Paralysed by the fear of getting it wrong: There is no "right" way to build this thing

I was planning on launching my business tomorrow. It seemed like a fitting day in the skies.

But then again, when we make plans, the powers that be laugh in our face.

This feels like the culmination of everything I’ve been working towards for the past 3 years.

First understanding the tools of the mind, body and soul, and then launching them into a wider audience. MY audience. The world that I came from. At the intersection of the corporate and the conscious.

The last few weeks we have been prepping and planning. Defining what exactly this thing is all about. And the vision in my mind is BIG. It’s so big, but it’s difficult to define.?

And so, the way that it starts getting defined, is by launching with an MVP. In this case, it’s an email. Simple.

I left the corporate world with a bang. I said peace out. Adios. Adieu! And over time, as I have been leaning more into the direction that is calling me, I knew there would be a return to that audience at some point.?

As a recruiter, a professional networker if you will, I got to meet a LOT of people. Like a lot. And so I have a LOT of people’s emails. It seems like an obvious starting point to get this thing off the ground.?

So I crafted the first edit. I wrote the intro for Whole Collective. Announcing it to the world. Saying, “HEY YO, I’m back. With some stuff I feel pretty passionate about.”

We have a pilot podcast with Dolores Tersigni, who helped build the team at Netflix before stepping into the Chief People role at Headspace.In the conversation we get the ball rolling, getting under the very hood of what exactly this thing is all about. Values, mis-aligned culture, the future of how more self-aware leaders will be the ones that succeed the most.

We have the Semi-Conscious Comic from Dersu Rhodes, beautiful art exploring the vulnerability of what it’s like to navigate experiences such as getting laid off from your job in the most endearing way.

We announce our partnership with Quan Wellbeing, with the incredible tools that Arosha Brouwer is building in the world, and how my master guru Kate Nasuti can help companies and the individual at scale.

It was all set to go! All lined up. I was going to push send on an email, and the next steps would arrive.

I’m pretty honest about not knowing how this thing is going to take shape, but I knew that it had to start somewhere. The ball has to start rolling at some point.

Tomorrow felt like that was the day.?

And then I heard about email warming, and the first pause arrived. I found the software to help. Patience was required.

And then I got overwhelmed by options. Which template to use, which mailing software was going to work.

It’s a new business. Although I’ve emailed most of the folks who would receive this email in the past, this was going to be from a new email address. My biznizz email.

Was this even going to get received by anyone? Does anyone actually even care? Am I going to get blacklisted as spam… blah blah blah.?

And that went on. For many hours.?

And… there’s a lot of ands here. Then I remembered.

THEN I REMEMBERED!!!

It doesn’t matter. None of it matters!

There is no “right” way of doing this thing. There is no “right” way of launching this business.

I was so paralysed by the fear of getting it wrong, that I was going round and round in circles, not moving forwards at all.?

Isn’t this the VERY thing I am addressing? Don’t answer that. You don’t know yet… because we haven’t “launched”. But I do.?

Spoiler alert, the answer is yes.?

THIS IS THE VERY THING WE ARE ADDRESSING!!

I have the tools to choose different. I know better. But I’m having compassion for myself right now, because this feels like a BIG deal.

It feels like I’ve been preparing for this for 3 years. And so it’s totally blown out of proportion. The amount of weight I am giving to which mailing system I’m going to use doesn’t feel very right-sized.

IT DOESN’T MATTER.?

There is no “perfect” way of doing this.

And in the ups and downs of the last few days, I am remembering that.?

The email will go out at some point. There’s going to be spams and junks, and people not interested. And I’m not going to care about those.?

It’s this very process of creating that matters. Of having conversations with people who have built big, impressive things, and seeing that they are just humans too.?

In my conversation with Dolores she mentions Brené Brown’s book, the Power of Vulnerability… it’s this very act of being vulnerable in our process, that is the most impactful of all.?

Seeing as ‘impact’ is one of my values, I didn’t want to hide behind the scenes. So I returned to what felt easy, what felt good.

What feels good to me is what I know I’m good at. Pouring my unfiltered words and heart into an essay feels easy for me. It feels like it’s something I’m good at. So we’re starting here.?

Without too much weight. Without too much expectation.?

I’ll add Whole Collective onto my LinkedIn tomorrow. That feels like a big step. That feels like a big milestone.

Our EIN and articles of incorporation arrived in the mail today. That also feels pretty big. A binder with “Whole Collective Incorporated” on the spine. Yes! That IS a big deal. Yay us.?

This launch doesn’t look how I thought it would. But when does it ever?

I’ll share more about signing up to our mailing list soon, in the meantime, you can preview the conversation with Dolores HERE (Spotify).

... I typed this thing out before jumping on a call just now. And MY GOD how quickly things can turn. Out of nowhere, a space to host and build this business from has suddenly appeared. Right in the middle of Venice, CA. Nothing guaranteed yet, but I'm squealing with excitement. Oh how quick it all can change.

The the only certainty is change.

And death and taxes yeah yeah.

But that certainty of change, it never fails.

'Every storm runs out of rain', Maya Angelou.