Hi, I’m Lee and I’m (un)learning in public. I talk about life and business, the BS that holds us back and the things that build us up again (in my case books, creative explorations and a dash of Murder, She Wrote). It’s lovely to have you here 😊

Hey there

Last month I tried something a bit different in the business. I focussed on just one thing.

The back story

It’s been full on since I ripped everything up earlier this year. I felt like I was on a roller coaster - a fun one (if there is such a thing!); one minute riding high, full of excitement, swept up with throwing it all on its head and moving at a pace I almost couldn’t keep up with. Other times falling low, feeling flat, questioning if what I was doing was enough. If I had REALLY solved the issues I was having.

I’d been bouncing about over the previous weeks, confusing myself on which of my offers I should be talking about and when.

Then there was trying to keep up servicing a substack, the socials, all the while doing the coaching and the other work that make up my business.

It was getting noisy and I couldn’t be sure what was working and what wasn’t.

I knew I needed to change the ride I was on.

Talking with my mentor Lara Sheldrake, I shared that was I doing all the busy work but despite the momentum I wasn’t necessarily seeing the returns I wanted.

I know I’m in this weird in-between stage of my business; mentally I’m five years in, I ‘should’ be established is the story I keep telling myself. Yet the reality of ripping it all up and refocussing means I am, in effect, starting again. I’m giving CPR to dormant social media accounts. I’m still in the newborn stage of my substack. Those who knew me, knew who I used to be, not necessarily who I am becoming.

In full Taurus-mode, I was am being impatient.

I relaunched in the summer. I did this on purpose to allow me the quiet to find my feet. I had to remind myself of this. Really, I’ve only been promoting the business ‘properly’ since September. Two months. I was hardly going to be selling out the 02.

The nub of the issue was…

I needed to do more, but make it feel less.

I had to increase my volume, but make it feel quiet.

That’s how my latest 30 day challenge came about. Lara suggested I focus on one thing only. Do it for 30 days. AND make sure I show up online every day to talk about it!

I wasn’t expecting what happened next…

The experiment

The rules

• pick one thing to promote through the whole of October

• show up online every day talking about that thing.

The results

In our discussion, it was also suggested that a free resource might be a good way to connect people with what (un)learning is all about.

As I said in October’s (un)done, there were a whole load of reasons why the 30 Day FLIP might not have come about - I could have faffed with creating it, I could’ve got hung up on the tech, I could’ve overthought the promo. Perfection could’ve paralysed progress.

But in true JFDI-fashion, I embraced the messy and turned it around quickly enough that I could launch on 1 October (because I’m still a conformist to the ‘new month’ BS 🙄).

There was still the matter of what on earth I was going to do to show up every day. Thankfully, I found a bit of a cheat. I decided to work through the prompts in the 30 Day FLIP as the thing I spoke about that day and use the freebie as my single call to action.

Three things became apparent quite quickly:

1. Being single minded in my call to action made everything a lot easier. I was less pinball bouncing around the machine and more Newton’s Cradle, giving my own display of energy and momentum

2. People like a freebie. I saw a moderate increase in people signing up to substack to get their copy

3. The more I showed up, the more comfortable I got being online and the less time it took. Weirdly, showing up everyday took less time than when I was actively avoiding overposting.

The prompts themselves gave me a whole load of (un)learning moments over the month too…

• When I realised that ‘work’ used to be my whole personality (this resonated with a lot of you too!)

• Accepting that my hobbies are what fuel me and my work and I shouldn’t think of them as ‘nice to do’ activities

• The lies around rest being a weakness, that stress gets the best out of me, or that I had to have an opinion on everything

• The standards that I’m shedding as a small business owner - just because I love my business, doesn’t mean I need to be thinking or working on it 24/7 … sofa time doesn’t mean ‘Canva time’

• Saying no to things that don’t serve me instead of feeling like I ‘have’ to do it

• Honing in on what I want people to feel when they’re around me or work with me.

This last one was a biggie. I’m an introvert and have told myself that I prefer not to be around people. My realisation over the past few months, solidified during this experiment, is that I’m seeking community.

I want to feel part of something. But not in a performative “look how many friends I’ve got” way. In a deep, we’re all in this together and want to shake up shit kind of way. It’s helped me to get even clearer in the type of people I want to work with and how (un)learning can help them to deliver their bigger purpose.

I noticed my connection built the more I showed up as myself. More eyes, more conversations when I put a picture of me instead of an overworked graphic. By the end of the month, I even became more relaxed about the videos I was posting on instagram - talking straight to camera instead of voiceovers to edited b-roll clips.

Basically, the less effort I made, the more people liked it.

What am I taking from my experiments?

• Firstly, I recognise that it’s not sustainable to post every day. I did it for 30 days and sometimes showing up was just on IG stories, but going forward if I want to take a weekend off then that’s my choice. I don’t want to get into a situation where I end up posting rubbish just to be visible. I won’t however be as restrictive as I was before. I know being regular (in all senses 😆) makes things easier for me.

• I’ve accepted that I need to show more of me - people strangely want to see my face, hear my voice, and it doesn’t matter if I look a state. In fact, the more ‘me’ I can be, the more I’ll connect.

• Focussing on one thing works. We know multi-tasking is a myth, well I think multi-selling is too! I say that slightly tongue in cheek, as I probably will still have times where I’m talking about more than one thing (like this week I’m promoting my (un)learning conversations and the 30% discount). But I do think having one primary focus on what I’m promoting over a month will help me feel less scatter-brained!

It was also helpful going through the 30 Day FLIP prompts. Doing that alongside this experiment gave me another lens to view things and I uncovered a whole new load of BS that I’d created for myself while trying to escape the old BS.

If I were to FLIP this experiment, it would look something like this:

False belief: I need to do more to be visible.

Learn the truth: Focus, simplicity and consistency beats chaos every time.

Ignite: I showed up daily, imperfectly, and people connected more deeply.

Practice: Keep showing up as myself - let the purpose lead instead of performance.

I’m planning to revisit the prompts every quarter to see what else shifts. Because (un)learning isn’t a one-time thing, it’s a way of running your business and living your life with more intention.

Perhaps you want to do the same too - you can get the prompt guide in the header of this email or, if you’re new here, sign up as a member and you’ll receive it in your welcome email.

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Over to you... how you can take this experiment and make it your own?

What’s been getting you in a tailspin recently?

Are you overloading your own promotional plate?

Trying to do ALL. THE. THINGS. but losing momentum as a result?

If so, here’s your invitation to experiment:

• Pick one thing to focus on this month - one offer, one project, one message

• Give it your attention and let everything else breathe

• Notice what changes when you stop trying to do it all.

Sometimes the biggest progress comes from doing less - and showing up as more of yourself.

For some extra accountability add below what one thing you want to focus on and how you’re going to do it.

Leave a comment

Lee x

PS. This month I’m opening a handful of free 45-minute (un)learning calls to test a new offer. We’ll dig into what’s feeling stuck, apply my FLIP framework to one area of your work or life, and find one small experiment that could shift things immediately.

Book your free (un)learning conversation

PPS. If you’ve been thinking about diving deeper into (un)learning, there’s still 30% off annual plans until Monday. You’ll get access to all my experiments, prompts and tools - and join a community that’s quietly rewriting what meaningful success looks like.

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