I've always disliked the "learn this exact way to success" and that's never served me. I'm currently in a social media job that essentially created for myself with an independent bookstore association. I started the #booktok hashtag as one of the first people to talk books on TikTok. Someone asked, "wait, you can just talk about books on TikTok?" I said, "why not?" and did for a few years until my youngest was born and it wasn't sustainable. I taught bookstores how to do TikTok and so many are rocking it on there now. I've advised bookstores how to do social media, and it's always "do what you want, form connections, don't stress!" I have tons of teaching experience with all ages of kids, but no degree in teaching, yet I'll be teaching five days a week in the fall. I was so worried in college that I wouldn't get the training I needed to do the job I wanted, or that I'd choose wrong. I need to write a post about this; thanks for the inspiration!
Yay Kathy this sounds amazing and YES you should write a post about it!!
I definitely agree that there’s the paralysis before people even get going and trying. There’s never a one size fits all. Of course you can have certain tactics but if it’s not from the heart and you’re tweaking it in an unauthentic way just to try and be “on trend” it won’t last anyhow.
Love the booktok example too as I have the experience that you don’t have to show yourself and your face to “gain fame” as many want you to believe. You can actually be as private as you want to be and still be able to reach big audiences because they connect with you in the way you want them to connect with you.
Please tag me when you’ve written it I’ll be delighted to read it!!
As a graphic designer, the first thing we do, before we start a project, is to create a mood board - looking outward to source images and inspiration to help guide and inspire our project.
I’m sure there are many artists who guard their creativity by not exposing themselves to other’s influence, so they can forge their own path.
Emma Gannon recently said, “Notes is great but also can muddy my instincts. I don’t want to see what everyone is writing about/thinking all the time because I want my ideas to come from my own instincts.”
I get swayed and distracted easily, so it gives me even more reason why I need to make a practice of turning inward and quieting the outside influences.
Thanks for being here Mika and adding value to the conversation! I’m not the slightest surprised by the mood board process in your graphic design work. Whenever I had commissions either from companies or individuals I always had to be more meticulous and strategic in my planning as the success depends on the satisfaction of the client…
This is why I always preferred to sell my ready made work and teachings as I don’t have to respond to anyone but rather be free to “just work from what I feel like in a way I like it” haha. Sometimes when the imposter comes knocking I question if I’m not professional but I think I’ve just come to terms with how I prefer to work and I’ve been blessed to have built a creative career that allows for that ❣️
Anything that can be taught is by its definition conventional. Schools teach what has been aggregated; they cannot point one to a path. I think the problem is that most people don't move beyond the foundations established by formal training.
Definitions of success may be true, but they're nothing more than inspiration. Life requires boldness; you just have to want what you want badly enough to appreciate that no one can give it to you. You then set out on a path to pursue it - in its uniqueness - in a way that only you can define it.
There is only one path to things that are known, but there are endless paths to unique things. That's why those really pursuing success - money, relationships, happiness, etc. - aren't competing with anyone, for what they want is so specific and personalized that no one would have the incentive to mimic them. If he/she would, they'd be busy working on their dream.
Always such thoughtful comments thanks Patrick, you add a ton of value!
The first bit about everything that is taught is conventional is on the surface a statement but has so much depth to it. What isn’t taught or what can’t be taught are often the things that matter the most in any endeavors…. Passion; motivation; drive; grit; resilience etc.
I love your framing of this: “There is only one path to things that are known, but there are endless paths to unique things.” I’m going to let that be my guiding light.
Amen to this. Especially on Instagram, I notice a lot of entrepreneurs/business owners turning into business coaches trying to sell their road to success as the only possible road. The thing is, the definition of success is different for everybody. Besides that, I like to believe that it can’t be a copy paste thing, it can’t be just doing what somebody or everybody else is doing, because in that process everything that makes you ‘you’ so easily gets lost. There’s so much to learn from each other, and I love trying tips and tricks from other people to see if (and how) they work for me as well. But I also think there’s a lot of magic in listening to my own instincts and intuition and just see where that leads me.
You pinpoint something essential here Sanne: experiment with things you observe and see if they APPLY to you too (or not!) and adapt accordingly rather than blindly following and thinking it’s you who were a misfit it might be the strategy that just didn’t fit you! 👏❣️
Exactly this! And sometimes going your own way (or following your gut 😉) may take longer to get you where you want to be, but I think in the long run it’s also much more sustainable - and definitely more authentic.
What a beautiful anecdote. I love that sentiment from your husband.
The ‘shoulds’ when it comes to craft is a tricky one for me. I think there is a lot of wisdom in some of the ‘shoulds’. But, for me, the way to create something that really interests me is to let go of the ‘shoulds’ and let what really matters seep in intuitively - as you’ve talked about. Perhaps the problem is that along the way to creating that thing the way you choose to you can take some wrong turns and make a mess of things before you create what you really want. You could easily fall back into the ‘shoulds’. I want to remind myself to work through this and get to the other side.
My husband had always been my biggest supporter (it’s thanks to him I’m here on Substack now too 🙏🏼❣️)
Interesting you mention about the shoulds related to the crafts, because its the number one reason some traditional embroiderers for frustrated with me for “spreading false ideas” haha. This is why I’ve always been very transparent up front with my approach being artistic and a modernisation rather than traditional embroidery. I think there’s incredible value in tradition and to know the bases, it’s what lays the foundation and brings the tools for further creative experimentation, but where I like to provoke is to emphasize on pushing beyond the rules as you say and just see what’s there… in the name of art!
There’s quite a distinction between craftsmanship and artistry in this sense when dealing with a medium like embroidery.
Certainly, to go against the should may probably bring you to more mistakes but they make you stronger as you go through them with your vision intact 👏✨😍
Thanks for adding to the conversation Clare, really appreciate it!!
Love this Elin! Same thoughts this evening! Telepathy haha
I was drafting my next post on 16 years of dealing with rejection while writing in the public eye aka blogs, newsletter, courses, handbooks etc. since I was 15 years old.
a letter to my younger self with thoughts on community, money, story telling, etc.
it’s so freeing isn’t it when we have no formal training and can start however we want because we’re re naive in a good way and not full of bs theories and rules.
Naive in a good way - love this description. Happens almost daily that I wonder if I’m just naive for doing all the things…. But it’s also what makes life more fun and exciting 🫶🏼 can’t wait to read your piece!! Just saw it came out 😍😍
Holy moly, we’re on the same wavelength right now, Elin. I published a piece yesterday about how I’m shedding the shoulds and finally following my intuition to do business my way.
Ooooh I’m loving this vibe 💯💯 I feel as though there was a “proven” method that worked 5 years ago and that just doesn’t work anymore…. The online climate has changed sooooooo much! And I think it’s only wise to change and evolve with it… and what better to do so than to follow your own intuition ❣️❣️ put a link to your piece in the comments too like this people can check it out if they want 🤗
And love what you wrote. I’ve been thinking about writing something about how I don’t have a “proven strategy” for coaching my clients because every human is different and every relationship is unique
This resonates! I have written so many times about the idea of a "right way" to do something. It truly is fascinating that people float that mantra out there consistently when most of the time it is mimicry. And, even more fun to shine on light is that they are mimicking something that, yes, may be working now, but may not work in the future! So, they are benefiting from successes that have proven themselves worthy only in the current paradigm. A paradigm that may not have existed as little as 5 years ago!
I have a piece coming out today about challenging ideas and one thing I touch on is the role of creatives in shaping the "present" by looking into the future and pulling it to the now. If we all were to follow the same "proven" path, would there be new ideas? Where would the innovation come from? How would evolution do its thing? Hell, innovation, especially small incremental evolutions that are tested for success, is nearly a natural law! Intelligent failures!
And, final comment as I now feel like I am rambling: how can there be a "right" way to success if everyone's definition of success is unique? Even if you try to bucket it under some neatly wrapped bow such as "financial independence" doesn't that mean something different to everyone? Aren't the yardsticks we use to measure something quantifiable varied from person to person? $30K may mean FI to someone, whereas $3M is needed for the next. I could go on and on, cutting myself off!
I love the ideas in this post! Thank you for sharing! Appreciate you!
Joe I appreciate all of these added reflections and questions! I think we should all ask more questions and it will make a great lot of people get closer to what they really want and believe in rather than some socially manufactured goal… look forward to reading your peace tomorrow (need to sleep now…) feel welcome to pop it in here in the comment section to so others who may read it will fall into it too!
Great reading your post. I’ve always known that I’m a bit different but I spent years trying to fix myself to be like everyone else. Luckily I made it to retirement and I have realised so much about myself. Now I am happy knowing that I am different but not lacking or wrong. As a teacher of high school students I had fun doing lots of hands on learning and fun stuff that I liked doing. When I got noticed it all went to crap because they wanted my happy classroom but only if I made changes to fit their conventional thinking. After having children I returned to teaching with starry eyes and got taken off a class because I tried to teach them how to take notes and didn’t give them lots to copy off the blackboard. This was a top class and the admin just wanted them to pass a test instead of learning how to learn. It’s so nice to be away from all that soul crushing convention. I get the impression, from reading your post, that not much has changed for people who are not conventional. I think if I had my chance over again I would look for a way to teach outside the system. But we do what we think we have to do to put food on the table. I’m not in a position to advise anyone to risk being unconventional because I didn’t take that risk growing up but maybe the risk wasn’t as high as I thought.
Thank you so much for sharing this, I really appreciate reading your experience and reflections in relation to going against the norm!
I can imagine it to be slightly easier to be unconventional today thanks to the internet as there are infinite ways to make money online and thereby build up more physical freedom.
I’ve been living unconventionally since the day I finished high school, I guess the most conventional was to go ahead and complete a university degree too, but that was due to still being in the process of realizing that there was another way (or there must be because the other students bored me with their lack of ambition 🫣) I just wanted to make things! But as I got a 80% scholarship it felt like a waste to not use it or to throw away the first year that I had already invested (I paid for my university myself with money made from working through my teenage). Though admittedly if I was to start over I’d invest that money into starting a company instead.
I think the only thing that holds people back ia fear of failure. And I always thought; what’s the worst thing that can happen? That I take a job at the supermarket? Well, that’s not too shabby if it gives me a chance to succeed first!
Ahhh such a great post Elin and I love, love, love the comment from your husband as that feels so true for me! It's similar to growing up being wired by conventional schools and family members who value academia and qualifications and any deviation of that means "you don't really know that" and "it can't be true". I've come to question "what is truth anyway?" and feel like it is subjective in a sense that it's declaration is unique to each individual. Even the findings of science, contrary to what my own training would have me believe, is not fact but in fact probability I.e., not truth and limited to the square box in which it was looked at/conducted. I quit my pHd at 6 months in, not because I couldn't do it or it was too hard but I came to realise all of the above and that I was following expectations imposed upon me by the conventional mindsets I'd grown up around. Since then it's been a bumpy road coming home to my own heart and reconnecting with my own intuition and learning to TRUST it. It's been a rollercoaster of unravelling, scary but hugely rewarding, creative, liberating and I FEEL more connected, and more alive than I ever have before. Its amazing what can happen when we say "no" to others projections and "yes" to us. Thanks for your work 💖.
Wow huge kudos to you to dare to drop out of a phd and start listening to your own voice, I know firsthand how hard it is to go against the grail and what your surroundings expects of you, especially people in close proximity. It’s really hard!!
Praying for the best for you in the future to come but I’m sure it will be all types of exciting things as you unravel more layers ❤️
Thanks Elin! Yes it is so hard but hugely rewarding. I'm super excited to continue to explore and step into my own. It's a really personal journey learning 'how to be yourself 💫.
I really enjoyed this piece. I think there is a very intense/often uncomfortable relationship between our intuition and logic, and I sense that until very recently, in the past few decades, logic was the tried, tested and winning method. Personal intuition vs logic of the wider community. Because of the societal changes you allude to, I predict in the years to come more people will come to understand and trust that following their intuition and the suggested steps is the only way to achieve true success.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reflections and I can only agree! I also think there’s a countermovement of sorts that brings to more intuitive action… let’s hope! 🥂
I have written about this exact same thing in my newsletter that’s scheduled for tomorrow.
We often feel like there is just one way to reach our goals when infact there are many. And some are even more fulfilling in terms of the journey. I chose to ignore those paths for most of my life as I struggled to follow the ways that already existed until I broadened my perspective.
I loved loved loved reading about it. It’s a topic really close to my heart. You have certainly earned a new subscriber today✨
Thank you Liza! I tend to write important notes on post its and put them a bit everywhere. They stick for a bit and then fall down or get cleaned away but somehow this physical action helps to make it stick in the head more 👏🥰
This really hit a nerve as this is something I have been struggling with quite a lot lately! Societal and family moulds can add a lot of pressure to certain life choices and how we choose to go about things. It’s our intuition that always guides us back to our authenticity but we aren’t always so quick to listen to our intuition in the first place. Thank you for sharing this Elin, great piece :)
Yes you’re so right about that! I’ve had the same experience through most my life and it’s truly a liberation ones you realise that you don’t have to fit into any mould but still be successful in your own right and on your own path ✨❣️ this applies across the board 💯
I love this SO much. I have been experimenting with my dreams and trying non-traditional routes for years. It’s so much fun when you recognize you’re free to try things and there are so many opportunities out there. Thank you for this!!
I've always disliked the "learn this exact way to success" and that's never served me. I'm currently in a social media job that essentially created for myself with an independent bookstore association. I started the #booktok hashtag as one of the first people to talk books on TikTok. Someone asked, "wait, you can just talk about books on TikTok?" I said, "why not?" and did for a few years until my youngest was born and it wasn't sustainable. I taught bookstores how to do TikTok and so many are rocking it on there now. I've advised bookstores how to do social media, and it's always "do what you want, form connections, don't stress!" I have tons of teaching experience with all ages of kids, but no degree in teaching, yet I'll be teaching five days a week in the fall. I was so worried in college that I wouldn't get the training I needed to do the job I wanted, or that I'd choose wrong. I need to write a post about this; thanks for the inspiration!
Yay Kathy this sounds amazing and YES you should write a post about it!!
I definitely agree that there’s the paralysis before people even get going and trying. There’s never a one size fits all. Of course you can have certain tactics but if it’s not from the heart and you’re tweaking it in an unauthentic way just to try and be “on trend” it won’t last anyhow.
Love the booktok example too as I have the experience that you don’t have to show yourself and your face to “gain fame” as many want you to believe. You can actually be as private as you want to be and still be able to reach big audiences because they connect with you in the way you want them to connect with you.
Please tag me when you’ve written it I’ll be delighted to read it!!
As a graphic designer, the first thing we do, before we start a project, is to create a mood board - looking outward to source images and inspiration to help guide and inspire our project.
I’m sure there are many artists who guard their creativity by not exposing themselves to other’s influence, so they can forge their own path.
Emma Gannon recently said, “Notes is great but also can muddy my instincts. I don’t want to see what everyone is writing about/thinking all the time because I want my ideas to come from my own instincts.”
I get swayed and distracted easily, so it gives me even more reason why I need to make a practice of turning inward and quieting the outside influences.
Thanks for this piece.
Thanks for being here Mika and adding value to the conversation! I’m not the slightest surprised by the mood board process in your graphic design work. Whenever I had commissions either from companies or individuals I always had to be more meticulous and strategic in my planning as the success depends on the satisfaction of the client…
This is why I always preferred to sell my ready made work and teachings as I don’t have to respond to anyone but rather be free to “just work from what I feel like in a way I like it” haha. Sometimes when the imposter comes knocking I question if I’m not professional but I think I’ve just come to terms with how I prefer to work and I’ve been blessed to have built a creative career that allows for that ❣️
Anything that can be taught is by its definition conventional. Schools teach what has been aggregated; they cannot point one to a path. I think the problem is that most people don't move beyond the foundations established by formal training.
Definitions of success may be true, but they're nothing more than inspiration. Life requires boldness; you just have to want what you want badly enough to appreciate that no one can give it to you. You then set out on a path to pursue it - in its uniqueness - in a way that only you can define it.
There is only one path to things that are known, but there are endless paths to unique things. That's why those really pursuing success - money, relationships, happiness, etc. - aren't competing with anyone, for what they want is so specific and personalized that no one would have the incentive to mimic them. If he/she would, they'd be busy working on their dream.
Always such thoughtful comments thanks Patrick, you add a ton of value!
The first bit about everything that is taught is conventional is on the surface a statement but has so much depth to it. What isn’t taught or what can’t be taught are often the things that matter the most in any endeavors…. Passion; motivation; drive; grit; resilience etc.
Indeed, Elin. Welcome, and thank you too.
I love your framing of this: “There is only one path to things that are known, but there are endless paths to unique things.” I’m going to let that be my guiding light.
Thank you, Serena.
Amen to this. Especially on Instagram, I notice a lot of entrepreneurs/business owners turning into business coaches trying to sell their road to success as the only possible road. The thing is, the definition of success is different for everybody. Besides that, I like to believe that it can’t be a copy paste thing, it can’t be just doing what somebody or everybody else is doing, because in that process everything that makes you ‘you’ so easily gets lost. There’s so much to learn from each other, and I love trying tips and tricks from other people to see if (and how) they work for me as well. But I also think there’s a lot of magic in listening to my own instincts and intuition and just see where that leads me.
You pinpoint something essential here Sanne: experiment with things you observe and see if they APPLY to you too (or not!) and adapt accordingly rather than blindly following and thinking it’s you who were a misfit it might be the strategy that just didn’t fit you! 👏❣️
Exactly this! And sometimes going your own way (or following your gut 😉) may take longer to get you where you want to be, but I think in the long run it’s also much more sustainable - and definitely more authentic.
What a beautiful anecdote. I love that sentiment from your husband.
The ‘shoulds’ when it comes to craft is a tricky one for me. I think there is a lot of wisdom in some of the ‘shoulds’. But, for me, the way to create something that really interests me is to let go of the ‘shoulds’ and let what really matters seep in intuitively - as you’ve talked about. Perhaps the problem is that along the way to creating that thing the way you choose to you can take some wrong turns and make a mess of things before you create what you really want. You could easily fall back into the ‘shoulds’. I want to remind myself to work through this and get to the other side.
My husband had always been my biggest supporter (it’s thanks to him I’m here on Substack now too 🙏🏼❣️)
Interesting you mention about the shoulds related to the crafts, because its the number one reason some traditional embroiderers for frustrated with me for “spreading false ideas” haha. This is why I’ve always been very transparent up front with my approach being artistic and a modernisation rather than traditional embroidery. I think there’s incredible value in tradition and to know the bases, it’s what lays the foundation and brings the tools for further creative experimentation, but where I like to provoke is to emphasize on pushing beyond the rules as you say and just see what’s there… in the name of art!
There’s quite a distinction between craftsmanship and artistry in this sense when dealing with a medium like embroidery.
Certainly, to go against the should may probably bring you to more mistakes but they make you stronger as you go through them with your vision intact 👏✨😍
Thanks for adding to the conversation Clare, really appreciate it!!
Love this Elin! Same thoughts this evening! Telepathy haha
I was drafting my next post on 16 years of dealing with rejection while writing in the public eye aka blogs, newsletter, courses, handbooks etc. since I was 15 years old.
a letter to my younger self with thoughts on community, money, story telling, etc.
it’s so freeing isn’t it when we have no formal training and can start however we want because we’re re naive in a good way and not full of bs theories and rules.
Oooou love me some good ol’ telepathy!! 👏👏
Naive in a good way - love this description. Happens almost daily that I wonder if I’m just naive for doing all the things…. But it’s also what makes life more fun and exciting 🫶🏼 can’t wait to read your piece!! Just saw it came out 😍😍
🫶
Holy moly, we’re on the same wavelength right now, Elin. I published a piece yesterday about how I’m shedding the shoulds and finally following my intuition to do business my way.
Ooooh I’m loving this vibe 💯💯 I feel as though there was a “proven” method that worked 5 years ago and that just doesn’t work anymore…. The online climate has changed sooooooo much! And I think it’s only wise to change and evolve with it… and what better to do so than to follow your own intuition ❣️❣️ put a link to your piece in the comments too like this people can check it out if they want 🤗
Here’s the post: https://open.substack.com/pub/kelseyabbott/p/shedding-the-shoulds-and-finally?r=2ygkz5&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
And love what you wrote. I’ve been thinking about writing something about how I don’t have a “proven strategy” for coaching my clients because every human is different and every relationship is unique
Definitely there’s never a one size fits all 🥂
This resonates! I have written so many times about the idea of a "right way" to do something. It truly is fascinating that people float that mantra out there consistently when most of the time it is mimicry. And, even more fun to shine on light is that they are mimicking something that, yes, may be working now, but may not work in the future! So, they are benefiting from successes that have proven themselves worthy only in the current paradigm. A paradigm that may not have existed as little as 5 years ago!
I have a piece coming out today about challenging ideas and one thing I touch on is the role of creatives in shaping the "present" by looking into the future and pulling it to the now. If we all were to follow the same "proven" path, would there be new ideas? Where would the innovation come from? How would evolution do its thing? Hell, innovation, especially small incremental evolutions that are tested for success, is nearly a natural law! Intelligent failures!
And, final comment as I now feel like I am rambling: how can there be a "right" way to success if everyone's definition of success is unique? Even if you try to bucket it under some neatly wrapped bow such as "financial independence" doesn't that mean something different to everyone? Aren't the yardsticks we use to measure something quantifiable varied from person to person? $30K may mean FI to someone, whereas $3M is needed for the next. I could go on and on, cutting myself off!
I love the ideas in this post! Thank you for sharing! Appreciate you!
Joe I appreciate all of these added reflections and questions! I think we should all ask more questions and it will make a great lot of people get closer to what they really want and believe in rather than some socially manufactured goal… look forward to reading your peace tomorrow (need to sleep now…) feel welcome to pop it in here in the comment section to so others who may read it will fall into it too!
Just wanted to add that roaming wild and free is something I am getting closer to every day.
Great reading your post. I’ve always known that I’m a bit different but I spent years trying to fix myself to be like everyone else. Luckily I made it to retirement and I have realised so much about myself. Now I am happy knowing that I am different but not lacking or wrong. As a teacher of high school students I had fun doing lots of hands on learning and fun stuff that I liked doing. When I got noticed it all went to crap because they wanted my happy classroom but only if I made changes to fit their conventional thinking. After having children I returned to teaching with starry eyes and got taken off a class because I tried to teach them how to take notes and didn’t give them lots to copy off the blackboard. This was a top class and the admin just wanted them to pass a test instead of learning how to learn. It’s so nice to be away from all that soul crushing convention. I get the impression, from reading your post, that not much has changed for people who are not conventional. I think if I had my chance over again I would look for a way to teach outside the system. But we do what we think we have to do to put food on the table. I’m not in a position to advise anyone to risk being unconventional because I didn’t take that risk growing up but maybe the risk wasn’t as high as I thought.
Thank you so much for sharing this, I really appreciate reading your experience and reflections in relation to going against the norm!
I can imagine it to be slightly easier to be unconventional today thanks to the internet as there are infinite ways to make money online and thereby build up more physical freedom.
I’ve been living unconventionally since the day I finished high school, I guess the most conventional was to go ahead and complete a university degree too, but that was due to still being in the process of realizing that there was another way (or there must be because the other students bored me with their lack of ambition 🫣) I just wanted to make things! But as I got a 80% scholarship it felt like a waste to not use it or to throw away the first year that I had already invested (I paid for my university myself with money made from working through my teenage). Though admittedly if I was to start over I’d invest that money into starting a company instead.
I think the only thing that holds people back ia fear of failure. And I always thought; what’s the worst thing that can happen? That I take a job at the supermarket? Well, that’s not too shabby if it gives me a chance to succeed first!
Ahhh such a great post Elin and I love, love, love the comment from your husband as that feels so true for me! It's similar to growing up being wired by conventional schools and family members who value academia and qualifications and any deviation of that means "you don't really know that" and "it can't be true". I've come to question "what is truth anyway?" and feel like it is subjective in a sense that it's declaration is unique to each individual. Even the findings of science, contrary to what my own training would have me believe, is not fact but in fact probability I.e., not truth and limited to the square box in which it was looked at/conducted. I quit my pHd at 6 months in, not because I couldn't do it or it was too hard but I came to realise all of the above and that I was following expectations imposed upon me by the conventional mindsets I'd grown up around. Since then it's been a bumpy road coming home to my own heart and reconnecting with my own intuition and learning to TRUST it. It's been a rollercoaster of unravelling, scary but hugely rewarding, creative, liberating and I FEEL more connected, and more alive than I ever have before. Its amazing what can happen when we say "no" to others projections and "yes" to us. Thanks for your work 💖.
Wow huge kudos to you to dare to drop out of a phd and start listening to your own voice, I know firsthand how hard it is to go against the grail and what your surroundings expects of you, especially people in close proximity. It’s really hard!!
Praying for the best for you in the future to come but I’m sure it will be all types of exciting things as you unravel more layers ❤️
Thanks Elin! Yes it is so hard but hugely rewarding. I'm super excited to continue to explore and step into my own. It's a really personal journey learning 'how to be yourself 💫.
I really enjoyed this piece. I think there is a very intense/often uncomfortable relationship between our intuition and logic, and I sense that until very recently, in the past few decades, logic was the tried, tested and winning method. Personal intuition vs logic of the wider community. Because of the societal changes you allude to, I predict in the years to come more people will come to understand and trust that following their intuition and the suggested steps is the only way to achieve true success.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reflections and I can only agree! I also think there’s a countermovement of sorts that brings to more intuitive action… let’s hope! 🥂
What perfect timing Elin!
I have written about this exact same thing in my newsletter that’s scheduled for tomorrow.
We often feel like there is just one way to reach our goals when infact there are many. And some are even more fulfilling in terms of the journey. I chose to ignore those paths for most of my life as I struggled to follow the ways that already existed until I broadened my perspective.
I loved loved loved reading about it. It’s a topic really close to my heart. You have certainly earned a new subscriber today✨
Thank you so much Mansi for your support! Look forward to see your take on it too 🥰🥂
"Paralysis by analysis"...those words need to be where I can see them often.
And I love the threaded line. A new to me way to draw.
Thank you Liza! I tend to write important notes on post its and put them a bit everywhere. They stick for a bit and then fall down or get cleaned away but somehow this physical action helps to make it stick in the head more 👏🥰
This really hit a nerve as this is something I have been struggling with quite a lot lately! Societal and family moulds can add a lot of pressure to certain life choices and how we choose to go about things. It’s our intuition that always guides us back to our authenticity but we aren’t always so quick to listen to our intuition in the first place. Thank you for sharing this Elin, great piece :)
Yes you’re so right about that! I’ve had the same experience through most my life and it’s truly a liberation ones you realise that you don’t have to fit into any mould but still be successful in your own right and on your own path ✨❣️ this applies across the board 💯
I love this SO much. I have been experimenting with my dreams and trying non-traditional routes for years. It’s so much fun when you recognize you’re free to try things and there are so many opportunities out there. Thank you for this!!