At the beginning of the year, I chose “vulnerability” as my word of the year (WOTY). I proudly proclaimed this in one of the first episodes of The Fab Life Project Podcast, and I must say that this has been a season that has really called me to lean into the true definition of the word.
A few weeks ago when I was with my coaching cohort, I felt called to tap into vulnerability in discussing some of the struggles I’ve had in deciding which area of my interests needs and deserves my focus the most.
If you’re a multi-passionate person, I feel like you can understand my plight. I have the talent (and also struggle!) of seeing the possibility in almost anything. I dive into new interests head first, and sometimes lose track of how much I can really give at any one time.
It was hard for me to say these things out loud, as so much of my multi-passionate personality has been wrapped up in the shame of feeling unfocused because I love so many things.
Sharing these things o my cohort gave me a degree of freedom, and I was challenged to write a blog post to explore the relationship between my willingness to be vulnerable and how I see myself moving forward in achieving my goals.
Although this is my story, I hope that in sharing it, I am able to encourage you to seek the spaces where more vulnerability would be beneficial in your life, too!
Mixing Vulnerability And Creativity
So, here’s the thing: vulnerability and I haven’t had a particularly long history together.
Now that I have a deeper understanding of mental health, and all the things that can impact it, I recognize that my path to being a more vulnerable person was fractured at an early age when I had to unexpectedly lean into independence for reasons that I spoke about in this episode on grief.
In my research on vulnerability, I’ve learned that in order to “be” vulnerable, one needs to “feel” safe.
I originally created The Fab Life Project to be a “safe space” before people were really talking about such a thing. I wanted to give us room and give a voice to millennials who in the shadow of the Great Recession, were questioning how the status quo did or did NOT fit into their future goals and plans.
It has been such a ride. I’ve written some fun pieces, created a podcast that explored what these ideas looked like in a new medium, and spread the core philosophy of the site “live on your own terms” as far as I possibly could.
But now is the time when I lean into vulnerability to say that I am evolving and with that, this space will change as I figure out what it looks like on the next part of my journey.
Ready To Evolve
This has been on my mind for a few years, but it was I wasn’t ready to lean into the vulnerability I needed to reframe my doubts into possibilities and new ways of looking at how I can creatively tackle my goals without feeling as if I were letting myself and my audience down.
My middle ground is stepping back from the expectations I have put on myself to make this space all in can be in THIS moment, and adapt to my new reality: needing more time to focus on building out my coaching practice and the ways I am determined to make sure we can live our life on our terms: by helping millennials reimagine and design careers where they can lead with values, purpose, and intention.
It feels like the next natural step. How can I challenge the status quo without stepping into the ring?
As I’ve spent some time reflecting, I had to see that the way I want to contribute to our fight has changed. I want to fight for more people to have access to the coaching that can help them build careers that light them up and champion the leaders who are determined to champion humanity as part of their management and business leadership style.
So, what does all of this mean?
It means that I will be using more of my creative energy to do work for my coaching business. BUT I want to still have fun on IG and continue to show up in your inbox every other Sunday with a newsletter and new post.
In time, I have a feeling there will be a blend between content created for this space, and content created for my coaching practice. No matter where I am, and how I’m doing it, you can always count on me to champion your right to create and live your life on your terms.
I’m open to seeing where it will all go, and I hope that you will come along with me!
