Hi.
“You said you wanted to write more and you’re working through a lot of stuff. Have you been writing more?”
My business coach loves a hard question.
“I journal, but honestly, I have this feeling where if I start writing more, I’ll open the floodgates and I don’t know what will come out.”
I’m hesitant to find out what lurks beneath this anxiety-ridden exterior. What does it feel like to write down and share what I’m thinking about? The things that keep me up at night. The thoughts that give me pause when I’m on a leisurely walk with the corgis. The work questions I’m wrestling with.
What does it look like to be clear on my thoughts and ideas? How I think as a financial planner, investor, mom, partner, and person?
I’ve struggled with creating thoughtful content that goes beyond the character limit of Twitter or the images on Instagram. I also struggle with consistency. But, I am craving a creative outlet and my husband told me I couldn’t make a mess, so we’ll see how far this gets me. (Note: I am not ruling out glitter art as a creative outlet, despite the damage it might do to my relationship with Ryan.)
This Substack is over a year in the making. I had no idea what I wanted it to be. I knew I couldn’t just write about one area, but would people read posts written by someone with the attention span of a squirrel?
Turns out, the process of me writing down my ideas and hitting publish is probably more important than anyone actually reading them, mainly because the act of hitting publish is the most terrifying part. And, we need to do things that terrify us.
I have no idea what I’ll be writing about at any given time, though there are topics I spend much of my time thinking, learning, and (sometimes) stressing about:
Financial planning
Mental health and wellness
Utilizing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data in financial planning and investing
Motherhood
Being a woman in today’s world
Living well
My community (Portland, Oregon)
Before I can get to that stuff, I need to hit publish on this post. The hardest part. I’m going to try not to hyperventilate.
Here’s to doing hard things and being persistent, even when we’re inconsistent.