Do it Afraid. Leap. Fly.

Ok, so.

This blog is about the journey, right? You’re catching me, real-time. Figuring out what the heck I’m doing here. I’m writing this about two weeks prior to my “go live” date on my website.

Let’s talk about what it feels like to unfold and then walk off the edge of a cliff?

Sounds fun, huh?! No, for real. If you’re contemplating a big decision, I feel you. I also feel my stomach inside my throat. Right next to my esophagus.

First, can I just say that the process of finding/creating my brand has been extremely cathartic and empowering?  Final branding drafts are seriously rocking my world. I just got my completed marks (logos, signatures, core images, etc.)  back from my brand consultant. And freaking every time she sends me something, I have to make sure I’m in a safe place to cry. No joke.  

Let me ask you this?

Have you ever envisioned something in your mind and wondered if it was possible?

Have you ever decided to take a risk on yourself and chance feeling like a crazy person? Because I’ve had this idea in my mind. Of who I’m becoming, what I want to say, and how I hope that you’ll feel when you visit this website. And for pete’s sake, I swear this woman doing my branding is reading my mind, and feeling my vibes, and getting it onto paper. It’s legit. And super creepy.

About two years ago I created a vision board with images like the ones on this blog.

In my mind, I was nowhere near this woman. But I could imagine feeling, looking, walking, talking that way. And as I began to explore what a brand would look like, who I want to become, what would represent what’s inside of me, and the new chapter I’m writing, I created a mood board with my lady, Sara Schultz. Let me be clear. She didn’t ask me to endorse her. I’m not getting paid for this. Although, Sara, I’ll take a bottle of wine for every new client you get from this post. Kidding. Mostly. LOL.

I open each new draft in my google drive of colors, and marks, and images and I’m like “YES, that’s me. That feels like me. That creates a vibe that I want others to feel.”

And suddenly all these ideas of who I was… they’re unfolding before my eyes.

And I start to believe the dreams and ideas I have, are possible after all.

They’re real.  They’re here now. It’s like magic and it’s helping me to step into it, in real life. It’s vision board magic. The process of branding has been one of the most cathartic, empowering experiences of becoming. I could not have done this by myself. No way. Thank you, Sara, for helping me unfold.

Ok, so in addition to being so excited to open those branding drafts, like Christmas-morning-style…

I’m shaking in my boots, sick to my stomach, jumping for joy, biting my nails, kind of excited.

I am contemplating all the things I will share with you on this journey. It’s kinda scary. Kinda super scary. But man, every time I share a piece of my story, someone reaches out and tells me how much they needed to hear that. How it helped them gain confidence. I am not only finding joy in writing and creating…

I have immeasurable joy and Love, when I hear that you find clarity, or courage, or joy, or freedom from anything I’ve shared.  

Bottom line. I’m compelled to do this. I cannot NOT do this. But OMG I am nervous as hell to bare my soul.

Here’s what I want you to hear – anytime in my life when I’ve had this gut-knowing of what I should do.

I Just Knew. I bet you do too.

At first, I fight it. I wrestle in my own mind. I ask everyone else what they think about my idea or decision. But the whole time I’m not really looking for an opinion. I’m clambering for validation of the decision I had already made.

I want someone to tell me it’s a good idea. And if they don’t? I wrestle more, I ask someone else who I think is more likely to align with my opinion (LOL)… don’t we all do that sometimes? Do we find the people that affirm what we want to hear? Or what we believe to be true?

And after I tire from wrestling myself, I give in.

Eventually, the hope is that we come to terms with our Knowing, and decide to stop resisting it.

You begin the preparations, mentally, and practically. You start walking it out. However, there’s some solace in that if you wanted to, you still have an out, you have a safety net. You can pull the plug on the idea at any moment. As an example, you know, just theoretically…  “Jen, you can design all the things, and write all the posts, but you don’t HAVE to go live. It could be just your little secret with Sara.”

Until, inevitably, you reach the point of no return.

Once you take that step, you are all in. There’s no erasing it. There’s no undoing of what’s done. There’s no putting the words back in your mouth. There’s no un-jumping from the cliff and tucking the parachute back in.

You. Just. Jump.

Once this blog goes live. That’s my jump. And then I don’t look back.

 I soar.

Don’t get me wrong. Every time I walk to the edge of the cliff, it puts a knot in my stomach, a frog in my throat, and tears in my eyes.

But, when I’m still enough, I notice there are also butterflies in my stomach. Little flitty excited ones. Because I know something powerful is about to happen.

How do I know? Because I’ve been through this enough times, and have so many examples to look back on.

There’s a very clear pattern.

Gut-knowing

Internal Decision

External preparation

Jump

Reward, joy, clarity, freedom.

On the other side of my scariest leaps, have always been the greatest rewards. Gah. I’m nervous. But I also know I’m about to fly.

Loves, take the steps you need to take.

Do it Afraid. Then leap. And fly.

xo Jen

Interested in reading more?

Here’s a few posts I think you’ll enjoy: