On doing new things and feeling inadequate

I believe you always have to try new things..life is going to force you  to change  anyway, so you might as well embrace it and practice change with some new things that YOU choose and have some power over, right?

As a business owner, I am always trying new things. Reinviting the space, my offerings..you know, keeping it fresh! Or at least I try. 

As some of you know this past year my husband and I started an essential oil company called, The Smelly Sasquatch. About 16 months ago I said to him, “I work too much, I need a hobby. I love essential oils:  will you help me understand how to distill?” We got a still and started learning…isn’t it funny how a “hobby” somehow turned  into a full blown business? Ha

Anyway, if you know me, you know I’m the smelly essential oil girl always telling people “there’s an oil for that” so this new venture has been a GIFT and it’s moving fast, but at the end of the day, what is easy to me and what comes natural to me is being a TEACHER. I mean I’ve been one since I was 21 and when I was about 7 years old I started playing school with my stuffed animals, so you know I’ve been doing it for what feels like forever…!

In this second business, there are so many parts to it: especially since we are not yet at the place to have a team of employees. So I am doing much more than my teaching thing and educating people on essential oils and making recipes! One thing we have been doing is fulfilling orders. Now, I’ve done this with retail at Yoga With Shawna but never at this level. We packed like 12 boxes this week with 250 oils plus candles and more! Exciting YES but let’s just say I am not a box packer. 

This small thing is something new to me (and us) and John is better at it then I am but man, I get frustrated and confused and feel dumb. It takes me a really long time….like an hour to pack a box with 30 things…and the worst part is I was really pretty proud of my one pack job and then I got an email from our biggest client that 25 of the candles were damaged! Needless to say I felt like a loser and that I suck and that I should just give up right now!

That’s the thing though: when you are learning something new and feel like a loser, like you’re bad at it, like “this is too hard,” THIS IS GOOD. You’re exercising your brain, expanding your horizons and LEARNING. You are evolving. Even if it is on something small like box packing…

Anyway, someone once told me you have to do something 100 times and then you’ll be good at it. I forget that the things I have done a hundreds of thousands of times I am good at now but once was not. I am sure the first few classes of me teaching my stuffed animals school when I was 7, I was pretty bad..haha

The other new thing I am working on is making my social media more engaging..I am in social media school (it is a real thing) and they guarantee me if I do what they say I will get a million views. I know that sounds like I’m being ripped off, but It’s a big company teaching me this (Brandon Kane) and everyone who works there is in their 20’s it seems (on brand of course–I mean that is EXACTLY who I want to learn social media from).  Let’s just say this  42 year old has been posting and posting for the past 6 months and the most video views I ever got was 2500! My average views are 500. I mean I see basically more people going to the grocery store.  Anyway, it’s hard, sometimes I hate it, I often times feel inadequate, that I have no idea what I am doing, I’m annoying, I’m bad at it, etc etc  and I definitely get mad at my coaches and think this is “stupid” and I’m never going to get a million views. 

Acting like a baby and thinking the worst case scenario is also right on brand when you are trying something new and it is not easy for you. Learning something new forces us to be uncomfortable…like that caterpillar busting out of his cocoon when he becomes a  butterfly I bet he feels inadequate and complains and maybe thought he was a loser too. 

I do want to clarify that I do love myself very deeply and I don’t really think I am stupid or a loser or etc etc. It’s just when I am learning something new and I am not good at it ALL of the negativity starts oozing out and I like to complain and have a pity party until I become good at it..ha 

  I wanted to write this email today because I am in the middle of learning two new things that are testing me and maybe one of you are learning something new and feel like a great big “loser” too. 

I want to remind you that you are exactly the opposite of that. 

You are a great big winner. 

Good for you for expanding yourself and trying something new. 

Good for you for feeling uncomfortable. 

Good for you for doing this because one day (maybe after 100 or more or less tries) it will be easy and normal for you. 

Keep showing up and keep trying. I’m excited when when packing boxes and making videos online makes me feel that way, but in the meantime you know where you can find me: online posting videos or at the studio packing boxes. :) 

Love, Shawna