1.11.26 Sunday Reset

I've had a love-hate relationship with the internet since it walked into my life in sixth grade.*

The internet is a great connector and a great provider of information. Learning how to connect with others** and always-be-learning are two things I'm forever grateful to the internet for.

And yet, it is addicting. It can be all-consuming. Apps are run by people spending millions (if not billions) to keep you online and on their platforms at all costs.

So, I've routinely checked my relationship with the internet--and all social media--regularly leaving most platforms behind.

I read about and experiment with tools that will return my life to an increasingly analog experience.

Even so, I'm routinely reminded of the power of the internet.

I spent Thanksgiving through New Years remote.

When I returned to the office this week, I arrived to a stack of holiday cards and gifts.

In that stack? The below note.

I am driven by an innate desire to make a difference. I am also driven by an innate fear that I'm not doing that, that I'm not living up to expectations, and that I'm not good enough.

The evidence, of course, weighs against that fear, and, even so, I struggle with it.

This note? A reminder that I do make a difference.

In 2024, I launched my podcast, The Grace Period.

Launched is too strong of a word. I created it,*** shared about it once a week here on LinkedIn, and otherwise let it be. Any growth has been organic and largely word of mouth--even surreptitious.

It took me months (nearly a year) to get over the doubts about doing podcast. Why would I add to the already inundated world of podcasts?

Why?

Because I have a genuine voice and authentic story.

So do you.

This note is a reminder: with a genuine voice and authentic story, you will reach people. Your audience will come.

This note is a reminder: do it anyway.

That's what I tell people when they ask me if they should post on LinkedIn.

Yes.

Tell your story. Be genuine and authentic in your desire to reach and help others. And, notes like this will find you, too.

♥️🔥✌🏻

* I can still vividly recall my dad sitting me down and asking me to come up with my first email address: esstarz@bellsouth.net (I was obsessed with meteorology--wanting to be a weatherman--and had placed 100s if not 1000s of glow-in-the-dark stars all over my room).

** My generation, elder millennials, has been building and maintaining relationships virtually for nearly three decades. This, I believe, is why remote work works for us and why we can and do remain engaged even when not in the office every day.

*** Podcasting is way easier than you'd imagine. For me? Canva + Voice Memos + Buzzsprout. We (humans) overcomplicate things, often as a reason not to do something. There's always a reason not to do something. Don't let the fear of it being complicated be a reason for you not to try.