Hey Reader,

A few days ago, I found myself wondering what it would actually take to build a career like Mel Robbins.

Not to become her or copy everything she has created.

But to build my own version of a media business around ideas that help women change their lives.

My mind immediately went to the finished version:

• A successful podcast.
• Books.
• Speaking engagements.
• Digital products and coaching programs.
• A large audience.
• A team.
• An entire company built around sharing ideas that help people.

The vision was exciting.

It was also overwhelming, to say the least.

Because within a few minutes, I went from thinking about the kind of career I wanted to mentally building an entire media company, then wondering how I could possibly get from where I am now to all of that. It just seems so far away!

But I also know it’s important to have references for success.

Sometimes we need to see another woman create something meaningful before we can fully believe that a new possibility might also exist for us too.

Seeing what Mel Robbins has built helps me imagine a larger version of what my own work could someday become.

Her career shows me that it’s possible to take ideas that help people and build resources (a podcast, books, speaking opportunities, products, programs) and an entire media business around them.

That’s honestly scary, but it's also so damn inspiring.

The problem begins when we forget that we’re looking at the version of someone’s career that exists after years of work, and compare it to the version of ours that is only beginning.

We compare someone else’s chapter 20 to our chapter 1.

Then we look at everything she has already created, compare it to everything we haven’t created yet, and interpret the distance between us as evidence that we’re too late, too far behind, and usually think that means we're incapable of getting there.

Of course chapter one looks smaller than chapter 20.

It’s supposed to.

• Chapter one may look like one useful piece of content.
• One person helped.
• One coaching conversation.
• One imperfect offer.
• One podcast episode recorded before anyone is waiting to hear it.

We rarely see all the small repetitions, wrong turns, experiments, quiet seasons, and early versions that came before someone else’s visible version of success.

We only see what those repetitions eventually (often after a lot of years of work) built.

So, yes, look for people whose careers and lives expand your idea of what’s possible.

Let their work inspire you.

Study the choices they made and the skills they developed along the way.

Allow the paths they created to show you that paths like theirs can exist.

But don’t turn someone else’s current results into the place where you believe you’re supposed to begin.

Their journey can be a reference without becoming your blueprint.

Their success can be evidence of possibility without becoming evidence that you’re behind.

When I caught myself trying to understand how to build everything Mel has built, I realized I was mentally constructing the entire media company before creating my next useful piece of content.

I didn’t need to figure out the whole career.

I just need to complete the next repetition.

Because meaningful careers, businesses, creative projects, and lives aren’t usually created through ONE big, enormous, perfectly planned move.

They’re built through repetitions.

• One post.
• One conversation.
• One workshop.
• One invitation.
• One imperfect offer.
• One idea tested, adjusted, and tried again.

If you treated your goal as something that might require 1000 repetitions, not one perfect execution, what would count as one repetition this week?

• If you want to write a book, perhaps it’s writing and sharing one short idea.
• If you want to coach, perhaps it’s having one meaningful coaching conversation.
• If you want to start a business, perhaps it’s explaining your idea to one potential customer.
• If you want to create content, perhaps it’s publishing one useful video.
• If you want to speak publicly, perhaps it’s recording yourself delivering five minutes of your talk.

The repetition should be small enough that you can complete it within the next 48 hours and real enough to give you experience, information, or feedback.

This is also the kind of practice I’m building into Make Your Idea Real, the free challenge and experience I’ve been creating to help you move from idea to reality.

Keep an eye on your inbox, as I will share all the deets with you next week!

For now, I’d simply love to know:

​Hit reply here and tell me if you have also encountered a moment where someone else's success inspired you but also scared you a little bit.

Naming the next repetition may be exactly what helps you stop carrying the weight of the entire dream at once.

26-week pregnancy update 🤰

I’m 26 weeks pregnant now, and I’ve officially reached the stage where getting dressed can become a whole emotional experience. 😂

Some days, I feel amazed by what my body is doing.

Other days, I just feel… fat (and I know what you're thinking, and I also know this is completely silly too).

My clothes fit differently. My body feels unfamiliar. I’m not always comfortable, and if I have to be completely honest, I get a little annoyed whenever someone tells me, “You’re getting so big!” LOL.

I know they mean the baby (I'm actually incredibly thankful that he's growing healthily).

I know it isn’t an insult.

And I know that, in the grand scheme of creating a new life and a human, this is a relatively small problem.

But it’s still a real part of this season and how I'm navigating it.

My recent Amazon search history probably contains more comfortable matching sets and maternity clothes than anything else because, right now, I’m trying to figure out how to feel like myself in a body that seems to change every week.

It has reminded me that every new chapter comes with challenges we couldn’t have completely anticipated from the one before it.

Sometimes becoming the person who can live the life we want means releasing the expectation that we should look, feel, work, or move exactly as we did in a previous season.

I don’t need to force this body into the clothes that worked six months ago.

I need to support the body I have today.

And I think that applies to more than pregnancy.

We’re allowed to adjust our routines, expectations, pace, and even how we care for ourselves as our lives change.

Adapting to a new season doesn’t mean we’ve lost ourselves.

Sometimes it’s just how we learn to meet the next version of ourselves.

It’s embarrassing only if you decide it is 😅

I recently shared a video about something I’ve been thinking about a lot:

Most of the things we call “cringe” aren’t actually embarrassing.

• Recording yourself talking to a camera when you’re still learning how to do it.
• Walking into a new class without knowing anyone.
• Starting to exercise again after being away from it for years.
• Dating after a breakup.
• Changing careers.
• Reinventing yourself when the people around you are accustomed to an older version of you.

None of those things are inherently embarrassing.

They only feel that way because we’re imagining ourselves through someone else’s eyes.

We picture people watching, judging, or wondering who we think we are.

So, we protect ourselves from a few potentially awkward moments by never giving ourselves the opportunity to experience the thing we actually want to try.

I don’t think trying something new is cringe.

I think it’s brave to let yourself be visibly new at something.

And if there is a real loss here, it isn’t looking slightly awkward when you start something new.

It’s reaching the end of another year, or another chapter of your life, and realizing you never gave yourself the chance to discover what might have happened.

​Watch the Reel on Instagram here →​

Meanwhile, let this be your reminder that someone else’s chapter 20 can show you what may be possible. Just don’t let it convince you that your chapter one isn’t enough. Start with the next repetition that belongs to you at this stage of your life.

Let's do this again next Thursday.

P.S. You don’t have to know how the entire story unfolds before you begin. You only need to give yourself the chance to write the next page.

Love creating your mind one day at a time? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below. Subscribe to The Created Mind Thank you for reading and sharing, Jenny ​​​​

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