The Vulnerability of Not Knowing

ting to start a podcast since: 2017

For those of you who are listening, I want to take a moment to remind you to come on over, to beabosscoaching.com and download my free social media guide for introvert entrepreneurs. I designed that guide because I am a self-proclaimed introvert and it was very difficult for me to talk about my business and what I wanted to do on social media. So if you're having a difficult time with social media and posting about your services and business because you're also an introvert, maybe a little bit on the shy side, this guide will help ease you out of your comfort zone and into taking action.

Okay. In this podcast, I will be talking about what does it mean to be an entrepreneur and embrace that identity?

And can it truly unlock potential in us and unlock the areas of our lives that we really want to explore, which is something that I think has been happening for me in my entrepreneurial journey. And I'm curious how other entrepreneurs have navigated their own journey and come to embrace and cultivate their identity as we continue to redefine what entrepreneurship means. Specially in a world where capitalism and patriarchal racist systems exist. And can we be entrepreneurs and business owners who are authentic and who are redefining what that looks like. So thank you for being here and let me let you in on a little secret.

I've recorded this a few times. I don't know what time this is. I think it's sixth time, I don't know because the editing process in the beginning was a total hot mess.

But anyway, I want this first episode to be about the vulnerability of not knowing. And I think that this first episode is a great example because I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of this podcast. I didn't know where to begin with recording. I didn't know where to begin with editing. I don't know where to begin with publishing.

o start a podcast since about: 2017

And that's because it felt vulnerable to go to the gaps of knowledge that frankly felt very vast for me.

But I read about this idea in a book that I read. That I checked out from the LA public library, shout out to the LA public library for a quick moment, because they actually offer free podcast booths that you can rent and you can sign up for, they are a hot commodity. So you need a little bit of time if you want to reserve the podcast booth , but that's where I started with this podcast.

I started recording my podcast at the podcast booth. Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent, but I just wanted to shout out the LA public library for having that resource. But I read this idea in this book that I checked out from LAPL. And it was called Art thinking: how to carve out creative space in a world of schedules, budgets, and bosses by the author Amy Whitaker.

And I really resonated with how she explained this concept, because she mentioned that it is close to the idea of mindfulness. And as a social worker, I understand and know what mindfulness is, right? It's the idea of being present with our own thoughts and emotions.

But the difference here is that we're acknowledging a very specific situation. We're acknowledging and are present with the fact that we don't know the full path ahead . And allowing ourselves to venture into that space in our minds where the dream exists, but the roadmap to it doesn't. And that's what that means for me, at least being in that space, acknowledging that and being okay with it.

And also not being ashamed because we don't know the full path ahead. And I like to think about it within the context of entrepreneurship and business because so many people have dreams and big ideas that we as a community, don't get to see those ideas because we're afraid to be vulnerable and venture into that space of not knowing.

Okay. So how do we begin to explore that space? We literally explore. Okay, let me take you back to a time when we're in school, like elementary or high school. Probably even college. Those moments in your life, those environments are designed for us to explore and to figure things out. To figure out what we love to do and what we want to do.

And I feel as if we're socialized to think that's the only time that we get to really explore before we pick a career or pick a major and decide to go along that path. And sometimes we feel like we've been going down that path for so long that it is absolute bonkers to think about even stopping and going back and exploring something new.

But it's okay to explore now as adults, even if we do have jobs and careers and families, we can explore in order to sit in that vulnerability . And make it easier for us to do the things we never thought we could do.

So the author, Amy Whitaker suggest that we make time for studio time. And studio time is the intentional time that we carve out for ourselves to explore anything we want and to create without a goal.

That could look like doodling. So number one, doodling for me has been a new way of exploring and creating, taking a marker pens or crayons and drawing anything that comes to you anything that you feel inclined to draw? I recently joined a doodling workshop where the purpose was to reclaim our childhood.

I really enjoyed it because I hadn't realized how long it had been since I last doodled and doodling was a really liberating experience for me in that moment, because I got to draw little me in the center of all of these random lines and shapes and colors that I felt putting down on paper. And there was no goal to it. So it was really a nice way for me to heal in some ways and reclaim that childhood for myself.

Another way that you could create or explore is writing. Journaling writing down your thoughts into a tangible paper, which is literally executing. You could think of it as executing, right? It's your thoughts coming out of you into something tangible? So I been thinking a lot about what I wanted to do when I was in high school. And I realized that when I was in high school. When they ask you, what do you want to be when you grow up? One of my answers was I wanted to be a journalist. And it was really interesting for me to think back about to that time and think about why I said that, but also why I abandoned that thought.

And another way that you could explore is dancing. So this could look like dancing to a song and making moves, especially doing it on your own. It feels really good. You're shaking out some energy. You're creating new movement that coincides and syncs with how you're feeling and your energy.

And it feels good and there's nothing. There's no goal here. And I would say something that she suggests in the book is to do it for 20 minutes, a few times a week. She recommends the daily, but I think doing it for 20 minutes a few times a week and see what breakthroughs come to you is good enough. It's carving out time for yourself to simply explore. Recently, like I said, I came back to writing because I realized that when I was in high school, I had the idea to become a journalist. And I started wondering why I never came back to that thought. And when in my high school years, I shifted from wanting to become a journalist to wanting to become a therapist. Or psychologist, which is what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a child psychologist. Which is why I majored in in child development and psychology in college. And then I never actually did that.

So I've been finding joy and writing and learning how to write better. I've been even taking writing classes through LAPL again. LA public library has so many awesome resources. You can get LinkedIn learning, you can get Coursera for free. There's so many different courses on there. So shout out to them.

But I found a writing course and I've been really happy taking that. And I actually do feel a bit of a better writer. And yeah, I've been finding joy in writing. Learning how to write. And of course, I came back to this idea of wanting to start a podcast.

I'm so glad that I'm allowing myself to explore the things I've always wanted to try and do. Give yourself that joy, that gift of exploring. Even if it's for 20 minutes a day. Remember the goal is not to create a masterpiece. The goal is for your mind to explore ideas that you have, maybe things you've never given yourself a chance to explore.

So be courageous in your creativity and see what happens. All right. That's it for me all this was episode one. I hope that you took something away from this episode that you bring yourself to that mindset or that era of your life, where you're like, I really need to start thinking about what I want to do.

What I would love to do for me. And if you've been thinking about a business. It's time to explore that and allow yourself that exploration. I hope this helps a little bit. And if so, I invite you to come to beabosscoaching.com. Book a call with me if you've been wanting to figure out if coaching is right for you.

To explore new ideas and new paths and your business and entrepreneurship journey. And I'm excited to speak to you. Thank you again and come back next week. Bye.