Day 25: Who I Want To Become

I read a blog post that I get by email newsletter, quickly, in my inbox this morning, but the words stuck with me all day:

"You may think you need to get all your ducks in a row—a perfect business vision, business model, business brand, personal brand… all neatly lined up and packaged up, before you start sharing content with anyone else... But your head and heart and all it wants to say are always going to be two steps ahead of the business or brand or dream you’ve already been able to create. So just say it."

We share online not just who we are right now, but in order to become who we want to become. This truth struck me today like a cold wind on the face. Because I fall for that all the time, for that little voice in my head that says, "Well, until it's perfect, you can't share it." So I don't.

I call BS on that.

"Say it if it’s not perfect, write it if it’s not 100% fully-formed, share it if it’s still just sharing the journey along the way."

This week in the It's Business Time program we're outlining our lifestyle goals, and thinking about what we want our ideal days to be like. For me what comes up again and again is the word "Freedom." Yesterday after I got off work, the light was so gorgeous, and the air so brisk and cool. I was glad that I hadn't booked any Skype calls or committed to any work or any meetings in my evening time, because when I got home I was free to go to Florence Beach and walk its length.

I was free to spy on its icebergs, lie on its sand to take a picture of the sun through dried seaweed. I was free to ponder just who I want to become.

Also, just FYI, there are just six days left to contribute to my IndieGogo campaign, and score a sweet perk like a print of "Bloom and The Island Blooms," or working with me as a designer. (After this, I likely won't take new clients on for a few months, as I'll be pretty busy.)

xo! Leah

It's Business Time: Week 1

How was your weekend? I hope it was lovely. Mine was glorious. I think it was so because last week I "weeded" a bit, although not in my garden, which is still under a foot of snow!  

No, "weeding" is the term I've decided to use for what I do when I feel overwhelmed by my to-do list, as I did last week. It's when I go through my planner and take out things that I said "yes" to when I was in a state of exuberance and enthusiasm, believing that time would stretch to accommodate All the Things. This post by Elise Blaha Cripe has been super influential to me in terms of (a) remembering it is totally OK to say No to things and (b) figuring out what I want to say No to and what I want to keep on my plate. It's brilliant, definitely read it if you're struggling too!

Anyway, this weekend past was really lovely, I think, because I allowed myself free time and down time. I slept in, I read a book, I hung out with my buddy (Adam), I took some long walks and poked around in the one bed that is not under snow. And feeling the fresh air, and seeing a bit of growth, felt so amazing! I didn't realize just how long this winter has been until I felt a bit of spring again.

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So the "It's Business Time" program has started! This is the program that I thought I couldn't afford, then crowdfunded based on some encouragement from friends. And, it started last week. I am still pinching myself, as it's hard to believe it's really happening and that I'm really in it!! Thank you, for your support!

I thought I would share a bit with you each week as I go through the program. Here's how it works: on Mondays, the teachers send out a lesson and a worksheet. Then on Friday we meet via UberConference for an hour and talk about the lessons. In between Monday and Friday, and on the weekends, there is a private Facebook group for the participants to chat and share things.

The first week the lesson was about fears. What are the fears we feel that keep us from going after what we want? What do the voices in our heads -- what Michelle calls the Vampire Voices -- say to us that stop us from doing the work?

Last week, I learned that my biggest fear is that starting my own business will overwhelm me, overtake my life, and ruin my relationships. That it will be a whole lot of hard work that will totally swamp me and won't be worth it in the end.

Last week, I learned that I need to let go of the story that I cannot build a business that suits me and my family, and gives us what we need.

And here's what I'm going to do with this learning: I'm going to come up with rebuttals to those fears, to those "Vampire Voices". And I'm going to say to them, "Thanks for trying to protect me from harm, but I'm OK. I've got this. I can trust Michelle and Tiffany to help me figure out how to both build a good business, and still have a happy and balanced life."

Stay tuned! And have a lovely Monday.

xo Leah

the "but I'm only from Cape Breton" excuse

I was listening to a podcast on my walk this evening and the host was answering a question from a listener. The question was about whether or not this lady should blog about money, and she said, "I'm afraid to, because people don't want to hear about money." And the podcast host said, "That's horseshit."

She said it in a nice way, but she said, "If you want to talk about money, don't use the excuse that people don't want to hear about it. You may lose the people that don't want to hear about it, but you will gain two people that DO want to hear about it, for every one that doesn't."

It got me thinking about the excuses we tell ourselves for why we don't do something our heart really wants to do. For me, these days, my heart is telling me, "Start a business, start a business, start a business." And I come up with all KINDS of excuses. I mean, all kinds. There are many excuses available to me in any given moment. "I might fail," "I don't have the skills," et cetera, ad nauseam.

But one excuse I was thinking about on my walk tonight, that I've been giving a lot of power lately, is a surprising one, especially for someone who (you would think) was super-Cape-Breton-positive, given that I wrote a blog called "Dream Big Cape Breton" for nearly three bloody years. And it is, the excuse that "I'm only from an economically-depressed, declining island that no-one cares about, so how could I possibly create and sustain a thriving business both locally and online?"

You see, I've found that since I stopped focusing all my creative energy on the "Dream Big" blog and group on Facebook, and started putting that energy into promoting myself as a designer and writer, that suddenly I'm competing on a much bigger stage: the whole world.

I didn't have any competition in the category of "positive blogs about life on Cape Breton" because there weren't any others. (There are other Cape Breton bloggers, for sure, but none with my specific angle.) So locally I got well-known, and fairly quickly. That was awesome. I was unique, and that uniqueness drew people to me. But now, I feel like in my new category, that of graphic designers/writers, we're a dime a dozen. So what's my angle now? What makes me unique now?

I'm still figuring that out, but it was interesting to shine a light on this whispering gremlin that was saying, "But you're only from Cape Breton, why should people in San Diego or Calgary or Zurich be interested in hiring you?" Hearing this excuse, and choosing not to believe it but just to hear it,  shows me that I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone and into an arena where I want to do better work (so I can compete with all the other fantastic designers), and yet also do work that's unique to me, because that's what my people, my potential dream clients, are going to be attracted to.

And that's damn scary! But also really exciting.

Welcome to the emotional roller coaster of starting a business! Ha..

Also, I think I'll blog a bit more on here. More off-the-cuff thoughts, more often. Because that's what makes me happy, not just restricting myself to once-a-week.

Whee! And have a good weekend.

xo Leah

life lately // mid-march 2015

Well, I've been working on a blog post about my branding process to follow up from last week's post, but it is just not coming together in time for this week! So instead, I thought I would share some lovely photos of "life lately". I always liked writing "Life Lately" posts over at Dream Big Cape Breton (my previous blog) so I think I'll keep them up here too. Plus, I wanted to try out the "gallery" feature for sharing pictures, so this was a good excuse.

Speaking of this blog, should it have a name of its own? Or should I just call it, umm, my blog? That's something I'm thinking about these days.

I hope you're having a great week, getting creative, and getting outside too.

xo Leah