Things Have Taken a Turn
Things have taken a bit of a turn. Not necessarily in a terrible way, just in that way life sometimes does where a few things you thought were heading in one direction suddenly aren't. Normally my instinct would be to try and sort all of it out at once. Fix it. Plan it. Work out what happens next. Come up with seventeen different scenarios and mentally live through every single one of them before anything has actually happened. But this time I'm trying something different. I'm letting some things take their course. I can't control everything that's going on around me, but I can control where I put my energy, and right now I'm putting it into the things that ARE going well.
One of those things is getting on the road. I'm now properly in the swing of planning how I'm going to take my small business workshops around the country. I've been looking at locations, plotting routes, speaking to hosts and businesses, working out dates and thinking about how I can make it work so people can actually book me in their area. Not massive conference. Not me standing at the front of a room talking AT people for four hours. Small groups, real businesses, real problems and enough time for us to actually get stuck into them.
As I write this, I'm packing for Bristol, where I'm testing the whole format. I've had people apply beforehand and tell me about themselves, their businesses, where they're stuck and what they actually need help with, and I've bloody loved reading the applications. Instead of creating a generic workshop and hoping it applies to everyone in the room, I've been able to plan the day around the actual people coming. Their businesses. Their questions. Their problems. It means no two workshops will ever be exactly the same, and I think that's the bit that's made something click for me. I've spent years helping small businesses, mentoring, teaching social media, talking about pricing, visibility, websites, offers and all the other shit that comes with trying to make money from something you've created. But this feels different. I feel like I've found my passion. Getting out there, meeting people where they are and helping them untangle their businesses in real life. I'm really excited to see what this becomes.
So while some other areas of my life are currently being left to sort themselves out, this is the bit I'm running towards. Quite literally, once I find a campervan.
And obviously, an update on Dog Man, because apparently this is also what my blog has become. I have not yet been arrested for low level stalking, so that's positive. However, I did completely fumble an interaction this week when Dog Man actually attempted to engage with me. Turns out all the confidence I possess in literally every other area of my life leaves my body when this man gets within approximately ten feet of me. I turn to jelly. Who the fuck am I? I don't recognise myself at all. I can stand on a stage and talk to hundreds of people. I can walk into a room full of strangers and start conversations. I can travel around the country on my own helping people with their businesses. Dog Man says something to me? Brain gone.
Anyway, if there is even the slightest chance Dog Man is reading this, you know who you are. You're simply going to have to do the work and ask me. I appreciate that you tried on Wednesday morning. I fumbled. Your move.
And maybe that's the theme of this week after all. You don’t need to know how everything is going to turn out. Some things need your energy. Some things need time. Some things need you to get out there and see what happens. And some things apparently need Dog Man to grow a pair. I'm just going to ride it out and see where it all takes me.
Same person
New chapter x