Doing something new / different can be scary. Do it anyway.

As far as I’m concerned we don’t talk enough about the uncomfortable side of business: the DOING of things that can often be daunting and scary. Certain things we can do in our sleep, but other things—like creating a new offer or pivoting in a new direction—can be a whole other beast. Some of the fear is real, while some is also imagined. A projection into the future of what it might be like.

From the outside it looks easy

I have never given birth, but stick with me for the sake of an analogy. As people on the outside we may hear one or two snippets of the challenges of the labor, but soon after the focus turns to the new arrival. Those of us birthing projects are ready to move onto the next phase, after the agony of putting our endeavor out into the world. We’re not necessarily trying to hide anything, but we’re also ready to move on to the next phase.

In the process of birthing a project there’s a lot going on: unexpected hurdles—related or unrelated to the project at hand—new challenges we didn’t foresee, and the invisible rollercoaster of emotions that goes with it. You can read every book on the subject, listen to all the podcasts, and seek out advice, but until you experience it for yourself you can’t really know how it’s all going to pan out. What you can do is stay the course.

What is success really?

We easily can assume everyone who has achieved “success” has it all figured out. The one thing I’ve figured out is that everyone is figuring it out as they go. Sure we bring experience and expertise, but there’s also a solid dose of trust and faith going along with it. Going for it, not sitting back and waiting for the perfect time or the perfect moment. (There will always be something that we can turn into an excuse.)

People rarely believe me when I tell them how terrifying it was for me to launch Mapping Your Path—my 3-month workshop + community series—because they see the seemingly outward success of it. I like to keep it real and break it down so we can move past making assumptions about others. (It’s also why I LOVE talking to people one-on-one about business experiences. It’s the fuller picture from what we see online.)

I will back up and say that Mapping Your Path was the “easiest” and most natural endeavor I’ve ever put together. That being said it was a culmination of experience (y’all, you have to start somewhere so do that thing NOW that will help future you). My Skillshare Map Making class launched over 7 years ago, I gained online experience teaching design courses for OpenClassrooms, and I started hosting workshops during lockdown (who said a pandemic could keep me from my 2020 goal of hosting more workshops!?!).

Part of the secret of its success that it was fully me, and my imagination at play—pulling together so many of my favorite elements from past experiences to dream up something new that felt true to me. And most importantly FUN—for everyone involved.

Build your muscles

I started to grow my muscles over time before doing the big thing (which honestly I had never considered a larger offer as it was overwhelming and intimidating for me). One of the biggest turning points was when I hosted my first CreativeMornings FieldTrip. Tina Roth Eisenberg (aka @swissmiss) had reached out to me to run a “field trip” and granted me permission to have fun with it.

Rather than reinventing the wheel I decided to draw inspiration from my Skillshare class. (Pro-tip of life: steal from yourself often!). This class taught me that people are crazy passionate about maps, and a community developed around that course that I absolutely loved and was never able to re-create (until Mapping Your Path). I also decided to take a queue from one of the students who mapped his commute on a banana (shout out Phil Francis!) and take that into my FieldTrip.

The real boost that first workshop was that much to my surprise and delight the entire CreativeMornings team (who I look up to greatly) came to the FieldTrip and mapped their Covid commute on bananas with the hundreds of others around the world. They not only mapped, but they LOVED it. Here I was just doing something fun, and silly, but I came to realize when you show up as yourself and stop trying to do things like everyone else, or how you may have been told/taught to do things some magical things can happen. (Spoiler alert: sometimes when you’re not trying too hard and you allow yourself to experiment and have some fun, you don’t know what you may unlock.)

Follow the itch.

It was still a solid 6-months before Mapping Your Path even became a seed of an idea. But at some point I started to get an “itch” to take my Write Your Own Rules Workshop (my 2-hour workshop where you write your own guiding principles for work and life) to something that was a longer format and ongoing.

I’d received a 1:1 session with my coach (shout out Tiffany Han!) from referring a friend to her program. I talked my itch through with her, and she helped me pull out what I was actually trying to do. Within 2-weeks I had an offer put together (sales pages are an art and a beast, and I’m so incredibly grateful for her by my side, along with feedback through this process).

Don’t over-think it.

By October 1 the offer was online, and by October 16th the 3-month workshop was kicking off with an amazing group of humans around the world who were willing to try something new. I remember that date because I knew I wanted to kick off on what would have been my mom’s birthday as a way to honor her.

While I don’t necessarily recommend pulling something together so quickly, I’ve always been a fan of “creative constraints” and the time limitation was what I needed to make things happen and get it done, and live. (It also helped to have someone to stay accountable to, and who had more faith in me than I had in myself at the time.)

Sometimes you really don’t know what will happen unless you try. You don’t have to lose endless hours in the process.

Surprise yourself.

The best part was how much I surprised myself throughout the entire process. As I started writing this blog post it was tempting to say that it was the promotion and spreading the word about my new offer that was terrifying and scary—the whole having to put myself out there. (That whole “if you build it they will come” idea is BS—you have to own what you do, share it widely, and ask people to share it to help get the word out. Translation: get out of your comfort zone).

The more I reflect on it—as I prepare to launch my 3rd round, the MYP Accountability Booster Group—the more I realized there were so many scary things along the way. I’d just managed to block them from my memory (kind of like the pain of giving birth.)

Everything from figuring out pricing (and actually valuing myself rather than falling into my old limiting beliefs around money mindset), to drafting copy that would explain this thing that didn’t exist (and I didn’t know if it’d work), to not feeling guilty about sending an extra email to my newsletter mailing list (I share FREE content every week, but whew, this hurdle was real). Each step had elements that were daunting and scary, but at some point I just had to DO. I was committed.

Get comfortable with discomfort.

This is all to say that we don’t talk enough about the discomfort of growing, doing, and trying new things. This is your friendly reminder we all feel it in a major way. It’s so real, even if you don’t see or hear people talking about it. I have a post-it on my desk inspired by my friend Anna Kop who has the same one that says, “Uncomfortable = I’m growing.”

I’ve come to realize that even if it is scary at times, it’s also a sign you’re on the right track. You’re pushing yourself. You’re growing. You’re doing the thing (and won’t have regrets—you know you tried). Anything we do for the first time is always going to be harder, but that’s why the more we do anything and practice, we get better.

Hard work. Not to be confused with hustle or burnout.

Pushing yourself doesn’t have to mean hustle, working crazy hours, mastering the new platform, or anything and everything in between. Pushing yourself may just mean getting a bit more comfortable outside of your zone of comfort—that warm fuzzy place that makes you feel safe, but also sometimes stuck because it’s scary to go beyond it.

So many of the things I’ve gone onto do are less scary and overwhelming than I once feared. It’s my avoidance that’s been the biggest hurdle and force of resistance. That’s why a little kick in the butt and outside pressure (and telling the world I’m working on something) helped move me in the right direction.

I actually work less and earn more now. My stress is down, and my job satisfaction is way up. I’ve been redefining what work looks like in the process, and I have to say that’s quite fun. The best part is that I get to help support others in the process and help transform the way they look at the world too (and help take the pressure off and feel more human).

Final reminders.

May this also be your friendly reminder that small steps all add up. We forget to get granular and break down the smaller pieces. When we pause to rewind and zoom out, we can better see all the steps we’ve take to get where we are today. That in and of itself is an accomplishment.

There is ALWAYS more than meets the eye. Work of all varieties goes into it. Some is literal work, other is working through the mental blocks, limiting beliefs, and pushing through fears (all those things we never learned about and rarely talk about that can get in our way more than we realize).

We can think about things forever, or you can DO. I recommend the later. You don’t have to get it perfect the first time. I’m a big fan of trusting your gut and trying it out, without stressing over if it’s perfect. Honestly, it’s the imperfections that can make us more human.

You also don’t have to have it all planned out every step of the way. New clarity and ideas will come as you make progress. (It’s actually quite liberating to see what comes up.) I came up with the idea for this blog post this morning in the shower. I made the choice to make it happen.

In the design world we call it “bias to action.” What are you taking action on these days?!?


Join me for my new 3-month Mapping Your Path Accountability Booster Group. Doors officially open May 3rd, and our workshop-style kick off call is May 6th (it will be recorded for those who can’t join live).

Be part of an incredible community of wonderful humans around the world working to bring their ideas—of all shapes and sizes—to life, while supporting and cheering each other on. Sign up today before doors officially close until next year!