For about 2 years now, I’ve been dreaming about a program I want to lead—and for about 2 years, I’ve been procrastinating.

Inspired by my time as an Elephant Journal Apprentice back in the Fall of 2016, I designed a virtual writing group, with the aim of encouraging one another along the journey of discovery. I planned to “soft launch” it to friends I knew in “real life” before unleashing it to the wild world of the interwebs.

I started creating content and got so excited. I didn’t want to sleep—that’s how excited I was. I registered a business name, ran my first (in person) workshop, printed business cards, hired a web designer, got a professional photo done, and joined my local chamber of commerce. I was checking off all of the things I thought I should be doing in order to bring my visions to fruition.

And then, like the sound of screeching tires—I stopped.

There wasn’t any one thing in particular that made me stop. I just, did.

Over the course of the past two years, I’ve been “graced” by about 36 thousand excuses: Overwhelm. Competing priorities. “New projects, ideas, and possibilities come rushing at me so quickly that I struggle to focus on one at a time.” I was running these excuses like a ticker tape in my brain, but I could also hear them coming out of my mouth when the people closest to me (who believed in my initial vision for the program!) would ask me about how things were going. There’s always something: the website’s not right, I don’t know how to write terms and conditions, I don’t want to rush this, and the biggest one—I don’t know how to price it.

A few weeks ago, my friend Erin said: “Watch this TED talk. Seriously. Watch it. You neeeeeed to.” Truth? I avoided it because I was afraid that it would do exactly what it just did.

Erin just sent an email update about her latest creative project. When I thanked and commended her for the update, she said: “I’m just a woman who wants to accomplish something, and I’m trying to take a bit of ownership of that.”

Cliche as it might be, her words kind of stopped me in my tracks a bit.

For months, Erin’s been asking me about my writing program. “What are the details? When will it launch? How can I participate?” and I’ve just continued along my merry ol’ procrastinating way. Here she was, ready to grab life by the horns. So I thought: “What the hell?” and (finally) looked up the TED talk she suggested: “The Art of Asking – Amanda Palmer”.

When she spoke about real human connection, I sat up a little bit straighter.

Unlike Amanda, I’m not about to stand in the middle of a party naked asking strangers to draw on me. Although, the link between this, and getting off my butt and “putting my program out there” was poignant.

Turns out, I do have a thing or two to learn from Miss Palmer (and Erin).
Share what you’ve got with the world, and trust that the world will catch you. It’s probably time. <3