Latest / Travel Agency in a Year / Day 87 - How to become the authority as a travel advisor
Transcript
- Rachel K: Welcome back to the Travel Agency in a year podcast. I'm your host Rachel K and we are on day 87. We are so close to the end of the first quarter of your imaginary business year or real business year. I don't know where you're joining us. So where you are in your year. So these next few episodes and the past couple have been more about like kind of do a mindset reset. So today's episode is how to become day 87 how to become the authority in your niche in your business in your life and you're like, what do mean? am my own boss. You can be unknowingly influenced and so this episode is just going to be it's actually a lot of notes. I hope we can get it under 20 minutes, but there's a lot here. Okay, so we all, all of us, every single one of us has authority as leaders, as leaders of our travel business, as parents, as spouses, as siblings, or you know, whatever role in your family. We all have authority, we all have the capability to lead as necessary. Don't worry, we'll go into different types of leaderships in future episodes. Also, we are also pretty easily influenced. So when there are fears that come up, so we just did a series about the fears entrepreneurs, specifically travel advisors face, ⁓ that's when there is negative authority. That's not your true, authentic, sincere self. That is when you are probably being manipulated somewhere, somehow, and it could be any aspect of your life that is causing you to have these fears, or even just like the fear of missing out, ⁓ to not truly step in as the authority. Positive authority is stepping into your leadership and there are so many different types of leadership and you may bounce between different types and I'm gonna do a whole episode about like the eight most common types if You're like Rachel. Why are you even talking about this? A it's kind of important to understand B this is what I got my bachelor's degree in was all about leadership studies communication organizational development So this is like a little refresher for me from when I graduated from college too. I don't know why I said it like that. So what type of leadership I want you to contemplate, you don't have to know the definitions. If anything speaks to you as I'm just listing off just a handful of them, there's like eight or 10, maybe a dozen different styles of leadership. But the most common ones that I'm about to list off, does anything resonate with you? And I'm not gonna go into defining them, just the word themselves, okay? Okay, types of leadership. There's autocratic slash authoritarian. You're probably like, yeesh, Okay. That was my least favorite in college. I'm like, gross. Then there's laissez faire leadership. There's also servant leadership. And then the one that would be great to aspire to is transformational leadership. So let's talk about being the authority. First and foremost, reflect on your fears as a travel advisor. And your fears will change. And you're gonna have to probably do this maybe on a monthly basis or quarterly basis, kinda like this review. Your fears are the opposite, the exact opposite of where your true strengths and your authority can lie. So if you have the fear of inadequate marketing, you may possess unknowingly really strong ability to communicate and show up ⁓ either in your writing or in video content. And this fear is what's keeping you. quote-unquote safe. Maybe the fear developed a long time ago as a child. You had some project in school and you were in a group setting and someone in the group or maybe your teacher was like, this is terrible. So then you just decided I'm not good enough for communicating, therefore I'm not very good at marketing. But that's where your truth strength typically lie, your biggest fears. And Your fears, like I said, your brain is trying to protect you. Your ego is trying to protect you. However, when you can address those fears head on and deal with them and step into your true authority, that's when you personally experience a transformation. And that's also terrifying because you're shedding the old self. But this is also why. A business plan and a mission statement are super important to uphold when the fear takes hold. So you will have random anxieties. Anxieties are often rooted in some kind of fear. But if you don't have a plan and you don't have a mission statement, it's going to be much easier for you to succumb to manipulation and the state of negative authority and end up not going anywhere. rather than if you actually have a plan, you can be like, that's just stupid noise. They're trying to get to me. I don't need that. Discipline also helps tremendously to develop your authority. Discipline is freedom because you are establishing very clear boundaries on who you are, what you do, how you do it personally or professionally. And if you remain ⁓ certain and disciplined in your actions and you are consistent in your actions all of the time, it gives you so much more freedom because you're just like, no, I don't want to do that. No, I don't like golfing. I'm not going to go golfing. That's not my thing. No, I'm not going to go hunting. That's not my thing. You know what I mean? And it gives you so much more freedom because you aren't saying yes to everything. I will also mention the movie Yes Man. Saying yes to things can be very beneficial and help you address your fears as well. However, that's more of like if you aren't really sure who you are, say yes to everything and then be like, no, I don't like that. And change your mind and develop the discipline from there. All right, so first question. What are you tolerating in your life? Tolerating so ambiguous ambiguous relationships Things that you just tolerate are probably the most energy draining and you don't even realize it Activities in your life So like ambiguous relationships could be friends or colleagues maybe family members that you don't really get excited to see, you're also not really like passionately upset with them, which doesn't really happen that much, but it can. ⁓ But those people that are just like, ⁓ how are you? How are things going? Just real basic. That's a huge energy drain because you're putting energy to try to build up a relationship in one way or another that just isn't going to happen. Another thing that you could be tolerating is entertainment over learning. This could be, need to watch my TV shows. I need to get caught up on my reality TV. I need to read these whatever fiction novels to escape. Instead of just really reflecting and learning and I'm not saying this is easy Like you will have to sacrifice a lot of things that give you a quick dopamine hit dopamine is The need for the dopamine hits is the biggest distraction in everyone's lives like your children's lives your spouse partner Whatever we all crave that dopamine and this is why social media is so popular Because it gives you little quick hits Another thing that you could be tolerating is going to other people to be your authority rather than stopping and listening to your conscience. And then when you do things that these other people say, I'm the authority in your life now, or I'm the authority in your business, and it doesn't go how you wanted it to go, it's going to lead to lot of disappointment. And it's going to lead to disappointment because there might be something that they're saying that doesn't necessarily align with your mission statement, your communication philosophy, or your business plan. But you're treating them as the authority in your life and giving them your power rather than learning to sit and see who can really help me. I'm not saying everyone that is offering help is trying to steal from you or whatever. I'm just saying like be very careful with who you give that power to. And don't like put anyone up on a pedestal. So what are things that you can do? You can journal, can meditate, you can pray. All of these methods when you're like stuck trying to figure out. How am I going to do this? How am I going to be me? How am I going to match my business with my who I am and my values? All of those methods are far more superior just versus asking others what to do. So you can ask others what to do. I would recommend doing some kind of journaling or meditation or prayer or all three, however you do your life. And then seeking out. Maybe some confirmation from others. Don't tell them what you meditated on or whatever, but maybe go to them and be like, I'm dealing with this. What do you suggest? And it's got to be someone you trust. No one ambiguous in your life. All right, number three, because these are points. These are points in my notebook. You're like, what? What do you mean number three? Complaining. Please stop complaining. If you notice that you are complaining a lot about how things are going, that is a big sign that you are out of alignment in one way or another. The constant complaining undermines the gratitude. And gratitude is the attitude that we all need to have. I'm just laughing at myself. If you don't know who you are, You're going to be tempted to do things like doom scroll, tolerate bad patterns from people, clients or colleagues or BDMs or suppliers. I don't know who's someone you can't tolerate. And you're going to stay small. And you're going to complain instead of be grateful for the progress you're making. Being thankful and having gratitude keeps you and moves you into your authority. Like I'm so grateful that I've even started this journey because even if I fail at being a travel advisor, I'm learning so much about who I am, how I want to serve others, and how to start a business on my own because I know a lot of you travel advisors, you don't just graduate from high school and be like, I'm self-employed. No. Most of you have had some kind of nine to five job or retail or some kind of job where you are an employee and now you are your own boss. Even if you're still working another full time job, you are your own boss with the travel agency. I feel like I'm gonna cough. So having the attitude of gratitude keeps you or moves you into your authority. You can be honest about circumstances. You can be honest about challenges. I'm not saying like, ⁓ if you're just thankful, everything's going to work out and be perfect. No. I really feel like I'm going to cough. Nope, that didn't help. OK. That's not like that's just being full on delusional. And at some point, that's going to bite you in the ass. But being honest about your circumstances. This is why I'm like, hey, take your data. Are you actually improving in different areas of your travel agency? Or are you stagnant? Or are you going downhill? ⁓ You're like, what are you talking about? It's in this program called the Success Circle. There we go. ⁓ But you need to be honest about your circumstances and your own challenges. And also maintain gratitude. Because any circumstances that are negative, any challenges that you're facing, they're also showing up a mirror to who you are and how you handle things. And you may, I mentioned different types of leadership, you may have an idea and you're like, I'm a transformational leader, whatever. But then you have these challenges and the mirror's like, but are you a transformational leader or are you an autocratic or are you a pace setting? We'll talk about that in other episodes. Don't have the attitude of I'm not there yet, I'm not there fast enough. These people told me this would happen in months and it's been months and I'm not getting the results that I want. That's complaining. That's not showing gratitude. Also, fun fact in my notes. When you are sharing challenges or circumstances, are you actually venting or are you actually like truly releasing those emotions tied to your challenges and circumstances? I learned that I didn't write down the number. Dang it, a specific ⁓ number of autoimmune diseases, more than half. I don't know the exact number. I feel like it's 80 to 90 percent. are caused from suppressed emotions because you aren't truly releasing them. So I don't know if you have an autoimmune disorder or disease. Maybe contemplate on that. Are there any emotions that are trapped within me that I'm not truly releasing? So like I said, you can have challenges and circumstances and you can talk about them and you need to work on fully releasing the emotions tied to said challenges versus just venting, playing the victim and then going back into the cycle. Don't let any other person take your authority. You are you. If you don't work on it, someone else will take your authority. Someone else will be like, I'm the answer to all your problems. I'm the solution. Do what I say. And then you'll just give everything to them. And that's also no bueno. Don't do that. Don't do it. It's just kind of like giving your energy. Like if you want to get into the whole manifesting woo-woo stuff. You're allowing these other people to control you. Why would you do that? You're an adult. You have free will. As you develop your authority, it's most likely going to be in times of hardship. This is why I'm talking about this right now, because we're coming up on the first quarter. Coming to a close, right? And you might have gone in like, I am so excited and ready to go, and I'm super pumped about doing this with my travel business. And now you're about three months in, and I can guarantee you, have faced a number of challenges. And that is when you develop your authority. is when you're going through those hard times. When people are saying no to you, when people are ghosting you, when you put yourself out there on social media and you aren't getting the engagement or the conversions that you were anticipating, ⁓ when people aren't reading your newsletter, when people cancel trips, when you get a consultation and it's like your dream client and they're like, ⁓ we decided to go with your biggest competitor. Like those are hardships. It could be something in your personal life that's affecting your ability to run your business how you wanted it to be. Like these are rote. They're not like. complete roadblocks end of your life type things. They are hardships that you have to face and if you don't actually face them and come to grips with them and like understand what are your emotions behind these challenges, you are not going to be able to develop yourself as a leader in your business. Let's say you see someone else even, as simple as this. You see someone else get what you want and what you've been manifesting towards and what you put on your goals worksheet or whatever. You see them get it and you're just like, ⁓ That's another hardship. So how can you deal with these things? You still have to continue showing gratitude for what you're doing and for all of the good things coming your way. Learning the lesson, turning the lesson into a blessing, not complaining. not giving into your negative emotions, anxieties, or fears. They will come up. And I'm not saying, like, once you master this, you're just going to be Zen Buddhist, perfect all the time. No, they're still going to always be there. You're just able to manage them. And they don't take such a stronghold in your life. So let's say, good question, you can ask yourself now that you've made it. This episode is going to go. I'm gonna have to break this up into two episodes. So I'm gonna close this episode out with, if everyone went silent on social media, would you still be confident in your plan and that it would work out? If everyone went silent on social media, there was no social media, there was no, I'm trying to think what else. Now don't think of this as like, how am going to mark it? You would find a way, A. But if everyone that's like saying, oh, this is what you should do, this is how you should do it, if that all went silent, colleagues, everybody just went silent, would you still be confident that the plan that you have for your travel agency would work? So I'm going to close on this. I was hoping to get. more into this episode, but we are over 20 minutes now and that was my guaranteed stopping point. So tomorrow we're going to talk about ⁓ expanding on this, parroting versus lessons because you truly have to learn the lesson, not just take what I said, for example, in this video and you're like, ⁓ that's really insightful and just paired it back. You actually have to apply it to your life and your business. Okay. So come back tomorrow. Thank you. Have a great day.