What Fresh Hell is this?!
This week we dropped the first two episodes of Hell Yeah You Will. The emotional rollercoaster of launch weeks came flooding back. I’m proud of how the show is coming together. I’ve never felt more clear on meeting a current moment (if that makes sense?) However, the meaner part of my brain is better at seeing the gaps, the silence before any big winnings roll in.
I’m remembering that approval isn’t reason enough to put this much work into anything. We either do it, or we don’t based on potential to reach any single one person in need of the medicine. That’s reason enough. First there is reach, then by God’s grace, there’s next week (frequency). Somewhere down the road there is scale.
My coach Christine challenged me as I was writing my first book. She said we don’t write it for launch week sales numbers. We write it for the woman 100 years from now who wanders into a used book shop. She finds our medicine far down stream, and it changes her life. If we’re really blessed in our long middle, we notice our lives changing simply by clocking in. It’s been one of those weeks. Plenty of eyeballs-bleeding screen time, but more than anything: purpose. It feels really good to be back at work.
Above all, this week taught me: you. If you’re reading this, you are exactly who this show was built for. A few notes that came in blew my heart open. Not because they were flattering, but because they were true. Because the long middle, it turns out, looks differently for each of us. A lawyer who left her law practice to open the heart of humanity with horses. A 38-year career executive learning to release her prior identity along with the title. A grief counselor who keeps finding her “hell yeah” in shepherding loss.
This is the show working. These are the early stages of perseverance.
Lucinda Vette, Equine Programming Manager at Miraval Resort in Arizona, shared this on LinkedIn. It brilliantly captures my first week back as a podcaster:
“Sometimes it feels like building a cathedral that won’t be finished in my lifetime. Some things feel so fundamental and important, you forget about outcome and just take one step after another in the moment.”
See what I mean? Yes, 100%. Our cathedral is the long middle in its most sacred, generous form: effort becomes the means, and the reward. We chip away at our long middle because it’s our honor to take on the assignment. The rewards will come and go.
I’m thinking of so many of us who dream of launching our own coaching, consulting, or counseling practice. I was staring at that mountain in front of me, 10 years ago this week. Today, I became my longest employer! It hasn’t been easy, but it is the most rewarding gig I’ve ever had. This morning a longtime coaching client thanked me for some powerhouse coaching. You know what? Before anyone ever hires us, we need to hire our damn selves. For my Decade Bonus: I’m splurging on 2 cans of Farmhouse Blue super-paint. OK, that’s because I already finished building and wiring my dream recording studio.
Janice Lodato, a Reiki Master Teacher and Grief support practitioner, (Follow her here as The Grief Gardner, shared our Pre-Season Episode “Why Perseverance, and Why Now?”
“We WILL blossom again. Together. As 1.”
Grief knows the long middle better than any human experience. Thank you for being here, Janice. And congrats! You won the drawing for my extra copy of Elena Brower’s excellent new book: Hold Nothing. DM me your address! 👏🏻
Jen Taylor, retired after a 38-year career in finance, wrote what might be my favorite observation of the week — about Tom Bergeron recognizing he no longer needs the fire in his belly, and what it means to learn to enjoy that:
“This can be hard when so much of our identity, confidence and expertise is linked to our work... With all of his success, his humility stood out to me and I’m an even bigger fan of his now.”
Jen, you nailed something Tom and I circled around. Identity and achievement are a polarity, not a destination. He’s living proof that you are exactly where you need to be.
Episode 1: Tom Bergeron on Comedy and Meditation. He hosted many hundreds of high-stakes live episodes. This is what the camera never caught, but I had a hunch was always there. It’s what keeps a man grounded when the world turns sideways.
Pre-Season: Why Perseverance, and Why Now? The thesis. Where this show comes from and why I believe the long middle is the most important conversation we’re not having.
This Tuesday! Gobal yoga and meditation teacher Elena Brower on Caring Deeply + Hold Nothing
Available on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Or, wherever you listen
If this resonated, subscribe and follow so you don’t miss what’s coming. Then share it with one person in their own long middle. That’s the whole ask.
Hell Yeah, You Will. Who should I talk to next?
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