Building Your Creative Income: 7 Practical Steps for Financial Freedom with a Portfolio Career.

Even though the days of job security and one job for life are long gone, the idea of it being replaced by a career solely focused on one area of expertise is also becoming outdated. Especially with the rise of the gig economy, more and more people are turning to portfolio careers to build their creative income. A portfolio career means having multiple sources of income, often in different industries or areas of work, rather than relying on one full-time job.

For many creatives, especially generalists, this type of career may already be familiar - working on freelance projects while having a part-time job or taking on various side gigs. But with careful planning and deliberate action, a portfolio career can be a sustainable and fulfilling way to build your creative income and achieve financial freedom while doing work you love!

In this article, I share insights from working with creatives (for a decade now!) on how to create a portfolio career that works for you. I hope it will inspire you to follow your career dreams and embrace the opportunities that come from having a portfolio career.

Embrace your unique generalist nature

As a creative generalist or someone with many interests and passions, the traditional linear career path with a single job and source of income often leads to bore-out, especially if your talents are being underutilized (which they usually are). Instead, a portfolio career combines multiple income streams aligned with your passions, interests, talents, and skills. That's the amazing part! But, however exciting this approach can be, it often feels financially precarious.

Many of my clients have expressed concerns about financial stability while pursuing their creative endeavors, a recurring theme when onboarding new coaching clients. They might feel like they don't have their "shit together." Or they might have innovative business ideas they're unsure how to market, like this wonderful creative who has been in wine and restaurant management before having a child and who came to me while working on a nut-free energy bar recipe geared towards new mothers, also considering an app focused on mother care. A typical way for a creative generalist to connect seemingly unconnected dots or, as I like to say it, discover their unique "glue."

7 Practical steps for financial freedom with a portfolio career

As a creative (generalist) and entrepreneur, building a multi-source income stream is crucial for long-term financial sustainability while allowing you the freedom to do work that truly fills you up. Here are some practical steps that worked for me and many of my clients to help you create your own thriving financial foundation:

#1 Map your talents and skills, and learn to appreciate them

As someone with a creative and entrepreneurial mind, you have many skills, talents, and interests. That's a given. But being clear about what you're good at and enjoy doing isn't always straightforward. Make a comprehensive list of everything you can do, from your professional experience to your hobbies and creative pursuits.

Consider how each of these can potentially generate income or how you could combine a few into a career. Don't underestimate the value of seemingly unrelated skills or interests; they can often be combined in unique and profitable ways.

#2 Diversify your income streams strategically

Multiple income streams are the cornerstone of a portfolio career and decide its financial sustainability. This can include freelance work, a part-time job (or "good enough job," as Barbara Sher calls it in her book Wishcraft), selling creative or online products, teaching workshops, consulting and coaching, or developing online courses.

The goal is to create a mix that provides both a stable base and opportunities for growth. Consider how you can use your different skills, talents, and interests to create a mix of income streams for your portfolio career.

#3 Understand that fear is the dreamkiller

As you start building a portfolio career, or if you've been thinking about what you could do for a long time but haven't taken any substantial action toward one or more ideas yet (hello, unfinished projects on the shelf, I see you!), it's important to acknowledge and understand that fear can be a major roadblock. Fear of failure, rejection, and not being good enough are all common fears that can hold us back from pursuing our dreams. The insidious thing is that fear often doesn't show up as fear. It disguises itself in very well-packaged excuses, such as "I don't have enough time" or "I'm not ready yet," or as perfectionism, people-pleasing, or procrastination.

It's important to remember that fear is just a feeling, and feelings can be managed and overcome. It's about shifting your perspective and learning to work through your fears.

#4 Price your services and products high enough

Many creatives struggle with pricing their work. Remember that your unique mix of skills and perspective brings significant value. Research industry rates, but also consider the value you bring to each project. As mentioned in my book "Get Unstuck!," building a business that feels right and using marketing practices aligned with your values is important.

Don't undervalue your expertise out of fear of not being good enough. Instead, price your services and products high enough to reflect the value you bring to the table. It is important for you to get fair compensation for your work and to help you build a sustainable business model.

#5 Collaborate and network with other creatives

Collaboration and networking are key components to any business or career, but as a creative generalist, I find it's more important than ever. We are still living in a world of specialists, and that can erode our self-worth and talk us out of our portfolio career dreams. By connecting with other creatives, you can expand your skills and knowledge through learning from others. Additionally, collaborating with others allows you to work on projects that may have been too large or complex to take on alone or that you were too scared to even start with!

My exclusive community, "Gen Spark," is here to do just that: facilitate collaboration and connection among creative generalists. Click here to discover more and become a member.

#6 Manage your finances mindfully

Financial management is key to making your portfolio career work - or any career or business for that matter. After working with creative entrepreneurs and generalists for a decade, I know that the admin and financial side of their careers and business are often not their strong suit. However, this doesn't have to stop you from being successful. With mindful and intentional financial management, you can stay on top of your finances and make good decisions about your career and business.

To start, it's important to understand the basics of personal finance, such as budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt. This will give you a solid foundation for making financial decisions that align with your goals and values. I know it sounds scary, but you can do it!

#7 Never stop learning and growing

Continuously learning and developing your skills is important for a successful portfolio career. But one thing that is more important than any other is learning how your creative brain works. That is why psychoeducation into the uniqueness of your creative brain is part of my work with my clients.

How good is it to know how you should do something if you are unaware of how your brain actually operates? Understanding your strengths and weaknesses and how to work with them can be a game changer in your portfolio career.

Building your creative income as a creative generalist takes time, intention, strategic planning, and an unwavering belief in the value and uniqueness of your multifaceted self. But once you have laid the foundation and established a solid portfolio career, the possibilities are endless.

Ready to take real steps towards building your own thriving portfolio career?

Are you done with being confined to just one career path and ready to embrace your multi-passionate nature? Are you tired of feeling like you have to choose between your different passions and skills?

I can help! In fact, liberating creative generalists from the 9 to 5 is what I do best. Let's discuss your unique skills, passions, and financial goals and start mapping out a strategy for your portfolio career.

Schedule your free session!

Manifesting Your Dreams: How Your Thoughts Can Shape Your Life as a Creative Generalist (I know it's woo-woo, but it works!)

As I set out to launch a new start-up project (check out CoachMila™.ai and let me know what you think!), I can't help but reflect on the incredible journey of being a creative generalist. This term has become an anchor for many of us drawn to a diverse and multi-faceted range of passions and interests.

Have you ever felt like your curiosity includes (but isn't limited to!) writing, technology, wellness, art, or even human connection and personal growth? If so, you’re in good company! How your brain is wired is a gift, and your interests are pulling at you, offering a unique perspective and endless potential. But let’s be honest - it can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Navigating the maze of possibilities can leave us feeling stuck, unsure which path to follow or how to combine our many interests. Add to that the stories we tell ourselves about who we should be and the comparison traps we fall into, and it's no wonder creative generalists often feel paralyzed.

Here's the good news: your creative thoughts can transform your life. By rewiring your mindset and intentionally aligning your thoughts with your dreams, you can manifest a life that reflects your unique gifts as a generalist.

The Power of Manifestation: Creative Thoughts Become Things

Over the past decade, I've explored and experimented more with the concept of manifestation - not as magic (although it sure does feel like it!) but as a process rooted in the science of neuroplasticity and the power of intentional thinking. Rewiring how we think - shifting from limiting beliefs to empowering ones - can transform how we see ourselves and build our dreams. Neuroplasticity teaches us that our brains are malleable; by intentionally shifting our thought patterns over time, we can create new neural pathways that align with our goals and values.

One of my favorite ways to put it is this: “The magic is not in the wand, but rather in the thoughts of the one holding it.”

For creative generalists like you and I - who often juggle multiple passions and ideas - this process is especially powerful. It allows us to embrace our multifaceted nature while creating clarity and focusing on what truly matters.

But let’s not sugarcoat it: rewiring your brain isn’t always easy. Your sheer number of interests can lead to scattered thinking, choice overload, fear of missing out, or even analysis paralysis. Comparison might creep in as we measure ourselves against other people's external metrics, like follower counts or career milestones. When this happens, it’s important to remember that change starts within you - by deliberately shifting your thoughts (over and over again, months on end) so you can create new mental patterns that align with what you actually want.

Practices for Rewiring Your Thoughts and Manifesting Your Dreams as a Creative Generalist

So, how do we begin rewiring our brains and changing our thoughts to manifest the lives we envision? Here are a few practices I've tried in recent years that have worked really well for me:

• Mantra recitation with brain frequency music
  I've been doing this for two years daily for twenty, and it has changed my life! Start your day by reciting empowering mantras on flashcards while listening to brain-frequency music, such as 417 Hz or other healing frequencies. This practice combines the cognitive benefits of NLP and repetition with the neural alignment provided by specific sound frequencies, promoting clarity, focus, emotional balance, and even lowering anxiety. P.S. If you want my Spotify playlist, DM me, and I'll share it!

• Create space for reflection
  Spend time in solitude and stillness through meditation, journaling, or quiet walks in nature to notice recurring thought patterns and identify those that no longer serve you. This helps bring subconscious beliefs into conscious awareness, making it easier to reframe them.

• Reframe limiting beliefs
  Challenge negative self-talk by replacing it with affirmations or empowering alternatives that support growth and possibility. Since last year, I've decided to treat every negative thought as false, and again, it has transformed my life! Honestly, is the negative chatter in our heads true? And, if not, does it deserve any of our time?

• Experiment
  Try small projects related to your passions and observe what brings joy and flow. Remind yourself you're not making a decision or writing anything in stone; you're just trying something out. The benefit? These activities engage the brain's reward system, strengthening neural connections associated with creativity and fulfillment.

• Trust the process
  Rewiring takes time; trust that even setbacks are part of building new neural pathways - and thoughts. But once the new thoughts take hold, you'll see the world in a whole new light. One day, you'll wake up and realize your life is entirely different, your habits have changed, and you feel more fulfilled. And that's the true power of neuroplasticity - the ability to shape our minds and lives through intentional thoughts and actions.

Embrace Your Inner Rebel and Activist as a Creative Generalist

As a creative generalist, you're not just someone with many interests, passions, and talents. You're also likely to possess a powerful inner rebel and activist. These traits are part of what makes you unique. Your inner rebel thrives on freedom and resists being boxed into rigid structures or routines, even when those constraints come from yourself (hello promises to me I keep breaking!). Meanwhile, your inner activist has a strong sense of justice and an innate drive to stand up for what's right, whether in your personal life or the world around you (aka, you hate following directions from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about).

These qualities can be incredible assets. They nurture your creativity and push you to innovate in ways others might not. However, they can also create challenges, such as procrastination, self-sabotage, or frustration when your work or life feels misaligned with your values. Recognizing these inner forces is a big first step toward working with them effectively so they don't stand in the way of your dreams.

How Psycho-Education Can Help You Manifest Your Dreams as a Creative Generalist

Understanding how your creative brain works - and why you think and act the way you do - can be the most reality-bending thing you'll ever do. This is where psycho-education comes in. By learning about the unique wiring of your brain as a creative generalist, you can develop strategies to work with your natural tendencies rather than against them. That's why it's an important part of what I do with my clients. For example:

• Learn to collaborate with your inner rebel by giving yourself more freedom in how you approach creative projects. This might mean allowing for flexibility in your schedule or experimenting with different methods of working that feel more aligned with your energy and interests. My Freedom Planner is a great way to get started. Get your free copy here.

• Empower your inner activist by channeling your passion for justice into meaningful projects that align with your values. Whether through art, entrepreneurship, or community work, finding ways for this natural drive to express itself can bring so much joy and fulfillment.

Manifestation begins with the belief that your thoughts shape your reality. As Gandhi wisely said: "Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions…" This quote reminds me that by intentionally shaping my beliefs and thoughts, I can create an outer reality that reflects my inner transformation.

If you've ever felt like the world wasn't designed for someone like you, know there's nothing wrong with how you're wired. You're not an "ugly duckling" trying to fit into a world of specialists - you're a swan among swans in the world of creative generalists. Now spread those beautiful wings and show the world who you truly are!

No more burning out, people-pleasing, or picking just one thing.

Through my coaching, I provide psycho-education tailored specifically to creative generalists like you. Together, we'll explore how to embrace the unique way your brain is wired while building a career and life that reflects your passions, talents, and interests.

By understanding the science behind how your brain works - including its need for variety, freedom, and purpose - you'll gain tools for greater creativity, resilience, and clarity in everything you do.

Schedule your free session!

Generalist Wisdom Part 1: Specialists Learn Everything,Generalists Learn Everything That Is Useful

As early as our teens, we’re expected to pick a particular career path. Careers days start as early as 4th grade nowadays, with many kids exclamating the classics that they’ll be nurses, teachers, or firefighters, or not knowing what they want to do at all! Still, we insist on starting the decision game at that young age. And for generalists and creative types, it’s all downhill from there.

In the past, like our parents’ generations, you picked one career and you kept going your entire working life. Every class you took in college or post-graduate certification was meant to further that career, help you climb the corporate ladder, and set you up for an easy retirement. 

There have always been outliers to this, of course. People who followed one path and then jumped to the next when they decided to learn something new. But it really wasn’t until the last decade - when being a generalist became super popular - that hiring managers are finally seeing the benefit to having generalists on the team. 

The difference between a specialist and a generalist is that specialists want to know everything about a single subject, but generalists want to know everything that is USEFUL about a particular subject. For instance, this can be seen clearly in the medical field. The neurosurgeon learns everything there is to know about the brain, nervous systems, and the spine. But a general surgeon must learn about several different areas of the body. Their “specialized” knowledge is specific to be useful for them to perform surgery in that particular area. They won’t know everything there is to know about neurosurgery, but they’ll know enough to help if needed. 

Another great example of this is the music teacher vs. violin professor. A music teacher has a generalized understanding of musical instruments, music theory, and maybe plays a few instruments well - not spectacularly, but good enough to teach students about music. The violin professor, on the other hand, has spent years learning everything there is to know about their instrument, how to play a vast amount of music, how to teach others to play the violin, and while they might know how to play another instrument, they’d never sacrifice their violin technique for it. 

There are definite pros and cons to being either a specialist or a generalist. Generalists are open to challenges, usually end up in leadership roles, and enjoy thinking outside the box. Specialists, though, usually have less competition for jobs, are better equipped for changes in their field, and sometimes receive higher salaries. 

I know I might be biased, but I definitely think the pros tip toward the generalists just a little bit more 🤓. So, what can you learn from generalists to help your career and businesses? 

1. Increased skill sets. Because generalists tend to learn everything useful about a particular subject, and end up doing this with a lot of subjects, they have various skill sets. Specialists, on the other hand, usually have advanced knowledge in their area of expertise, but they don’t have wide-ranging experience in other areas. Instead of only learning about your particular field, you should become familiar with tangential areas of your field, expanding your skill sets in the process, which can make you both indispensable for your current role but also broaden your skills and knowledge in future ones.

2. Learn to multiproject™ better. Generalists usually have an easier time multiprojecting™ (not in the moment, but with interests!) because of their ability to hop from one thing to the next. They aren’t limited by the box of a specialized field, which gives them a level of comfort when transitioning from topic to topic. Now, usually, I caution my clients on multitasking projects too much. The sweet spot for most generalists is between 3 to 5 at any given time. You shouldn’t burn yourself out trying to do too much at once (projects and ideas have a way of nagging at you until you do something with them anyway, so they’re not about to go anywhere). But if you notice you’re a bit uncomfortable switching gears or meeting various goals, learning to multitask - or habit stack as some researchers have called it - you can get more done without overwhelming yourself.

3. Develop critical thinking and collaborative skills. In most companies, specialists tend to either work with other specialists or in solitary environments. This robs specialists of the ability to work as a team with people who have different viewpoints, which can impede their ability to foster critical thinking. Alternatively, generalists usually work in big groups of people from all sorts of different fields and roles. This gives them the ability to talk to different people, hear different ideas, and incorporate various voices into the work, which can provide better, more sophisticated problem-solving to a project.

Whether you are a specialist or a generalist, there is so much we can learn from one another to improve our current role or help us bring a new business to fruition. By incorporating more of the generalist’s traits into your work, though, you’ll explore and grow necessary skills that can help you positively impact your workplace.

Not sure if you’re a specialist or a generalist?

We’ve been so conditioned to follow the specialist route that it can be confusing to discover you might be a generalist.

By working together, we can figure out which category you fall into and how to leverage that style to improve your career.

Schedule your free session!

Now vs. the future: how to do one thing now vs. wanting to do all the things

Most people overestimate what they can do in short periods but underestimate what they can do in long periods of time. 

Think about it, when you decide to do something, you always think you can get a dozen things done in a really short period of time. Take the new entrepreneur who wants to start a lifestyle blog. They’ll give themselves some sort of short deadline and think they can put a whole website together, start a TikTok and Instagram, get a few pieces of content out on a few platforms, and start marketing themselves. But then if they have a six-month deadline, they’ll think it’s too far into the future, that they have plenty of time,  procrastinate on getting things done, and end up wasting time or even not getting things done at all. 

Neither is a particularly good way of working and both styles can end up crashing and burning - the blog never starting, the entrepreneur getting bored, and something else “more” interesting catching their interest. 

Obviously, this isn’t a great way to start, or do, anything, especially not for an entrepreneur as it leaves us open to missed opportunities and simultaneous burnout and boredom. The best, most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who know how to do more than one thing without wanting to do everything (right now), and can give themselves realistic timelines and tasks to get things done. 

1. Never choose forever, just what’s in the moment. When you have an idea for a business or a way to change your life, you have to give yourself a realistic timeline and action list. 

In the case of the new blogger, doing a small amount of research on website building and digital marketing techniques could help them identify just how long it takes to get a cohesive, working, and aesthetic website together, while also getting their name out there and drumming up buzz for their work. If they chose a deadline farther in the future - or decided on some arbitrary deadline - it may make them lose interest. 

The goal is to keep interest high and get the necessary work done as quickly as possible and without forgetting anything.

2. You can do everything, but you can’t do everything right now. Another aspect of staying engaged is recognizing that you can do everything. Every idea that pops into your head comes from some sort of intuition and guidance. They should be followed, even if just to see how they wouldn’t work in this business or new reality. However, there is a time and place for each. You can do everything, but you can’t do everything all at once. 

For the blogger in our example, they may want to set up the website, get out a new blog, create a few social media posts, set up a LinkedIn referral program, design a reel cover on Canva, and organize Quickbooks for the inevitable UGC or influencer partnerships she believes are coming their way. While all those things are great and necessary to the success of their new business, there is no need to do them all at once. Instead, the entrepreneur should decide on a timeline and figure out what steps need to be taken on day one. If it were me, I’d focus on getting the website and social media set up, as well as social media teezer and my first blog. Once that’s gone out, I’d start a content calendar, and decide on branding, and my main message. From there, I’d work on the administrative things or wait until my first partnership before getting them created so that I knew exactly what to create. Of course, the main focus I would always have is to sell and make sure I reach my ideal clients or users. 

There is a time and place for everything, but if we get caught up in getting everything done, we’ll never get anything done. Instead, we have to focus on what to do now, in this moment, and then move forward from there.

Constantly worried about all the things you have to do?

It can be difficult to identify what needs to be done now, versus what can be done later - especially when we’re excited about a new idea or business.

As a career and business coach, I’ve started working with entrepreneurs who are looking to excel in their target market space. If you have a business idea, don’t know where to start, and need someone to chat with, I’d love to help.

Schedule your free session!

Are you perpetually learning and never doing - aka hiding in the learning stage?

Have you ever gone on vacation and not actually been on vacation? Do you know what I mean? 

As entrepreneurs, it can be really easy to fall into a trap of taking a holiday and instead of relaxing on the beach or fully immersing yourself in the culture around you, your mind wanders back to work and before you know it you’re spending your free time reading up on work documents, doom scrolling social media, and hyperfixating on what you are forgetting. 

What’s the point of taking a holiday then? 

Yes, maybe sometimes we come back feeling a little more relaxed, but not really. More often than not we come back completely neutral, if not a tad more frazzled because of how much time we “took off.” 

That’s got to change. And not only on holidays! We have to start putting boundaries around our holidays - and our time - and sticking to them. We have to recognize that these boundaries are important to our mental health, our stamina, and even our work because a burned out entrepreneur is not a healthy, productive entrepreneur. If we are constantly pressuring ourselves to get in extra work, we are more than likely going to jump ship for something new a minute later (#creativegeneralist). But to stay focused on our current goal, we have to take time to be off the clock and truly relax. 

Say it with me: vacations are for relaxing, not for overproduction.

Another common trait we share as creative entrepreneurs is falling into the trap of perpetually learning and never actually doing. I’ve had countless clients say they have to learn something new before they can do XYZ. When that happens, you know what most of us end up doing? That’s right: working while we are on holiday or having a day off. Which is frustrating, overwhelming, and can easily lead to burnout. 

I had a client that always thought she had to do one more thing before she could get the first thing done. One time she messaged me saying she would be getting an Instagram post up ASAP. I knew it was a big step for her. But then I waited and the post never showed up. I messaged her asking what happened and she told me she decided it would be better as a blog post but before she could write the blog post, she had to update her website. She gave herself more work instead of just posting an graphic and caption! 

She was hiding in the learning stage. 

I think that’s true for all of us: when something is particularly scary or big, we hide in the learning stage so we don’t have to actually do the thing. When I did improv, it was so much fun to learn theories and techniques, but actually getting on stage to practice my “yes, ands” was terrifying. I was much more comfortable learning - about improv, myself, my classmates, etc. - than I was actually doing a show. 

When we remain in the learning stage of a project, we get to sit in our comfort zone. No one can expect anything from us because hey, “we’re still learning!”. But once we decide to go for it - and do the thing - suddenly there are expectations, restrictions, and requirements for the quality of our work. This can be terrifying. Especially for the new entrepreneur or creative generalist who is just deciding to step out on their own and do what they’ve been dreaming of their whole lives.

So, how do we get to the doing part? How do we learn what we need to learn and then get unstuck and get going?

1. Stop yourself. When you’re learning something, give yourself a deadline for when you have to be done. By September 1st, I will be done learning about cybersecurity tools and start putting them into my websites. Giving yourself a deadline is a great way to force yourself out of the learning stage and into the doing stage.

2. Give yourself guidelines. Learning new things can be intoxicating and addicting, but you can prevent yourself from always staying in the learning stage by giving yourself explicit guidelines for your research. For example, if you’re trying to learn about car engines, you probably will need to know about other parts of a car, but you should limit your research to just the car. Don’t start looking at the history of the automobile, how GMC started, and why Ford was fired from his jobs (yes, I see you!). Stick to the research you need to do and then move on when it’s done.

3. Keep a log. Having a research log where you write down what you’ve done and how much time you’ve spent doing it can really help you see the amount of time you’ve spent learning. It will also remind you that to get the thing done on your timeline, you have to move on and start doing.

4. Set clear goals. If there’s something you want to do - whether in work or life - having clear goals about what it is and what research needs to be done will help it come to fruition faster.

5. Trust yourself. Yes, getting stuck perpetually learning can be disastrous and an amazing way to procrastinate forever, but sometimes the best thing you can do is trust yourself. Why are you still learning? What are you trying to accomplish by continuing to research? There might be something that your gut is telling you that your mind can’t understand and the only way to get to the doing stage is to complete the learning stage. By trusting yourself, you’re giving yourself permission to learn for as long as you need because you know that you will start the doing stage when the time is right. And that’s okay too. 

Being a perpetual learner can completely hinder your ability to get unstuck and get work done or achieve the things in your life that you want. By creating boundaries for yourself and your learning, you can stop when you need to and shift into doing. That being said, its also important to remember that sometimes the doing can’t happen till your gut feels content with the learning. So trust yourself. You’ve got this!

Want to take a break?

"Taking a break" doesn't always mean you have to spend a fortune traveling the world. It can be as simple as shutting down your laptop for an extended period and immersing yourself in activities that truly fulfill you.

But if the mere thought of taking a break leaves you anxious, you’re fears are over – I'm here to assist! My creative and entrepreneurial clients come from all walks of life and all corners of the world. And all of them need support in finding the right work-life balance. Together, we'll help you get out of procrastination and “always learning mode”, so you can finally take action - and enjoy your holidays!

Schedule your free session!

Are you suffering from generalist syndrome?

There’s this pervasive character trait for generalists - always wanting to know more, never feeling like you know enough, but letting that desire to learn get you stuck, preventing you from doing the things you want. 

I call it generalist syndrome. Do you have it?

It’s pretty common, nevertheless, it’s incredibly detrimental to our work and life goals. I had a client once who was setting up an event for artists. She seemed to be stuck and I asked her what piece of her work was making her uncomfortable. She told me she wanted to find a new way to get people to gather and work together. She wanted to create a new type of community setting. But instead of doing it, she was focused on the learning part. She wanted to go take a course, become fully knowledgeable in this area, and only then have the event where she would “roll out the brand new meeting style”. 

I asked her if there was an easier way to get what she wanted. This client was confused and stuck to her idea that this was the only way. But then I pointed out that there was actually a shortcut - one that would get the event back on track and allow her to create something new without having to go back to school to do it – she could talk to an expert (aka, a specialist, a creative generalists arch nemesis - just kidding!). 

As generalists, we’re always focusing on learning. And that’s an amazing superpower we have! But we learn so many different things that we forget their are people out there who specialize in specific areas and they’re usually more than happy to let us pick their brains. For my client, the clear shortcut was to set up a coffee chat with someone who already specialized in the type of event she wanted to learn to create. Rather than go to school or take a course, she could pick the specialist’s brain and get her event off the ground! 

That idea you’re currently munching over, the one you’ve been thinking about for a while now? You do not need to learn anything first in order to make it happen. In fact, one might argue that being an entrepreneur is all about learning on the fly. It’s like that famous saying - being an entrepreneur is like jumping off a cliff and assembling a parachute on the way down. We have to think on our toes. There isn’t always going to be a class to take or a course to finish before our brilliant business ideas become successfulr. Sometimes - most of the time - you have to just jump and figure out shortcuts to get that parachute made so you can fly even higher. 

But how do you jump? How do you put aside your generalist syndrome and embrace the shortcuts specialist can offer? Here are three steps I follow every day to shift my focus from learning to networking and doing:

1. Don’t think, just jump. When we get stuck thinking about how much more we have to learn about a subject, or where we can learn the material, we get stuck. It’s like the college student who can’t decide what major they want to follow. They like writing about different characters, but they misinterpret that as wanting to learn the same material as their characters. Instead of just reading research about those positions, they decide to jump from Biology to Anthropology to Chemistry and Physics to English Literature majors. If they had just sat back and realized they wanted to write about a biologist, anthropologist, and astrophysicist, they could have saved themselves a lot of time and effort. Being in business or going after the life we want is similar. Just go after the end goal and don’t worry about all the things you have to learn first. I promise you will learn them on the way and save yourself a ton of time and effort in the long run.

2. Try and fail. “Fail” is the four letter word that evokes fear in most entrepreneurs, but really, there’s nothing quite like failure to teach you what you should be doing instead. The key to getting unstuck and going after what you want out of life is accepting that failure can happen and, if it does, you will be okay - probably better than okay. There is no shortage of businesses that have thrived because of failure. So, don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid to never start. Instead of perpetually learning, take a step back, a deep breath, and just start. 

3. Track your goals. Having clear goals for your work and life can be super helpful in moving your through the learning to doing pipeline. For example, if your goal is to start a copywriting business out of your kitchen so you can spend more time with your kids, you don’t have to take copywriting classes. You don’t have to learn anything before you start. You can, instead, just start looking for work and building your website. Sure, you may have to learn a little bit as you go on, but you don’t have to learn everything before you get your first client. In fact, the best entrepreneurs tend to start working in a business before they even have a chance to create it. When you have clear goals and expectations, you’ll be better motivated to stay on task and get to the doing stage.

Letting the need to learn rule our lives can only negatively impact us, holding us back from the great things we are trying to accomplish. Instead of staying stuck in the learning stage, let go of the fear of doing, track your goals, and make the leap. You never know what successes wait for you on the other side of the cliff.

Ready to jump?

Working together, I will help you build a personalized parachute filled with expert knowledge and a plan of attack for your business’s next steps.

Having a preplanned parachute is overrated. The best part of being an entrepreneur is thinking on your feet.

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Why do fast learners feel like imposters, and how to turn it into a superpower instead

Have you ever felt like that thing you know how to do isn’t special or unique because if you know how to do it, everybody else must know how to do it too? Does this cycle sound familiar?

1. Get excited about new thing.

2. Research new thing. 

3. Fall into a rabbit hole about new thing. 

4. Learn more.

5. Rabbit hole some more. 

6. Fix the thing.

7. Excited to tell everyone about the new stuff you know.

8. Get bored (nobody seems to care).

9. Move on.

Maybe somewhere in there, you think you can offer this service to other people, get excited about doing so, and then start believing everyone else must already know how to do it and why would they want to learn from you anyways…right?

I can honestly say that I spent a lot of my life feeling the same way. Well, at least until I debunked this idea and started recognizing that this just isn’t true. Most people aren’t like that. Most people see a problem and maybe get excited to learn about it for a little while but then ultimately decide they can’t do it on their own. So they give up. Or they never get excited to begin with and let their lack of knowledge stop them from pushing forward until they find someone else to help them navigate the problem. 

That is, there are people who see a problem and learn ten different ways to fix it, and there are people who call the problem solvers for help. And you know this because your phone or DMs are piping hot with calls and messages!? Even in corporate roles, you might be the one asked by someone in a completely different department to help them with something that isn’t even in your job description. Why? Because they know you know how to solve it. Duh! 

And yet - we still think this skill isn’t worth something? The part of me that has been healing my inner child for 20+ years believes it probably came from my parents, but in reality, it could have come from anywhere. I think we are programmed to feel this way by our environment. You know that saying, “You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with,” well, it’s true. If the five people closest to you are telling you that what you know how to do isn’t that special and no one will care - you’re going to believe it. You’re going to feel like an impostor.

Unfortunately, I’m sure it bears repeating, it’s not true. It’s not only about all the stuff you know, it’s deeper than that: it’s about your capacity to learn new things and your insatiable hunger for knowledge. If you’re anything like me, you believe that is common to all people too! So why would you be any more capable to understand complex things or learn yourself a new skill than the next person? Well… because you’re a creative, a generalist, an entrepreneur. You are special and unique for knowing how to do it, and people will want to use those [your] skills in their life and business. You are worthy.

This ability is how our brain is structured. It’s literally a superpower!

So, what sets creatives and entrepreneurs apart from other people? Why is it our default to learn and find solutions to things? I’ve narrowed it down to three things:

1. We’re self-starters. We have this intrinsic motivation and confidence to begin projects on our own. We also have the resilience to navigate challenges and find alternative routes to the information and skills we are trying to learn. 

2. We have a hunger for knowledge. We literally want to learn the thing and until we learn it, nothing will get in our way. Think about all the times you were interested in something and the rest of the world started to fall away until you’d finished learning about it. That hunger to learn is what keeps our motivation moving. 

3. We have an incredible capacity to learn new things. It is easier to become a self-starter and cultivate a hunger for knowledge - these are learned traits - but the capacity to learn new things is something we are born with. 

Moreover, we have never met a problem we couldn’t solve. We know deep down that we can learn and do anything we set our minds to. This knowledge is so ingrained in us that it can be jarring to think that other people don’t possess these traits. Of course, they must have them; how could they not? Right? But they don’t. And that’s okay. This difference in brain structure is something completely unique to us and something that can greatly impact not only your life and work but the life and work of others. 

Now that we understand this, how can we truly accept it? Because really, it’s one thing to understand, and it’s another thing to accept a new reality. Understanding is easy to argue with. Acceptance is deeply rooted and helps challenge our past perceptions so we can hold firm to what actually is. 

To accept that we are uniquely capable of learning things and doing things when others are not - and that others will, and do, need our help with these things - we must:

1. Stop negating it. Stop correcting people when they praise you for knowing how to do something. Stop pretending that they could do it too. Stop telling them they can. Take the compliment, let it swell in your heart, and replace the old ideas that everyone is capable of this. 

2. Let that initial praise grow into confidence, but keep cultivating confidence on your own. When you start to feel like an imposter, work through those feelings. Try and figure out where they come from and then treat them like an episode of Myth Busters - prove why you’re wrong. And if you can’t, check out my blog on how to overcome imposter syndrome.

3. Debunk your doubts. Instead of believing every negative thought that pops into your head or the voice of your third-grade teacher who told you you weren’t capable of something, start listening to that other voice in your mind that says you are capable. The one thing people don’t talk about is how when we hear a doubt pop up in our mind, we also hear another voice saying, “That’s not true.” The problem is that the other voice is so quiet, we tend to believe it less. But if you can find the strength to listen to that small voice, you’ll give it the courage to get louder. The more you listen, the more it will call to you over the roar of your doubts until one day, your doubts are the quiet voice, and the little voice is the big one. 

You are innately capable of doing so many incredible things. You have to stop thinking that just because you can do something, everyone else must be able to do it, and therefore your work or thoughts on the matter are not worthwhile. Stop getting in your own way with these thoughts. I promise that not only are you special for being able to do that thing, but there’s also someone waiting for you to help them with that knowledge.

Want to learn how to debunk your doubts?

We all have them - doubts. But the really successful people don’t believe in them. They hear them and let them go.

This is a skill that can be learned and grown. It just takes time, attention, and some coaching. That’s where I come in. With my help, we can isolate your doubts and watch them crumble so you can finally go after the career or business that you want!

Schedule your free session!