Building the plane as we're flying it

Celebrating a year of this newsletter!

This week, I told my husband, “Not only am I building the plane as I’m flying it, I’m also machining the pieces, and mining the ore…”

As an accidental business owner, I can’t think of a more apt way to describe how it feels, this whole building a business thing.

I didn’t expect to ever be building a business around journaling. Sure, I had journaled since I was an angsty teenager, but there was no way to build a business of out it. Or so I thought.

In October 2021, I participated in Brand30, a 30-day LinkedIn personal brand building and content creation program.

The first thing I learned is that to create a personal brand, I had to come up with something to write about, something for people to associate me with. It could be two things, three at the most. And I didn’t know what to write about.

“Well,” I thought. “I can probably talk about journaling for three or four days. Maybe a week if I stretch it. And that’ll buy me some time to figure out what I really want to talk about.”

Little did I realize that nearly a year and a half later, I’d STILL be talking about it. And that I’d have taught hundreds of people in live workshops how to improve their journaling. And that I’d have created a vibrant group program, where we use journaling to learn and grow and truly live lives we don’t want a vacation from.

Have I done everything perfectly? Ha! I wish!

I missed some important lessons along the way that I’m circling back around to learning now. And I have a long way to go before I consider myself a truly successful and confident business owner.

But today I’m celebrating a big accomplishment:

This is newsletter issue #53. I’ve now sent this newsletter out every week for more than a year. That’s 53 articles about journaling, more than 50 fun journaling ideas, and hundreds of journaling prompts.

I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. I didn’t know if anyone would actually read it. Or if I could be consistent. Or if I would even enjoy creating this newsletter each week.

I’m delighted to say I have learned some things, that many, many of you are reading this each week, that I can be consistent, and that writing this newsletter is a highlight of my week.

So here’s to you, my friends. Thanks for being here each week and reading.

Here’s to me, for showing up for myself and for all of you in this way.

And here’s to us, making our lives better as we embrace journaling!

What’s next for me? So glad you asked! Tune in on Tuesday at 8pm Eastern for Good Things Come to Those Who Journal: The Livestream Show. It’ll be streaming live on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook (per my mama’s request!).

I invite you to join me as I talk all things journaling - including a journaling review and maybe even reading snippets from my own journals! Be sure to drop comments to let me know you’re watching! See you there!

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Use these prompts as written or as inspiration to uncover what you need in your life this week. And know that I’m always here to support you and answer questions you have along the way!

• Write about a time you did something before you felt truly ready.

• What did you learn?

• What helps you to get ready for something when you don’t feel ready?

• How can you celebrate your bravery?

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One Journaling Idea I Love:

The Do-Not-Do List

We’ve all heard of the to-do list. The do-not-do list is exactly what you’d think it is: a list of things to not do!

My do-not-do list includes:

• Do not worry about the opinions of people whose opinions don’t matter.

• Do not do things for my kids that they can do for themselves. (They’re big now, so this covers a lot of things!)

• Do not expect others to read my mind.

• Do not assume others will do things exactly how I do them!

Imagine how smooth life can be if we can check off everything on our do-not-do list!

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If You Like This Newsletter…

If this newsletter has been valuable to you over the last year, will you please send me a reply? I’d love to know what you’ve loved, what you want to see more of, what could make this newsletter a more enjoyable reading experience for you.

Because if the last 53 weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I’ll be here for another 53 more - at least!

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Happy Journaling!