Authenticity Over Comparison: A New Approach To Being A Wedding Planner

Ever felt like you're falling behind as you constantly compare your wedding planning business to those perfectly crafted posts on social media? Say no more! We're here to unmask the misleading perception built by these highlight reels. Trust us, it's time to focus on your journey, set your own goals, and embrace authenticity!

Let's not ignore the elephant in the room -  don't let the idea of others' successes fool you; success is not measured by the number of times you've been published in popular blogs or magazines. Our advice? Compare yourself to the previous version of you, celebrate your achievements, and don't forget to share the credit. It's only when you do that, you'll experience the true joy of running a business that screams 'you'!

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Avoiding Comparison as a Wedding Planner

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Wedding Planner podcast brought to you by the Certified Wedding Planner Society . Welcome to the Wedding Planner podcast . This is our Career Support Series and it's brought to you by the Certified Wedding Planner Society , where the world's leading wedding planner certification program and the world's largest membership of certified wedding planners . My name is Laurie Hartwell and I'm the CEO of the Certified Wedding Planner Society and I'm joined by my fabulous Vice President , Chrissy Thomas , also the owner of Southern Sparkle Weddings and Events . Hey , Chrissy .

Speaker 2 0:41

Hi , laurie and hello everyone . Today we're going to be talking about the comparison game and how to avoid the pitfalls of trying to be someone that you are just not . This is a topic I think is so needed because we see with our members the fact that they're comparing themselves to other wedding planners in their market , their area , and it's one of those things where , when you're comparing yourself to someone else , I feel like it can paralyze you in your business because you are creating these expectations of what someone else is doing for your own business and it can stop you from being you , being yourself and being who you should be as your version of your wedding planning company and who you are . And I do think this boils down to comparison and comparing yourself to the other wedding planners in your market , or even other wedding planners that you don't even know or not even close to you , that you see all over the internet .

Speaker 1 1:35

Yeah , because you don't know who these people are . Most of the time you have no idea what's going on really in their personal lives . They could be failing miserably in their personal life right , they could even be failing in business , but maybe their social media is absolutely beautiful . So we start comparing ourselves to others and then actually thinking poorly of ourselves because maybe we don't have all of these fabulous weddings or maybe maybe you're not posting as often as someone else . Yeah , let's kind of start with social media . The most common ways that you find that wedding planners are actually comparing themselves within the social media realm Is it how many followers ? Is it the types of posts Like what is it , Chrissy ?

Speaker 2 2:16

I think it's everything and I really think out even outside of our industry , social media has created this sense and this feeling of being unaccomplished , whether that's in your personal life , in your relationship with your family , your friends , but also in business . Social media , I feel like , kind of created that storm , because what's happening with social media is people are sharing the highlight reels of their life . They're sharing the amazing vacations that they're going on . They're sharing all of their most beautiful weddings that they have been a part of and that they planned . What they're not sharing is that they've only booked a handful of weddings per year and that they're struggling financially . What they're not sharing is the fact that that vacation was actually awful and they didn't have a good time . We're only seeing the good in social media , so , because that's all we're seeing , we're looking at our lives going .

Speaker 2 3:09

I'm not doing any of that . My weddings don't look like her weddings , my weddings . I don't have hardly any followers on my account . This person has thousands . Look , they got to post with a hundred likes . I'm only getting five a day . It's a lot , and I truly think social media is one of those places where you can go into a spiral of self doubt just by the people that you're following and it's a dangerous place to be in . I really do think it is .

Speaker 1 3:37

I think we need to be much , much kinder to ourselves and realize that everybody's at different levels of where they are in experience within our industry , but also , some people are just super social media savvy and some others aren't . If you're not , then why are you comparing yourself to someone who is Maybe ? Just set your own goals and be genuine . Come at it from a very genuine side of things , rather than being too hard on yourself . If it's not your jam , hire someone else to make it really phenomenal . I just know that it's just so hard for people to not compare themselves to others , and I think it's a natural thing that we all fall into . What we have to do is ask ourselves well , who am I , though ? How do I want to show up on social media ? What types of pictures do I want to to kind of promote and get out there ? Maybe I don't want to share pictures at all on my social media . Maybe I want to give small little tips to couples . Maybe I want to link things to my blog on different things that they can be doing and different ideas that they can incorporate in their wedding day , and stuff like that . So I feel like there are so many people that are like well , but if I don't do it this way , that exact way that all these other people are doing it , then I'm going to be kind of seen as a failure . But you're not , because if it's coming from a genuine place , then it's , then it's right , and I really want people to understand that . Now you and I did a whole podcast on wedding planners should not also give away all of these key details of what we do for our couples , like here's a list of every question you should ask your caterer , like don't do that . And so if you'd like to listen to that podcast , it was called why Buy the Cow ? That was the name of the podcast . So please take a listen to that .

Speaker 1 5:23

But you know , when it comes to social media , don't feel like the likes that you're getting have any representation of who you are as a person . And if it bothers you and you don't really wanna know how many likes you're getting , that's something that you can actually toggle off under your settings . If you don't want to know how many likes a picture is getting , so you don't have to look at it . You don't have to play that comparison game if you don't want to . If you're not really great at creating reels , find somebody or even go on Canva .

Speaker 1 5:56

I know that there's Canva reels templates . We're friends with some really great companies and partners with some really great companies . There's so many resources out there , but what you can't control is what's happening inside of other people's minds , but what you can control is what's happening in yours . So when you're looking at other people's social media sites , my advice is this get inspiration , but don't try to become them . I want you to get inspired and then figure out how you can authentically show up on your own in a similar but not exactly the same way . What are your thoughts there .

Speaker 2 6:35

That is exactly where my brain was at , and if there's someone that you're following who constantly makes you self doubt yourself , even if it has nothing to do with that person it's just their posts you can follow them . That's okay . If someone is making you , if they're creeping into your own self confidence , just unfollow that person . Your social media is yours . Follow the people who inspire you , but don't make you question who you are .

Speaker 1 7:00

Oh , I think that is probably some of the best advice you could have ever given . I love that advice . People sometimes would just never even consider that , so I think that needs to be a huge consideration for your own mental health . Unfollow someone if , like you said , they're creeping in and it's making you wonder like why aren't I better , why aren't I this , why ? How about this ? How about figure out who you are . Unfollow them . Figure out who you are , show up authentically and then you can start following them again once you feel completely secure in where you are at in your own business . I love that . That's great advice . You know where else people compare themselves is other people's websites .

Speaker 2 7:37

Oh yes , I'm guilty of this . I , at the beginning of my career , I will admit I was guilty of this where I would see these websites and they're about us would have . And I remember this particular planner . They had a team all across the West Coast , so like they covered that entire area , so that it was this beautiful picture of this team on this couch and it was probably 15 to 20 planners and I thought I want that . I want to be the planner who has 20 planners , I want to be all over the Southeast .

Speaker 1 8:07

And I quickly changed my mind Because I got a handful of planners and I missed a lot of work . Yeah , you did as much fun as that beautiful picture made it look out to me . I love that you brought this up , chrissy , because so many people are like , oh , but I really want this huge team , and that's how I have to define success is the bigger the team I have , the more success that I have . I really want to encourage our wedding planners today who are listening , to realize that that doesn't define your success at all .

Authenticity, Challenges, and Self-Acceptance

Speaker 1 8:43

I have had a lot of private sessions with these big teams and they're doing a lot of things wrong . Sometimes they are misclassifying their workers , so at any moment they can actually get caught by the IRS because they're classifying some of these people's independent contractors , when by their state laws and by the laws of the IRS , they should be classifying them as employees instead . So there's a lot that's wrong . On top of that . There are so many . The bigger the team you have , the more room you have for bad reviews or for someone to get sick and you don't have someone to cover that and it can just get really out of control .

Speaker 1 9:27

So you've got to ask yourself what do you want ? How much crazy do you want to introduce into your life ? Because I was like you in the beginning of my career 30 years ago . I said to myself I am going to be the biggest wedding planner in the country and I became the most widespread wedding planner . I had wedding planners in almost every state and just like you , chrissy , I realized , oh , that was stupid . Why did I do this to myself ? That probably wasn't my best move .

Speaker 1 10:04

So I think it's important for all of us to go . What do I want ? What can I deal with ? What can I put up with ? What do I want to endure ? How do I want ? Because you have to remember , the bigger your team , the less personal life you're going to have too , and because you're going to have to , someone has to supervise it , unless you're going to hire someone then to also supervise all of these things and then you're going to have to pray that that supervisor's really got your best interests in your company's best interests at heart . It's hard to trust people with your baby , you know , and a lot of us think of our businesses as our babies .

Speaker 2 10:38

And with your website too , and when you're comparing other websites , what I have found and seeing this , sometimes people see maybe the verbiage , the content that someone's about me , and they're like , oh , I like that copy paste . Is that really you Right ? It actually happened to a photographer friend of mine where she realized another local photographer had the exact same about us and it was something that was so specific to their personality , to their brand . That is Whoa , wait a minute . Like this is this , is this was curated to be a true reflection of me and you just stole it that this is not who you are at all .

Speaker 1 11:20

Yeah , we definitely , especially with our copyright . We have to make sure that we are showing up authentically and that's our brand voice . Anything that's written on your website , typed up on your website , that's your brand voice and it needs to be reflective of exactly who you are . They need to be your words and you and I always say make sure you're talking to the couple , because your couple is the one who's reading all of the verbiage . But if they are reading something very similar to your competitors , because you copied and pasted and maybe tweaked it a little bit , that is not going to come across authentic or genuine and you're going to be burning a lot of bridges in the industry because you're going to be called out or people are going to . I wish people would call people out more directly instead of talking behind people's backs . I can't stand it when people talk behind people's backs , but you know you're one of those two things are going to happen , right . Someone's going to find out . So make sure that you are writing your text that sounds like you , that feels like you , that talks about you and who you are , your passion for your couples and for the weddings and for the industry as a whole . Make sure that it does come from , from who you are . Curate it for yourself , because it's not going to feel special when you're copying and pasting . It's going to you're going to feel like you're cheating and that's when the bad feelings are going to start creeping in . That's going to be bad . That's going to be bad . So , those websites , you know , I see I hear people stealing pictures all the time , stealing text , stealing all kinds of ideas . You don't have to do that . You can . You can find some way to be authentically you . So .

Speaker 1 12:56

So we've covered social media . We've covered websites . Let's talk about networking events . When we're going to networking events , are you the listener , whoever's listening to this ? Are you guys showing up as your authentic self or are you putting on a mask ? And I ask that because I feel like I need a lot of masks .

Speaker 1 13:18

I meet a lot of people like OK , so here's my elevator pitch . Here's I need to have this aura about me . When I walk in , it's like stop it . You actually don't , because we all put our pants on the exact same way . We are all human beings . Not one of us is better or less than each other . We need to make sure that we are showing up authentically . That is such a vital piece of this , and so we need to figure out . What does that look like , how does that feel ? And you and I have talked about this on a number of occasions I show up the exact same way I am the same person with you as I am with my best friend , crystal , the same way that I show up with my husband , the same way I show up with our members . I am an absolute goofball , but when it comes to business , I'm hardcore , like I'm all in hardcore . So we have to think about who am I and how exhausting it would be to have to wear a mask all the time . So , personalities , let's not do that .

Speaker 2 14:20

Let's not have that .

Speaker 1 14:22

So when you go to networking meetings , chrissy , what , what helps you show up like your authentic self ?

Speaker 2 14:29

Networking events for me are sometimes so hard because I am such an introvert . People find that hard to believe it , but I am an introvert . I just have to remind myself that I am meeting with people who I either work with or want to work with , and I'm just going to be me and I , like you , said who I am to you , to everyone I meet . That's who I am , and even online . I had one of my couples actually who both to me said you're exactly who you are on Instagram . I'm like , oh , that's actually such a compliment .

Speaker 1 14:58

I absolutely love that . They said that it was the nicest thing .

Speaker 2 15:02

So I was like well , thank you , I try to be who . Who you present yourself to , whether it's online or a networking event , is who you should be in real life . Because what happens is , if you're not , if you were wearing that mask , that mask is going to get uncovered at some point . Yeah , at some point people will end up seeing the real you . And if who ? The real you is not someone people want to work with , if you're not a pleasant person , if you're hard to be around , if you're difficult , it's going to come through . So just be yourself in every aspect of your life .

Speaker 1 15:33

The first sign of adversity is usually when people's masks will fall off Like the second . They are met with resistance , which , as a wedding planner , I'm constantly being met with resistance right , so are you . Every wedding planner on the planet is , and it's how you deal with people in those difficult moments . To me is the sign of the true character of who you are . Are you calm ? Do you not get involved in all of that extra drama ? Can you kind of try to rise above some of other people's ugliness ? Because if you can't , then your mask is going to fall off and people are going they're going to be , you're going to basically be exposing yourself or for the person that you really are , and then everybody's going to see you as a fraud and see that's the very last thing . That if you , if your pompous , just come off as pompous , like be authentically pompous , if that's who you are , own it .

Speaker 1 16:24

Now , usually people who are pompous or stuck up , usually what that means is they are hiding some sort of insecurity that's going on inside of them , making them feel like they can't show up , like they're like themselves . They really need to try that , but that's usually a trust issue and that comes from past trauma . So what we need to do is kind of figure out , okay , who am I for real Right and and I gotta just like myself for who I am and I need to show up for that . You know as that , if someone doesn't like me , that has to be okay too . We have to remember that , chrissy , not everybody's going to like us , and that has to be okay , have to be okay with that .

Speaker 2 17:05

And I remember , and this , this can tie into a wedding industry . But growing up , yeah , I remember feeling very insecure about who I was initially because of how I looked , how I talked . I got picked on for certain things because of who I was and , honestly , I realized , going into high school , I'm like , I like me , though , and as I got older , it got better of like , this is who I am and you know things like for me . You know , lori , I dress up all the time , I love clothes , I love fashion and I'm that overdressed person all the time and I would get picked on for that .

Speaker 2 17:44

And I , yes , like , why are you so dressed up ? What Sidebar remarks . And I just I realized this is me , I'm an overdresser , I wear lipstick and if you don't like it , oh well , and as often as I'm a good person , you know this is , this is how I'm going to show up to the world , and and and I think that's , I think that's crucial to know who you are and accept the fact that if you like who you are , then others will too . But , like you said , wear that mask , don't , don't be someone who you're not and don't compare yourself to the others either .

Speaker 1 18:19

Because people can tell . People can tell if you're being authentic or if you're kind of being fake . I can kind of . I can tell within the first five seconds that I'm talking to someone . If you're , if you're just giving me like a facade , I would highly encourage you to listen to yourself , because there might be things that you want to change about yourself and improve about yourself . There's always should be some self-improvement , but you're also .

Speaker 1 18:41

There's no reason for you not to come across as genuine as possible , because I think more people are going to like you when you're like that and there's always going to be the few and let them . That's okay . It's absolutely okay that not everybody likes you . It's not a mandatory thing that you walk into a room and everybody has to like you . That's not a mandatory thing . No one signed a contract . No one signed any agreements to it . Just let it be so when ?

Speaker 1 19:04

So our advice to networking meetings is be who you are . Improve on yourself . Like , don't be the loudest person in the room . Don't be a close talker especially if you had any kind of garlic for lunch or at the meal right before this networking meeting . Make sure that you're not looking past someone who's actually speaking to you , make eye contact , have a nice , firm handshake . Those are some tips for the networking that are going to help you come across as genuine as you possibly can . But that's really the key Be authentic . Now , the next thing I want to talk about and I think it's this really near and dear to your heart is the comparison game when a wedding planner sees other wedding planners getting published . Can you speak to that , and why do wedding planners feel so insecure sometimes when they see other wedding planners get published and they haven't maybe yet gotten published ?

Speaker 2 19:56

That was me . That was me in the beginning of my career and , honestly , even to this day , if there's a publication I haven't been featured in , I feel insecure that I haven't been featured in that publication . I've been fortunate enough to have been in a lot of publications . But I want to go ahead and say publications does not bring you business . I'm just going to flat out say it . I have been featured in some of the top national publications . I have not got a single client from these publications .

Speaker 2 20:22

All it does is add a page to my website to be completely transparent what happens with these public . You feel as if the planners who have been featured in publish are better than you Because these publications are national , they're big time . You think , oh my gosh , I clearly I suck , I've never had a big time feature and that's just not the case . And I have even found we briefly mentioned this during one of our calls that we had with our members today is sometimes these big time wedding planners who've had all these public ball posts from these national publications or have worked with these top celebrity clients , sometimes their skills as a wedding planner just isn't there . They may have a whole crew of people handling the logistics and their timelines and things like that . And I've seen it where . I've seen these top planners and I've seen their timelines and I'm like , oh , that's what is this .

Speaker 1 21:22

I agree with you because I have had my hands on some timelines of some well-to-do wedding planners . Sometimes they've handed it to me because they want me to look at it and give them my opinions on it and I'm like who ? This needs a lot of work . Well , you need timeline genius . That's what you need in your life right . And so you're right Not every just because someone's been published doesn't mean that they're doing things really well , it just means they were published .

Speaker 2 21:54

They had a wedding that fit that particular blog style , and that's what that means . That's exactly what that means . So comparing yourself to the planners in your market or area who've been published that , to me that just means nothing . That just gives them extra clout , but that does not make them a better wedding planner than you . It just doesn't .

Speaker 1 22:14

I just think that that's an important message . What you just said , like it doesn't mean that they're better than you . It just means that they got published . The end , that's literally the end of the story . So we need to be nicer to ourselves , and that goes for you too , chrissy . You need to be nicer to yourself because you've got this one that you're like . But I need it , I need to get in . No , you don't . You actually don't need it .

Speaker 1 22:38

So we need to make sure that what we're clearer on of what we actually need . What we need is to be kind to ourselves , to give ourselves grace and to show up the very best possible way for our couples . Our couples are the ones who need the very best versions of us , not that magazine , not that really popular blog . They don't need the best versions of us . Our clients do . They're the paying customer . They deserve the best version , and so we've got to make sure that we're showing up great for them . If our clients are happy , we need to find happiness within ourselves and within our hearts . If our clients are not happy , we need to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to improve our services and to become the very best version of ourselves and the wedding planner that we can be . That needs to be step one .

Speaker 1 23:28

So these publications can really give a false sense of success as far as I'm concerned . But it's also lovely and I don't think it should be something that people should shy away from it , like if you got published in something , go ahead , try to utilize it , find ways to try to bring in business because of it . But no one's going to see that by accident , client-wise , and go oh well , I have to hire that wedding planner . That's such a rare thing Now that kind of ties into big ads in magazines .

Speaker 1 23:58

Chrissy , I know that a lot of times wedding planners are seeing these huge let's just call them features . I'm going to put quotes , though , around that features , because they're not really features that were like I've got to feature this wedding planner because they're absolutely amazing . Usually these features are hey , if you're willing to pay X thousands of dollars , we will feature you in this magazine . So what I'm finding is wedding planners are comparing themselves to these features in magazines . How can you speak to the detriment that that can actually do to someone's mental health ? You're comparing yourself to what's essentially a paid advertisement .

Speaker 2 24:39

Don't do that . Don't do that . That's what you're comparing yourself to and we don't know if that is bringing any return back to that potential planner . It may not be . We don't know that . So if you're comparing yourself to someone's way of their doing business , what's hard about publications like that , where it looks like it's a feature but it's actually paid , is it ? I feel like it's very dishonest . I agree . I feel like it gives this illusion that this wedding was featured because of this amazing vendor team , because how gorgeous it was , when , in fact , someone actually paid for that wedding to be featured in this magazine .

Speaker 2 25:20

That gives me a feeling but because not everyone knows that they were paid for that . So you're comparing yourself , like I said , to a paid ad , not to someone whose work was featured because of the actual wedding itself . So be careful with what you're looking at and who you're comparing yourself to .

Speaker 1 25:40

I think that that's really great advice , and I think that there's only one person that we should compare ourselves to , and that's the previous version of ourselves . So , every single year , compare yourself to the version that you were before last year , and I think every new year like we've got a new year coming up here in a few months when it comes time to January , I want you to look back at the previous year's version of who you were . Are you now today a better planner than you were at the start of the last year ? Are you a better version of yourself than you were at the beginning of last year ? If the answer is no , that's who you should really be comparing yourself to , and you need to start Now . You know what to do Now . You know what to work on . If the answer is yes , I want you to just take a minute and pat yourself on the back , give yourself a congratulatory . Well done me . I'm so glad that I am evolving in this industry .

Speaker 1 26:43

Rather than getting torn up and cut to shreds in this industry because it is a tough one it's a tough industry to be in we need to make sure that we are telling ourselves good things and being proud of ourselves for the accomplishments , whether they are small or enormous , it doesn't matter their accomplishments . Every time that we accomplish something , please give yourself credit for it , and sometimes we get help from other people . Give them some of the credit as well . It is so important to spread the credit around because that's when you are going to be able to experience the full joy of being your authentic self , because now other people are going to feel invested in your success as well . But if you are hogging all of the success to yourself and not spreading the credit , then you are going to be in a very lonely place , and that's the only time you should feel disappointed . But if you are proud of who you are proud of the accomplishments , and you are spreading the credit around because we all know we couldn't have gotten anywhere without help from others , then , gosh , it doesn't matter what any , but your competitors are doing . You know so .

Speaker 1 27:56

When we're comparing ourselves to other people's perceived success whether it's on social media , website networking , events , publications , ads and features in those magazines when you are comparing yourself to that perceived success , you're not actually working in your best interest anymore , and so you need to make sure that you are showing up correctly for yourself and because you're never going to succeed if you are trying to be just like someone else . If you're literally copying every single step of someone else's journey . You are not on your own path , you're not experiencing the beauty and the authenticity and the genuineness of your own journey . You are missing out . You're never going to find the success that you're really wanting , that you know that success I'm talking about that's sustainable and it's going to be there for the long haul . You're never going to find that when you're literally copying someone else's journey , because everybody's going to see right through it .

Speaker 2 28:56

When someone was literally copying pacing , I'd make a post and an hour later their post would be similar , which is a few words different . And it got so noticeable that other wedding pros were like oh , here she goes again . I'm like that's , you don't want to show up that way at all .

Speaker 1 29:12

It makes you look bad . That's what makes you look bad , and I have . I believe in these competitors . I believe we can all be in competition with one another and I think we can all do something great for our industry , but only if we show up authentically . Wedding planners don't need to copy each other . I think what we need to do is we have to realize one thing we can't really have too many different wedding packages Like wedding planners . What do we do ? We all plan weddings , so wedding planners packages have a lot of similar components to it , so that's not the way that we can show up in the most unique way . But you know how we can . In our voice and our approach , we can show up authentically with our attitude , our personality , our communication style . There's so many ways that we can show up authentically , but you're not going to be able to do that if you don't have any idea who you are in the first place .

Speaker 2 30:07

And I want to say too , when it comes to comparison , especially among other wedding planners , you cannot compare your chapter one to someone else's chapter 10 . That's a really good point . They were right there with you at some point . So when you're looking at these planners who maybe have 10 plus years of experience , and you're like I want to be there , why does my website look like that ? Remember , they were you at some point and we talked about this during one of our coaching calls . We had one of our CVPs call herself the infant in the wedding industry and she's like I'm new to this and I'm like this is exciting . This is exciting that you can do this . Do not let being new be something that stops you from being a success . I agree , I stopped you at all .

Speaker 1 30:47

So I mean , do you recommend that if you are in chapter one , that you only look at other wedding planners in chapter one ?

Speaker 2 30:55

If that is mentally , if looking at chapter 10 , wedding planners is mentally messing with you , then yes , Okay .

Speaker 1 31:02

So if you're looking at wedding planners on chapter 10 and you're at chapter one , then use chapter 10 planners as inspiration , but not as oh , I can't believe , I'm not there yet . Even if you're in chapter nine and you're looking at a wedding planner in chapter 10 , you got to stop being so hard on yourself . They have a whole year or so ahead of you . I learned so much . There's so much we can learn in one year's time . Make sure that you are getting inspired rather than getting defeated . There's a big difference there . So we it all has to do with how our brain is wired . Are we allowing the information that we're seeing to affect us negatively or are we allowing this , the stuff that we're seeing , to affect us in a positive way ? We need to make sure that we are only going towards the positive , being inspired , rather than being hard on ourselves because we're not . We don't look like them , we don't sound like them , we don't have , we're not putting out that kind of social media content . Stop hating on yourself . We always say ignore the haters . If you were one of the haters because you're hating on yourself , can I just plead with you and ask you to stop Like . Stop it . You are worthy , you are brilliant , you are you and there's only one version of you on this planet and I want you to celebrate that day in and day out and find a way to bring that into your business every single day . And don't feel defeated . Just get inspired .

Speaker 1 32:35

And if you don't know how to get inspired , maybe you need to talk to one of your mentors , maybe you need to schedule a call with someone who can maybe help you get into the right mindset . But this comparison game and social media in general , to be quite honest , has taken a very negative toll on people's mental health . Turn off your notifications . Also , try not to look at all your social media after hours . Make sure that you are just spending some time with yourself , with your family , your friends , after work . You've got to know how to turn it off , because if you are consumed with the comparison game from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep , what else do you expect other than something negative to come in ? So we need to just rid yourself of the toxicity . After a certain period of time in the day , you've got to get rid of it Any final thoughts .

Speaker 2 33:30

Chrissy , I love that I'm going to take some of this advice myself . There are some things that I know I need to work on and I hope this truly does help anyone else who maybe in stuck in that comparison game get off of it . Let's get off of this comparison roller coaster and start creating your own path and your own journey .

Speaker 1 33:52

That's right . It's making me nauseous , so we've got to get off the off-question . All right , for everyone who's listening . Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Wedding Planner podcast , and if you're not yet a member of the Certified Wedding Planner Society and you are a wedding planner who's looking for an amazing family that's going to support you and love you and build you up , feel free to check us out . Go to our website , certifiedweddingplanerssocietycom , and we would love to welcome you into this special family . It's unlike anything else that you will ever experience .