Hello and welcome to this week's stream of consciousness.
I’ve been thinking about all the outfits I never wear because Im afraid of taking a risk. I have this skirt made with panels of tartan and a repurposed tea towel, which has owls printed on it. Let me tell you I fucking love this skirt, and yet I haven’t worn it once. Its a really mental skirt and at the same time I think its really cool… Even though it feels completely authentic to me, every time I put it on to go out, I inevitably end up choosing a safer option, which is odd for me.
You and I probably dont know each other, but I am the friend that supports your most radical ideas, and encourages you to jump off the proverbial cliff! She’s a risk taker.
Part of the reason for this is that when you’re brave enough to take the plunge, theres usually something quite good on the other side. By the time we reach these cliff edge moments, we have probably outgrown the crab shell we’ve been living in, and are quite ready to leap into a more authentic version of ourselves.
My brilliant sister, Nicoles Neuroscience, validates this by explaining that regularly doing hard things, increases willpower and mental resilience. Of course she’s referring to smaller things which we can do regularly, like waking up early to work out, or choose delayed gratification over a quick hit. But nevertheless, the more you trust yourself to do the things that feel right for you, no matter how hard or scary, the more you begin to trust yourself. The more this happens, the more you create a growing body of evidence that supports the notion that you CAN do hard things, and you CAN trusts yourself.
I recently turned my Substack over to a paid subscription which of course brought out all the imposter syndrome gremlins which were hiding in the darkest corners of my brain. “Nobody is going to want to pay to read your newsletter” - “Theres a lot more influential writers on here, why pick you” and so on…
However in 2-3 weeks, as small as it may seem, I have a few paid subscribers! It’s a small piece of evidence, but evidence nonetheless that things are working out. Perhaps next I’ll take the owl skirt for a spin, and stop giving a fuck about what everyone thinks!
I hope this inspires you to be a little bit more “You” and do the scary thing, say what you’ve been wanting to say, jump or leap into the next version of yourself. My advice is: prepare with an appropriate soft landing, assume the best and prepare for the worst. Happy jumping!