What does it take to be unstoppable? Natalee Champlin has the answer.

Also known as “The Velvet Hammer,” Natalee is a performance coach who helps elite business owners build profitable teams. Over the past few years, she has helped hundreds of clients achieve six-figure results.

In a recent episode of That Solo Life: The Solo PR Podcast with Karen and Michelle, Natalee shares the four steps to being unstoppable in both your life and career. 

The 4 steps to being unstoppable

Before we dive into Natalee’s approach, it’s important to note that unstoppable can mean different things to different people.

“There’s so much nuance to life, to success, to entrepreneurship,” Natalee says. “When you’re talking about being unstoppable, what that looks like to me is how you show up every day inside your business to get the results that are specific to what you want, not the results your mentor says you need to have, not the results the industry says you need to have—what you want in order to make the best life for you.”

No matter how you define unstoppable, here are four steps you can take to get there. 

1. Know your point A

Your “Point A” is where you’re at right this very moment. What’s the true current status of your business? Sometimes, the most helpful thing you can do before charging forward with your to-do list is to push pause and really measure where you’re at. 

When evaluating your “Point A,” here are some areas of your business to check in with: 

• Sales and marketing: Take a look at your sales numbers for the past three, six, 12 months. How do they compare to what your goals were? Dig into the numbers. If you hit or surpassed your goals, what do you think contributed to that success? If you missed your goals, why do you think that is?
  
• Operations: Evaluate the satisfaction of your customers. If you asked them how they would rate you on a scale of one to 10, what do you think their answer would be and why? Answer honestly. (If there’s a way for you to actually solicit this feedback from your customers, do it! No matter how good of a guesser you are, it’s always best to go straight to the source.)
  
• Finance and HR: Do you have the right team members? As a solo PR pro, these could be contractors you hire, your accountant and so forth. If you’re truly a solo solo PR pro, this could be your support system, including family members, friends and other PR pros in your network. It’s important to think about who you surround yourself with.

2. Know your point B

Once you know your “Point A,” it’s time to move onto your “Point B,” which is where you want to go in the next year. What’s your ultimate destination? Write down the top two or three feelings that come up when you ask yourself this, such as:

• I want to be more connected with my partner.
• I want to be a person of influence. 
• I want to feel more balanced between work and non-work life.
• I want to be the go-to PR agency in my area.

Notice these are not SMART goals. Rather, you’re putting words to how you want to feel, to how you ideally want to live your life. “We forget that imagination is visioning,” says Karen. “We get away from it as adults because we think it’s just for kids.” But imagining what we want our lives to look like, in both the short and long term, is key. These are the feelings that will energize and drive you. 

3. Make the plan

More than likely, there’s a gap between your “Point A” and “Point B,” which means you need to take some time to figure out exactly how you’re going to make it to “Point B.”

Let’s say you want to be a person of influence, for example. What does that mean to you? How can it relate to your current career? Perhaps, to you, being a person of influence means being a thought leader in the PR space. And to do that, you want to be featured in a prominent PR publication at least one time a month for the next year. Great!

Now, brainstorm some little things you can start doing today to start working toward being featured (and thus being a person of influence). For instance, you could think up article ideas, compile a list of editors to reach out to and read the publications you’d like to be featured in.

For this step on the road to being unstoppable, Natalee’s biggest piece of advice is to “take a look at who has already done what you want to do and model after them.” Of course, everything that person has done may not work for you, and that’s okay. Take with you the parts that work and respectfully leave behind those that don’t. 

4. Work the plan

Plans don’t really mean anything unless you follow them. You must put in the work to get the results. There’s no way around it. As one of Natalee’s former mentors told her, “You can’t think your way out of problems. You have to act your way out of them.” But don’t be afraid—this is where the magic really happens!

Just keep doing the next right thing that needs to be done in order for you to reach your desired outcome. Put one foot in front of the other, even if you’re taking the tiniest of steps. “Have faith that you’re moving toward your goal, that your goal is inevitable,” says Natalee. “Because this is your life. You know that’s what you want, you know that’s where you’re headed.”

Though there will always be many external and often uncontrollable factors impacting your life, the truth is that so much of it is still under your control. So dream your wildest dreams, make a plan for achieving them and follow that plan to the absolute best of your ability.

“You live inside the story you tell yourself,” Natalee says. “If you want a better life, tell yourself a better story.”

We want to hear from you! What feeling do you want to have, and how will you get there? Let us know in the comments or on social media using #solopr!