivering our work.

There was mutual respect instead of competition.

Curiosity and collaboration instead of comparison.

And somewhere in those three days, I had one of my biggest realizations.

I'm a 1%er. And It Has Nothing to Do With Money.

Not because we compared revenue.

We didn't.

Not because of the size of my business.

Because of who I am. Period.

And I don't mean that I'm better than anyone else.

I mean that there is only one me.

Because of the life I've lived.

The things I've navigated.

The risks I've taken.

The successes. The failures. The times I've gotten my ass kicked and gotten back up.

69 years of experiences that no certification, revenue number, or business metric can duplicate.

Nobody else has my path.

Nobody else has my stories.

Nobody else has my voice.

And the same is true for you.

There is no one else with your exact combination of experiences, gifts, wisdom, and perspective.

Think about that for a moment.

How often do we look at someone else's success and immediately start measuring ourselves against it?

She's further along.

She knows more.

She's making more money.

She's doing things I haven't figured out yet.

And somehow, we turn someone else's accomplishments into evidence that we're not enough.

But what if their success has absolutely nothing to do with your worth?

What if you stopped measuring your value against what someone else has accomplished and started recognizing the extraordinary value of who you already are?

Maybe that was part of why I needed to be in that room.

Not to figure out how to become more like them.

But to become even clearer about being me.

What If Fulfillment Leads and Money Follows?

I already know what lights me up.

Speaking.

Being in rooms with women.

Using my voice.

Creating experiences that move women.

So maybe my next level isn't about figuring out how to make more money and then deciding what I want to do.

Maybe it's the other way around.

What if I honor and lead with what fulfills me... and allow the money to flow from that?

That feels different.

And it feels a hell of a lot more like me.

I left with tangible tools and ideas that will help Jessica and me elevate our business and the experience we create for our clients.

But I also left with something I didn't even know I needed.

A deeper trust in myself.

A reminder that I don't have to know everything to be successful.

And an even greater appreciation for what happens when we listen to the nudge, even when we don't know exactly where it's taking us.

Oh, and lest you think we spent three days staring at spreadsheets...

I did a cold plunge.

We burned our shit.

And I broke an arrow.

Because apparently business growth now requires hypothermia, fire, and weapons.

I'm here for it. 😂

It was high-level. Intentional. Vulnerable. Full of excellence.

Exactly what I needed.

And I almost didn't know I needed it.

Where Is Life Nudging You to GO?

Maybe there's a room you've been hesitant to walk into.

A conversation you've been avoiding.

An opportunity that excites you and scares you at the same time.

Or maybe you're being called to step out of the role of expert and give yourself permission to be the student again.

You don't have to have it all figured out.

You don't have to prove you belong.

And you certainly don't have to become someone else to be worthy of being in the room.

You already bring something extraordinary to the table simply because of who you are and the life you've lived.

So here's my invitation to you:

Get curious about where life is nudging you.

Notice where comparison might be keeping you from recognizing your own gifts.

And remember that growth doesn't always mean becoming someone new.

Sometimes it means becoming even more fully yourself.

Sometimes you don't need to know why you're being called into a new room.

You just need to trust the nudge...

And GO.

Here I Am.

TaaDaa! ❤️

Michelle Fournier