Find a Penny…

…pick it up, and all day long, you’ll have good luck.

My grandmother used to say that. I found pennies everywhere after she died. Little cosmic waves.

***

One of the tools I teach, and use when I’m feeling down or in a bad mood, is to find uplifting videos. Go straight to YouTube and seek athletes performing unbelievable feats or auditions from The Voice or American Idol. Sometimes I’ll watch Leo Messi defy belief with the soccer ball for hours.

Anything that depicts people overcoming odds, pushing through their fear, embracing their own humanity and sharing their gifts is powerful medicine. Your vibe shifts in an instant.

And so it was last winter, when I was depressed and sick and worried, that I found myself on YouTube again looking for something to shake off the cloud. It was about 4 p.m., a dank December afternoon in New Hampshire. I was in the middle Richard and Adam blowing minds with Impossible Dream, when I noticed something on the side of the screen.

YouTube suggested I take a look at something called “Secretariat. Heart of a Champion.”

Heart? Of a champion? I was in.

I dislike horse racing. But I love horses.

I had no idea that a 14 minute and 57 second video would change my life.

Secretariat is, was and always will be the greatest horse to grace this planet. No discussion necessary.

But his owner, Penny Chenery, THAT was a story to latch onto.

A 46-year-old housewife from Colorado saved the family’s Virginia farm, got her father a Derby Winner, and went on to bring the world it’s first Triple Crown Winner in a quarter century – stealing the hearts of the nation while she was at it. A woman in what was very much a man’s world in the late 1960s and early 1970s, doing what she knew was possible – even if no one else could see it.

I stayed up late that night, hopping from video to video, diving deeper and deeper into Secretariat, the circumstances of his birth and life, his picture on the cover of Time, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek.

I watched hours upon hours of ESPN documentaries and race clips. I got lost in the rabbit hole that is Google, soaking up every article, blog post and book title I could find. Every feather of information I could clasp about Penny herself, her upbringing, her character.

Find a Penny, pick it up, and all day long, you’ll have good luck.

***

I’ve been a mentor and coach for a decade, and a writer my whole life. Many years ago, I decided my legacy was singular: I want my children to say, “My mom showed me what was possible.”

In 2015, I made a million dollars in 7 months running my own business, helping other women help themselves. It grew from there.

But I also suffered from crippling anxiety and imposter syndrome.

Money is an amplifier.

If you have little self-worth, you don’t magically feel better about who you are when you make a lot of money. Instead, you may feel unworthy of what you have received – despite working your ass off for it – and probably certain you’re going to be found out as a fraud.

For me, it was a pervasive feeling that grew stronger and heavier with every dollar I made, every thank you letter I received, every like or comment on Facebook.

On the days when I sank fast, I reminded myself of the legacy I wanted to leave. I wasn’t just doing this for myself. My boys deserved a mother who went for it. Who did not shy away from fear. Who had the conviction that her vision would be brought to life, no matter what.

I’ve known for many years that my purpose is to show women what they are capable of. Full stop. My only job in life to remind them of how powerful they are.

But who do you seek when you forget your ability? When you buy into the lies the mind tells about your worth?

The ones who came before you.

There’s nothing I or you can feel or be part of that someone hasn’t already felt or experienced.

So here’s the process: Find the people your age, with similar circumstances, who did it already. Who decided they were all in? Who set fire to their limits and other people’s rules? Who bought into THEMSELVES?

I’m 45. I want to see women my age doing shit no one can believe.

And there was Penny Chenery.

“…She came into a man’s world and beat the man.” – Charlie Davis, Secretariat’s exercise rider.

Women did things like that? I had no excuses. In fact, it was my responsibility to dig deeper, figure out which bullshit beliefs I was allowing to run my life. Because if I didn’t, I wasn’t going to fulfill my purpose nor leave my children any legacy at all.

Find a Penny, pick it up, and all day long, you’ll have good luck.

***

I’m an animal lover. I have a farm. I rescue horses from slaughter and have far too many dogs and cats. I can absolutely get behind a woman – any woman – interested in animal welfare and defying odds.

Almost every free moment I’ve had since I first found that fateful video has been dedicated to researching Penny, the horse, the farm, the groom, the exercise rider. I can pretty much repeat verbatim the entire call for the record-breaking 1973 Belmont Stakes race.

“Secretariat is widening now. He is moving like a tremendous machine. Secretariat by 12. Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn…. He’s out there almost a 16th of a mile away from the rest of the horses. Secretariat is in a position that is impossible to catch.”

So it was one for the ages. And that marvelous woman in the stands, arms stretched high and waving to the cameras and the fans, took her position as First Lady of racing. There was much, much more Penny would do for the industry and for thoroughbreds during the next 44 years. Too much to recount here.

She died in September last year at 95, less than three months before I learned of her.

Bill Nack, a storyteller and journalist who chronicled Secretariat and Penny’s journey, said it best: “Some things are a long time ending, and for some they may never end at all.”

***

I believe we are shown exactly what we need at the exact right moment. There are no accidents or coincidences.

I believe we are capable of far more than we ever let ourselves imagine.

I believe something out there in the ether wants you to win at life. And all you have to do is find your Penny.

They bring good luck.

Your revolution is about to begin

The world has undeniably changed.

As an online entrepreneur, you may have noticed that consumers are smarter than ever. They see right through anything that isn’t honest.

I hear from my own clients all the time about how they used to just show up on social media and everything sold. Not so anymore. Some believe it’s now a crowded market. Some think it’s Facebook’s changing algorithms.

I believe it’s something far simpler: the advent of thinking consumers, who no longer buy into the hype of flash sales, limited time, “you need this now.”

People are consumed by ads 24/7. In a world where everyone is shouting, we have learned to filter it all out.

The new online sales reality is if people notice you at all, they are skeptical. They wonder if they need what you have. They want to know why they should buy it from you, if you have the stuff to get them the results they want, and even if they like you.

Your choice as an online entrepreneur is to interact with prospects in a new way – or don’t interact with them at all.

The way I was taught to market – the way the majority of the internet markets now – is perfect for a world that no longer exists.

And you can see that with your own dwindling sales, more and louder Facebook ads, the advent of videos (scroll through your FB timeline and tell me how many posts don’t have video – none). Everyone is looking for a new way to turn the money faucet back on.

I submit that the only way to build a lasting business that makes an impact is to stop looking for the strategy or magic bullet. No one is listening to that anymore.

This is your invitation to join me in a revolution of change – one that I accidentally stumbled across a decade ago when I started this business.

All people really want is for someone to tell them the truth.

Back in 2008, as a writing coach and editor, I showed up brand new online and dared to be who I was – and I couldn’t keep the clients away. As a business consultant and mindset coach, I do the same.

I swear. I live stream in my bathrobe. I talk about mental illness (hello, panic disorder). And I do all that while helping people create extraordinary lives. Back then, I did all those things because I didn’t know any better.

And as I learned and grew, I began to imitate what I saw was succeeding for others. Glossy images in Donna Karan and Chanel.  Live streams from the beach. An image that didn’t remotely represent who I am in day-to-day life.

Did it work? Yes.

Did it feel good? Hell no.

So I stopped and went back to being foul-mouthed, down-and-dirty, time-to-get-real, me.

I got back to being honest about what was working for me and my clients and what was not. I shared struggles and the lessons learned. To this day, I talk about everything from divorce to bankruptcy and back.

And that’s a win-win-win: A win for you, me and the world. When there is no standard to live up to…

Everyone can exhale and get more comfortable in their skin.

Oh, if she can do that, so can I.

Because when we don’t hide the parts of us that some people may not love – especially mistakes and screw ups – when we don’t hold up a standard of perfection, we show people it’s okay for them to be who they are and succeed. It’s okay to be human and thrive.

It’s permission to live on your terms. And isn’t that why we started our own businesses to begin with?

Think about it.

How much more would you love an oil company who had an ocean spill, but came out and said, “We fucked up. We’re sorry. And we’re pouring trillions into cleanup and future safeguards to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Instead of, “It wasn’t our fault and we’re doing as little as possible about it because we have investors to worry about.”

That oil company would have billions of raving customers and fans for all eternity.

Smarter consumers want the truth.

This is how I determine who I hire as my own mentors. Are they honest? Are they living and embodying their message? Do I feel as though I know them, and they understand my journey because they are on it or have been there too?

I look at what they share with the world about themselves and their work. It will gibe with me or it won’t.

I want to see and understand that whoever I work with has been through hell too, and rose from the ashes.

And I’m betting my career that you do too.

You and your work are unique.

But someone, somewhere, will always show up to copy you, do it faster, or sell it cheaper. The only way to avoid competition is to be YOU.

The trust and respect you gain from having the guts to be real cannot be replicated.

Dr. Seuss knew his shit.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

If you want to have a thriving business, it must begin with being brave enough to be yourself, especially when it’s uncomfortable, inconvenient or downright terrifying.

Here’s where I put my money where my mouth is.

Would you like to learn to create a business whose entire platform, strategy and message is based solely on YOU, warts and all?

One that can only attract an audience that adores you – because they believe what you believe?

People who get you – and who you get – on such a deep, intimate level, they are with you for life?

I have something for you.

I am a mindset coach and business consultant. My life’s work is about showing women how to breakthrough their own bullshit and absolutely shine. (The concept of this entire post actually.) This translates to clients for them. More importantly, it means they live unfiltered, embracing profound and lasting freedom that no one can ever take away.

If that kind of life and business appeals to you, reach out. I am opening space in my calendar for 1:1 private clients ready for a revolution.

This is nothing like you’ve ever seen before.

Email me directly at becky(at)rebeccatdickson(dot)com or message me on Facebook.