In today’s fast-paced world, knowledge is no longer hidden behind the walls of academia or professional circles. With the advent of the digital age and now AI, information is available at our fingertips. A quick search can pull up countless tutorials, articles, and videos on almost any subject you can imagine. From business development strategies to personal growth, the tools for learning have never been more accessible. This reality will only become more typical and continue to accelerate.
However, there’s a dangerous temptation lurking beneath this wealth of information: that learning alone is enough. The truth is while acquiring knowledge has become easier, turning that knowledge into sustainable growth—whether for an individual or a business—requires much more than just information. It requires mindset, discipline, guidance, and collaboration. It requires help. This is a lesson I learned the hard way through recovery. It’s bigger than that though and was something I knew before. Life and learning always involve other people.
Learning Alone: The Death Wish of Personal Growth
In a world where independent marketing and nonprofits, especially in Missoula, are growing rapidly, how you approach your personal and professional development will make or break your success. The difference between success and failure, whatever those words mean, lies in how we handle what we know and what we have. Whether you’re working on a personal project or running a local business, the right coaching and mindset can be the difference between thriving and just surviving.
For me, the best thing I did was ask for a coach—a former UM marketing professor. He’s been crucial in setting my direction and catching my misconceptions. This experience taught me that learning, while essential, is merely the first step. The application of that learning, guided by someone with more experience, is where real growth happens.
Learning is Easy—But Mastery Takes Time
Let’s start with a simple truth: learning is easy. Mastery takes time. According to the Forgetting Curve, people forget 50% of new information within an hour unless it’s applied – up to 90% in a week.
With AI tools, we can learn anything at lightning speed. Need to know how to build a website? There’s a tutorial for that. There are even AI site generators now. Want to understand social media algorithms or the basics of marketing? An online course is just a click away. But here’s the catch—knowing something in theory and being able to apply it in practice are two very different things. It’s only then that we prove we know this stuff.
Building skills, personality traits, habits, and discipline takes time. Becoming fluent in a craft, whether it’s marketing or business development, requires years of practice, reflection, and growth. It’s not something you can rush or shortcut with AI, programs, and especially fancy marketing. The truth is, no matter how much information is out there, you still need to put in the time to learn, practice, and develop the right mindset. The old wisdom that you can’t offer what you don’t have holds true. And mindset is notoriously hard to change by yourself when you don’t have a working example to mimic.
Mindset: The Foundation of Success
At the heart of every success story is a “winning” mindset. The concepts of winning and failure alone are imposters. You’ve probably heard of the term “growth mindset” before, and for good reason. Focusing on improving from where you are now, with mindful acceptance, is key. Your mindset determines how you handle challenges, overcome failures, and build resilience. It shapes the narrative you believe in your head and the story you tell others. Real education is changing how we think and operate.
When it comes to running a nonprofit or an independent marketing firm in a place like Missoula, hurdles are inevitable. If you’re trying to start something new, like a business, you will have to tackle basic business and marketing principles. There will be seasons of success and mistakes will be made; life happens. Whether it’s balancing budgets, expanding your reach, or creating a cohesive brand, the challenges are real. Without the right mindset, these obstacles can feel insurmountable.
Challenges as Opportunities
A growth mindset allows you to see challenges as opportunities and mistakes as lessons. It helps you stay resilient in the face of setbacks and remain curious in the pursuit of growth. It’s about believing that with effort, time, and the right strategy, you can improve and succeed. Contrast this with a fixed mindset, which tends to focus on limitations, fearing failure, and avoiding challenges. Research shows that a growth mindset leads to 34% higher performance, according to a study by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck. What could you and I do with 34% more performance? What could that mean for our daily lives?
If you’re trying to grow your business or scale a local nonprofit, mindset matters. It’s the foundation upon which everything else is built—your strategies, your marketing, and your personal development. Just to reinforce my earlier point, it works a lot better when you’re doing it with someone else instead of trying to go it alone. It doesn’t need to be a coach necessarily; the idea is to look for people who already know and do what you want or have something down they can help you with, and learn everything you can from them.
The Role of Coaching: Seeking Committed Help
Here’s where most people get stuck: they think that because information is so accessible, they can do everything on their own and that people will just want their product. It’s a tempting idea, especially for those with a DIY spirit like myself. But trying to develop your business or personal growth in isolation is not only inefficient; it’s also egotistical and often detrimental. People want to see reliability and authenticity in a world full of inauthentic offers and quick deals.
There’s a reason the most successful people in the world—whether in business, sports, or any field—all have coaches. Coaching is not just for beginners; it’s for anyone looking to continue growing and evolving. A student learns. A leader applies. And for businesses and organizations, the right guidance can prevent you from making the mistakes others have already learned from, as well as from your own blind spots.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
When you try to do everything yourself, you miss out on valuable insights and feedback. I’m the master of overthinking, which is part of how I am and why I love ideas and learning. However, after three years of sobriety, I can attest to how far learning can get you in life before your persona gets in the way. It’s easy to fall into the same traps and make the same mistakes repeatedly. A coach—someone who has been through the journey, knows the pitfalls, has seen others do it, and understands the nuances—can help you avoid these common errors. They hold you accountable and provide clarity, structure, and direction.
More importantly, a coach helps you navigate your blind spots. It’s easy to convince yourself that you’ve got everything under control, but growth requires a different perspective than the ones we get stuck in. A coach will push you to think differently, see your weaknesses, and build on your strengths. A great coach will know you better than you know yourself. For business owners and nonprofits in Missoula or anywhere else, this can mean the difference between scaling successfully and plateauing early. In a college town, there are ample opportunities, classes, and leaders who would offer guidance. In your circle, you may find someone. If not there, look online—people do that now. It just takes asking until you find someone.
Local Insights: The Missoula Factor
Missoula is a unique and vibrant community with a thriving ecosystem of local businesses, nonprofits, and creative professionals. The University of Montana significantly impacts the culture and provides several opportunities. As an independent contractor or small business owner here, you’re not just operating in a bubble—you’re part of a community. This is why coaching and mentorship become even more essential. Small businesses with mentors grow 2.5 times faster and are more likely to survive than those without (Small Business Trends).
Local insights matter. Networking and local relationships hold more weight than easily severed digital ones. Whether you’re running a nonprofit that serves the Missoula community or you’re a small business trying to expand your brand, you need to understand the local culture, demographics, and business landscape—and this still applies to your online target audience. A coach who knows the ins and outs of what you need help with, who understands the challenges faced by small businesses, can help you tailor your approach to resonate more effectively with your audience.
The Value of Community Support
Stigma Marketing & Development believes that relationships matter, especially in our current world. Our coaching isn’t just about broad, generic advice; it’s about understanding the unique nuances of the Missoula market and helping you apply the right strategies for growth in your context. My bag of tools includes decades of pastoral leadership, management, communication, recovery, development, mental health, graduate business school, and marketing. From where I’m sitting, that list is all the same to me now—I needed all of it to get here personally but also didn’t know what to do with it all when Stigma Marketing started back up.
In today’s world, there are a plethora of options no matter where you are. The difference between where I could have been and where I am now was determined by the guidance and support of others, especially my coach. Having that community and support network has made all the difference, allowing me to grow in ways I never thought possible.
Habit and Discipline: The Building Blocks of Success
While mindset and coaching are essential, habit and discipline are what turn your goals into reality. Too many people underestimate the importance of daily, consistent effort. In a world where AI and automation are making things faster and more convenient, it’s easy to think that shortcuts exist for everything. But the truth is, there are no shortcuts to mastery.
Success in marketing, business development, or even personal growth is built on small, consistent actions repeated over time. It’s about showing up every day, doing the work, and pushing through the inevitable obstacles. A coach helps keep you on track, but it’s your discipline that ensures you don’t give up when things get tough.
This is especially important in a rapidly changing landscape. Marketing trends evolve, and consumer behavior shifts constantly. AI tools can help automate tasks, but they can’t replace the human effort required to stay disciplined, focused, and committed to growth.
Becoming Fluent in Your Craft
One of the most overlooked aspects of personal and professional growth is the idea of becoming fluent in your craft. Whether it’s marketing, running a nonprofit, or building an independent business, you need to develop a level of fluency that goes beyond surface-level knowledge.
Fluency comes from experience, practice, and continuous learning. It means diving deep into your field, understanding its intricacies, and being able to apply your knowledge effectively. This is where the combination of mindset, coaching, and discipline comes into play. Together, they create a powerful synergy that propels you toward mastery.
The Journey of Growth
While the digital age has made learning easier than ever, it has also created the illusion that we can master anything on our own. The truth is, that personal and professional growth is a complex journey that requires more than just information; it requires mindset, discipline, and support. By embracing the power of coaching and committing to your growth, you set yourself on a path toward success.
Whether you’re a small business owner in Missoula, a nonprofit leader, or someone seeking personal development, remember this: you don’t have to do it alone. Seek out the support you need, cultivate a growth mindset, and be willing to put in the work. Our journey never ends and growth is always an option. Hinder ourselves from thinking any other way.
If you’re interested in teaming up with Stigma Marketing & Development, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at paule@stigmamarketing.com or use Stigma Marketing & Development’s Contact Form.