This past weekend I flew to Phoenix for an event called Power Boost Live! hosted by one of the most brilliant and generous people I know, Pam Slim (author of Escape From Cubicle Nation and the lovely lady standing next to me in the pic to the left).
Over the course of two days I met a ton of similarly brilliant and generous entrepreneurs, each working on their personal passion projects, each looking to learn, grow, and share, each bringing their unique vision with them. It was pretty damn amazing.
When I first decided to attend, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. But my gut said “Hell to the yes!” about signing up, so I listened. My plan was to bring my favorite Jill Bliss notebook, my ideal pen, a few mix and match outfits, and an open mind. So that’s what I did.
And what I was powerfully reminded of was this:
The world needs what we (you, me, everyone) has to offer when we share our gifts.
Connecting with others is at the heart of why we’re here.
Hiding and playing it safe isn’t an option.
Everyone fails along the way.
Creating is a learning process.
That last one is a biggie. It’s something that people who haven’t spent time building and creating something – a piece of art, a book, a business – might not get.
Creating isn’t simply about having a vision, executing it, and moving on. Inherent in the process is a continual cycle of excitement + doubt + flow + output + more doubt + progress + failure + breakthroughs, in no particular order.
Creating is about being open. It’s about not knowing necessarily how or when or where the resources, inspiration, and success will emerge, but showing up anyway.
Showing up — really truly putting yourself out there, taking those risks, and being willing to suck at whatever it is you’re doing — is the key to anything worth creating.
Scary? Sometimes. But when we all show up together, the risks don’t seem as big and the payoff is oh so worth it.