What did I learn from my journey on LICAP?

Top 2 practical lessons:

1.?????Community:

I got connected with 199 other amazing Indian creators (+ alumni from the US cohort) who I can now lean on for advice, collaborate with and continue to grow with and be inspired by. Just like they say even about MBAs from the Ivy league, I have realized – the best thing you walk away with is the network you build.

2.?????Strategy:

I am a writer first, and a creator second. That also meant my writing came on a whim and from the heart and not really with strategy. While I choose to continue to feed the writer in me first, I now plan to organize my content buckets (I have gone back to the drawing board for this exercise this week), learn to repurpose content, test and nurture different formats, and schedule in advance, among other things. This will not only ensure consistency and longevity with ease at my end but also make my content hopefully even more valuable to you. The mentor sessions during this course were really helpful to provide food for thought around this.

Top 2 emotional lessons:

1.?????Vulnerability and authenticity:

While I have always been authentic here, vulnerability takes even more courage. I have showcased transparency at most times and the project with fears did open the gates to vulnerability, but I just know there’s more. And one of the ways I plan to do this is openly share my creator and coaching journey with you, as I am at a fairly early stage with both these endeavors.

2.?????Stick to my lane:

The program further validated a few mantras I had already internalized:

-???????You define what success means to you. When someone else is achieving big things, it can inspire you to do more, and/or give you a reason to celebrate with them, but never resent it or make you feel like you are falling behind. We all have different timelines.

For me success is no longer defined by output, but by input.

For example, I haven’t set goals as to what opportunities I need my creator journey to give me. I have only set goals as to what and how I want to create and why and for whom, and if I do that, that’s success to me.

-???????Never do anything that doesn’t feel completely right to you:

Integrity is an important value for me. When you grow, more opportunities make themselves known. But I don’t believe we need to jump at everything that jumps at us. I still haven’t done even 1 sponsored or brand post because I haven’t started receiving offers that align with me yet. And I’m willing to wait it out.

I also choose not to create at the expense of myself ever. I love creating. But I will never burnout for it. It’s a myth that artists are depressed. I believe I create my best work when I’m at my best. So, I work hard but never at the cost of my health. I’m passionate about creation, why should I ever take the joy out of it?

What am I still working on?

Being okay with making mistakes:

Even during the fears project, I spoke about how I fear making mistakes, especially publicly. And the more you grow, the more likely you are to receive a comment that doesn’t sit well or be accused of or questioned about an opinion or even an actual mistake. So, this is something I am working on. Because there is a lot I want to do, so I’m bound to make mistakes.

I have always been someone who doesn’t like disappointing authority or people at large, so I know where this comes from.

As I always say in my coaching experience, it all comes down to awareness and action.

I’ve built awareness on this, more so through these 10 weeks, and I’ve begun to take action. But I will always be a work in progress ??