I don't know.

Important thing: "Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing." — Denis Waitley

If you want to start bringing the ideas in your head out into the world, sign up to this list. I'm building a thing that will help both you and me build more things.

Hiya!

Sheesh, I was nearly cancelled after last week's email.

People were pissed after I claimed the words chip and leap rhymed in my breakdown of the Apple headline, "Small chip. Giant leap."

I apologize for any damage I have caused.

Buuuut...as Helen Bates so rightly pointed out in the LinkedIn banter, they do half-rhyme.

This week, I'm writing about creative growth.

Whether you want to start creating your own brand, content, book, film, petting zoo, or build your creative craft, the only way to get there is by endlessly confronting these 3 words—

I don't know.

I used to tell myself I was too "too busy" to create anything outside of work.

And that, "all of my creative energy was going into my work".

Now that I'm finally creating for myself, I see those were just excuses.

Excuses I used to protect my brain from the discomfort of dealing with "I don't know"

It was only fairly recently that I became hyper-aware of where things were going sideways.

Catching my brain in the act.

When I created my online course—

I didn't know what hosting platform to use
I didn't know how long to make the course or each video
I didn't know how to start a course or end a course or do the middle bit
I didn't know anything about lighting, microphones or cameras
I didn't know how to speak on camera
I didn't know what recording software to use
I didn't know how to edit the videos
I didn't know how to do sound design
I didn't know how to price a course or market a course
I didn't know anything about conversion copy (h/t to Eddie Shleyner)
I didn't know how to set up the financial back-end, or what currency to bill
I didn't know how to collect testimonials

At each one, my overreacting under-evolved amygdala screamed, "Run! You're gonna die!"

But I had already presold the course to 300+ people.

So, I didn't run.

And I didn't die.

And it became clear to me that—

If you want to create more for yourself, pay attention to precisely when your excuses come up.

Pinpoint the exact moment you want to give up on a project. Catch your brain in the act. Don't run.

This was is that moment for me—
𝘐'𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩os𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 then 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

And do not run. Because once you start pushing through the "I don't knows", you start seeing this bad feeling as a good one.

And instead of thinking, "I'm too busy", you start thinking, "Woohoo! Another opportunity to realize some of my hidden potential and joy!"

Final thought.

I'm reminded of something I heard in a podcast a few weeks ago.

I was listening to parenting expert, Dr. Becky, talk about how she helps her kids overcome their "I don't knows" and not letting them quit.

She would say to her kids, "...the feeling you get when you think you can't do something, and then you continue, and you watch yourself do it is kind of the best feeling in the world. And I don't want to take that feeling away from you. And it is the best feeling. It is the best feeling."

Make sure you're not robbing yourself of that feeling either.

Like this email? It liked you too.

a) Please take 12 seconds to leave a 👍 or ❤️ or 💬 on LinkedIn.

b) Or to build your headline-writing chops, put your Learning and Development budget toward my course, Writing Under Pressure (If you're a freelancer, email me for a freelancier rate).

c) If you're leading a creative team, let's plan a talk with the team and/or group access to the course.

d) If you want to create more for yourself, add your name to this growing waitlist.