If you’re feeling stuck with your business, don’t feel like you have to “throw it all in” and move ahead with something else (that’s the anxious creative mind talking!) Before jumping to conclusions like “my heart’s not in it” or “this isn’t working anymore”, take time to change your perspective about why you might be feeling stuck with business.

Be real. 

Have you ever stopped yourself from sharing something you wrote, drew, painted, imagined, dreamed… poured your heart and soul into …because sharing to anyone but yourself was TERRIFYING?

Diaries are included!

Seriously, how many of us have written our innermost thoughts down and then hid it, lock and key, because we couldn’t bear someone actually reading our innermost thoughts?

You have another personality and you’re not so sure yet if you want to share it. 

Those ideas, that dream, that vision you had as a little girl is sticking SO close to your heart that sometimes you can’t even find it!

You cover it with someone else’s idea of what’s “mainstream” or “trending now”. 

You only look when you know no one’s looking. 

Or you simply forget about it because it’s been so long since you took it out and held it, appreciated it, and expanded on it. 

You’re hiding your inner creativity and guess what? It’s HOLDING YOU BACK!! 

When did you start hiding, anyway? 

It began in elementary school for me. I developed two personalities. One personality was creative, outgoing, confident. And it remained at home.

I’d happily sit in my bedroom for hours on end creating stories and reading them with gusto to my stuffed animals. 

I would create plays and dream they’d be on grand stages someday. I’d invite only my closest friends to join my sing-along groups and perform to the “crowd”.  

I was a little girl with a big secret dream of becoming famous. 

I pictured people some day touring my house to see where the great “Caroline” grew up just as my family and I toured other famous people’s houses! 

Then there was the “school me”, the public me. Shy, reserved…not willing to show off. 

I remember one particular incident in grade two or three. We had a school-wide reading event. We each had to go classroom to classroom, join a circle and read our chosen book. 

This whole event was mortifying! 

That very young me felt so much anxiety at the mere thought of reading to other kids from different classes.

Funny how I could be so creative, so outgoing and quirky in my own domain but the minute I was placed in a public place and asked to be myself I felt LOST, SCARED, TERRIFIED. 

HIDING your true self, not feeling comfortable with your own creativity, your own uniqueness is undeniably normal, unfortunately! 

We learn somewhere along the way as kids that this is acceptable and it follows us into adulthood. 

As a result, showing your inner self, vocalizing who you are, sharing your true vision for your life and inner creativity is SO not comfortable. 

Your internal voice has told you to keep your creativity hidden like a rare jewel all these years so starting now is scary. 

Especially NOW when everyone’s on social media and SCRUTINY is so easy for people to dish out!

Even as someone who has worked online for 10 years now, I can appreciate how absolutely terrifying it is to share! 

Yes it’s scary yes there’s always the potential that somebody will be behind their keyboard judging.. BUT there are so many people that you can reach out to and are WAITING for someone like you – the TRUE you. 

There are so many people who can RELATE to you and who would APPRECIATE your TRUE and INNER creativity. And appreciate where you truly want to take your business. 

My eight-year-old self created and did such amazing things behind closed doors,  yet couldn’t read in front of her classmates. Because of it, I was declared shy and I started to believe the label.

It took me too many years to let my inner creativity out. And then it took me more years to shape my business into what I truly wanted it to be. Because I was worried about not being “qualified” or “letting people down” or being asked “why are you heading in this direction?” 

You don’t need to go through the same struggles. 

The creativity that helped you launch your business in the first place should never hide. 

You had a vision and ran with it. Now, you might have an updated vision or desire to explore what else is out there. And it’s time to embrace the fact that your current audience wants to see where else it can take you! 

Don’t keep yourself and your desires under wraps. 

And certainly don’t keep your creativity and unique self away from your audience. Your best and ideal clients are waiting to see who you really are and what you’ve got in store for them…you and I both know it’s amazing!