I thought I wasn’t afraid to be an open book. I thought I was being authentically me all day errday.
Nope.
I realized over the course of Ninong’s moving to a new space that there were so many things that I didn’t share that would have been great content because of fear. Fear of admitting that I felt like I was failing, fear of showing my mistakes, fear of sharing the unexpected. 100% fear, actually make that 99% fear and 1% me having no time to share it because I couldn’t move fast enough to get things done.
Looking back it made me think and meditate over it for a while. Why didn’t I share?
In hindsight, now that things are starting to settle down I should have. Actually I probably will in the future. But my point is it made me realize that I don’t share the difficult parts of my life. I mean, yes, there are definitely things that I want to keep private. But the tough stuff. The trenches, the downs, that’s where the “meat and potatoes” is of entrepreneurship.
Being authentic and transparent on the internet is hard. It’s so easy to share things when it’s glamorous, fun, and exciting things are happening. It’s way harder to share when it’s tough. But those tough moments are when it’s more humbling, valuable, and inspiring. When I watch or read about other people’s journeys those hard, vulnerable, authentic, and transparent moments are when they draw me in. They got me hooked cuz I saw some real emotion. But most of all, that’s when I saw the most growth in them.
I want to remember the moments where I pivot, grow, and change.
I don’t want to forget the times that I became better. Those moments where I’m in this dirty, muddy valley where there’s nothing but hardship in sight. Those moments when I think I’m done, it’s all over because this is the end and there’s nothing I can do to make it better. In those moments I forget that it’ll always work out in the end, but it always does. Yes, it might not work out the way I want it to. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, it’s easier to give up. But it’s never over.
So cheers to the hard stuff! The difficult stuff, the valleys, the moments when you think you’re done. Let’s talk about it more, let’s not let fear get in the way of being who we are and what we’re meant to become.
xoxo,
