Hey Reader,
I didn’t send this newsletter last fortnight. But it wasn’t because I forgot. And it certainly wasn’t because I didn’t care.
I was away at a conference after I’d just come back from Sydney. I’d spent 3.5 out of the previous ten workdays travelling. And the morning the newsletter was due to go out, I looked at my list and something had to give.
To send it, I would’ve had to skip the start of the day, miss something important, or awkwardly tap away on my laptop while someone else was speaking (just rude, IMO).
So I made the call and I let it go.
I felt so guilty.
I’d told myself I’d write to you every two weeks. I’d made a commitment. Skipping it, even for a good reason, felt like letting people down and letting myself down too.
It's a tough feeling to shake, even though it's something so small and not at all essential to anyone's life.
What I keep reminding myself of, and what I’ve learned from 7 years in business and from years of coworking alongside business owners behind the scenes is:
- Everyone drops the ball sometimes.
- Everyone misses the post, the deadline, the “should”.
- Everyone has to choose where their energy goes.
And most of the time? No one is watching as closely as we think.
Online, it looks like people are always “on” and it’s easy to trick yourself into thinking that’s the whole truth.
In real life, those same people might be working away in hoodies, postponing launches, skipping posts, rethinking plans, questioning their whole business.
They're still doing the work, just not in perfect, polished public-facing ways.
You’re not letting anyone down by choosing presence over pressure. And taking a break from one thing doesn’t mean you’ve failed at the whole thing.
You’re just running a real business in real life.
Rach
P.S. You might be wondering whatever happened with the sale of Cool Wow after EOIs closed at the end of June. Hopefully I'll have an update soon!
