Many people stop the moment they’re about to learn something new.
For instance, let’s say you took on a 90-day challenge and you’re pumped up, ready to go. Day one happens. You achieve the goal. You’re like, “Yeah, I can do this.”
Then the following day goes okay. You’re like, “Ah, you know, this is going well.”
But by day eight—let’s say by day eight—you’re like, “Oh, I just cannot keep up with this.”
Well, I mean, it’s a challenge for a reason.
When Challenges Actually Challenge You
Challenges are not meant to be completed. If you complete it, great. But where is the actual challenge in this? Are you learning something? Are you pushing yourself in a way where you’re not forcing yourself, but you are finding new angles to go about something you haven’t done before?
A lot of what I see out there when it comes to “complete this thing in 21 days” or “complete this thing in 90 days” or “there’s a challenge for you”—I think what’s really missing, which barely anyone has said, except for one course I’m taking at the moment, is they actually say: “Take your time with us. The course is here and by all means, you get to do it step by step by the time.”
What Most People Are Too Afraid to Say
What a lot of other social media gurus miss here is they’re too afraid to say that to people who are willing to, or wanting to, take this challenge. They don’t put this buffer that says, “Hey, you’ve got to take this step at a time, or else…” You know, then you put some liability—not liability, but you put like a “what happens if” scenario.
And of course, when you put something like that, you are putting yourself at risk of people not buying from you.
But what would you rather have? Would you want to have something where people aren’t buying from you and you’re wondering why? Here you are sitting there thinking, “Oh, why hasn’t someone gone through… like, two people out of the 15 people that bought have gone through the fucking course while the rest of them have given up on the second day.”
And here I am, just like, where have you said in your 90-day course that you’re putting out? Where did you say, “Take your fucking time with this”? It is not one size fits all. Maybe 1% of people out there are going to complete your entire thing in 90 days.
Understanding Your Capacity
This all goes back to really understanding your capacity and what you are capable of.
Like, for instance, I’m about to document my calligraphy journey. That’s going to be a mechanism to—and I’m going to admit this—it’s going to be one of my income resources because I will be selling prints and all of that.
The thing is, with this journey I’m on at the moment, I don’t know how it’s going to play out.
The Rare Documentation of Messy Reality
A lot of people out there who are actually really great calligraphers show the end product. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Showing your end product, showing your expertise in lettering or calligraphy—that’s good. That’s amazing.
But how rare is it for someone like me—who’s going recovering from chronic stress, vertigo, and burnout at the moment, and suppressed emotions that are actually coming out the most (I’m processing a lot at the moment)—how often do you find someone that will document their process every step of the way, no matter how messy the journey is?
I find that to bear a lot more fruit than having to say, “Hey, I have made it and I’m now selling you this thing.” Again, which is not a bad thing.
Working With What You Have Right Now
If I was actually okay—if I was okay and had the energy to put out website courses (because that is what I went to school for, it’s my trade, my profession)—I would actually… because you could say that I’ve made it in my profession. It is my expertise.
I know website design, I know SEO, I know the layouts of website design. If I were to put a course out, that’s kind of working backwards. I know my shit in this. How am I going to teach this?
Yet for someone that is going through something like this where, yeah, I have to make income but I can’t be designing websites right now because it gets too overwhelming for me…
The Intimidation Factor
So I’m just wondering, it can be so intimidating. Like, for instance, I was looking up a lettering beginner’s course. And there was that old part of me that’s like, “Oh, I don’t know if I could do this or not.” It’s so overwhelming. The content was so overwhelming—yet it was a lot. I know there’s packed information. It’s not the person’s fault by any means.
It’s just there’s so much out there that can intimidate. It can leave a person overwhelmed.
Learning as I Go Along
So I literally go back to the journey of things. I’m like, “You know, I’m freaking learning this as I go along.” Sure, I need to still work on my foundations. And why not freaking just document this freaking process?
Like, with the whole nervous system thing—diving into my internal world as I put it—I’m documenting that process as well. Is it as fast as I want it to be? No, not at all.
But I think what a lot of people miss out on is just documenting your whole frigging process.
Beyond the “What Pen Do You Use” Content
Your journey in this thing. Not telling people, “Oh, this is what pen I use to…” That’s probably for some artist that’s looking to do calligraphy work like I am. But I think it’s more about: what can I use this mechanism—which is for me calligraphy—how can I use this calligraphy medium mechanism and start telling my story as to how I’m earning an income?
How am I earning an income and how am I getting—not getting over my vestibular issues because I’ve never had this before. It’s like the first time this year I’m dealing with this because there’s so much that is coming out right now. How am I using this vehicle of calligraphy to tell a story?
The Open Market Analogy
Kind of like in this open market—if you’re a painter or an artist, you go about painting your thing, okay? And people are walking by you. You’re still painting and they see, they come up to you, they see the pieces you’ve created before, yet you’re still working on your brush strokes and all that.
I find that to be so powerful—like powerful storytelling in a way. You get to interact with people and all of that.
Bottom Line
What I’m trying to get at here is: It’s going to take time. It’s going to take you—like, for me, just show up. Just show up to myself in this way, but to really tell my story. Start telling my story as to how I’m going through this because I know that there’s someone out there that may need permission.
And luckily, because I’ve already gone through so many iterations of what permissioning is, I’m really comfortable at telling my story to the world. I’m comfortable at posting, I’m comfortable at just sharing where I’m at in this whole journey as I’m moving along.
The Hypothesis
So the whole hypothesis I’m on is showing the possibilities and opportunities—what can you work with right now? What you have here in your space and your environment? Start building those blocks to maybe where you want to be, where you feel that you’ve grown enough capacity to be with the bigger stuff.
Like in this instance, I’m really curious as to how this all plays out. Not putting any attachment onto the conclusion of this, yet seeing what two years down the line is like for me.
