Romantic comedy beach reads fuel my summer ?.

It doesn’t even matter that they all have the same plot:

1. One of the main characters is angsty and guarded.
2. Reluctantly, they fall in love.
3. After resisting the attraction, they finally get together.
4. Something happens that scares them, and they push each other away.
5. They always find each other again and live happily ever after.

Is it predictable? Yes. Is it foolproof? Basically.

The entire storyline is about two people who are so afraid to reopen wounds from their past that they close their hearts…

Until the *aha* moment of the book when they realize that living with a closed heart is more painful than loving with a heart wide open.

But this isn’t just a plot of a cheesy Emily Henry novel. This happens all the time in real life.

Or at least it happens to me.

I’ll never forget the first time I played beach volleyball with a bunch of strangers who all worked together at a KPMG. They desperately needed a girl for their co-ed team, and my friend asked me to play in her place.

I played volleyball for 10+ years, but I was so nervous these random strangers would think I was terrible. So, I did something really dumb.

I played small. I acted distracted. I didn’t go for balls I could’ve gotten. I was nervous that if I went into “Sport Mode Rachel” who is competitive as hell and a bit of a try-hard, they would see me fail giving my 100%.

So I gave 50%…and was subpar…and felt worse about the entire game after it was over.

And I’ve done this in my business too. We all have.

We run from the very thing we want out of fear…

• Never really saying how we’re different because we’re afraid to piss off other people in the industry.
• Never really selling our offerings because we’re afraid of being ‘too salesy’.
• Never really playing at 100% because it feels safer if we fail when we’re giving out only half of our full effort.

I call this, closed heart marketing.

It stems from the fear of believing people won’t want to work with you if they know who you REALLY are.

But here’s the real truth I’ve (slowly, painfully) come to learn: people are more put off by your 50% than your 100%. They can feel it.

I slowly let the KPMG squad see my 100% in those beach volleyball games. And I still missed serves. I still had some bad sets. But the team felt and loved my effort, and we played better.

Your audience and clients want your 100%. They want to feel you fully in so they can be excited and fully in.

One of my favorite parts about doing fractional work is that I get to act as a buffer for that fear.

I get to see someone’s 100% and create content from it. We don’t always use all of it. Small acts of courage are better growth agents, after all. But, I get to help people see how powerful their own 100% really is.

I’ve seen how big of a difference it can make with their audiences, and I know it will be powerful with yours too. Here’s what I’ve seen –

Closed heart marketing is…

?Intentionally remaining vague

?Never setting intentions for your content

?Prioritizing receiving over giving

Heart wide open marketing is…

?Honest, clear, and specific

?Executed with purpose

?Generous, empathetic, and curious

Go crack your heart wide open out there?

XO, Rachel Jeffries Murphy