What if I make people smile?

Did you notice I didn't land in your inbox on Monday? I didn't forget to do my newsletter, and there's a reason I'm showing up on Wednesday…

My good friend Chris is THE consulting newsletter king, and 12 months ago, he planted a seed in my head… "don't rely on the algo, speak to your audience directly."

I knew he was right, but it was scary to commit to a newsletter that was more consistent than once a month. What if I didn't have enough to say? What if I annoyed people? What if, what if, what if – and notice, all negative what ifs.

This is not at all what I teach my clients, so why was I allowing my own inner critic, Nelly, to negative spiral and control my behaviour?! Unfortunately, parts of the human mind will remain a mystery to me, and so I can't answer that.

But what I can tell you is that Nelly and I had a chat, and we decided that I'm going to be speaking to you directly every Wednesday from now on. We met in the middle, because daily still feels too much to me, but monthly? I miss you!

I'll use this space to share stories, insights, ideas and recommendations with you. This week, as a reminder to you and to me, I want to double down on the inner critic.

The inner critic, in theory, is there to protect us from things that are scary. But who said we can't do scary things?

Try something – I invite you to name your inner critic, give them a persona and have a conversation with them. Challenge them:

Nelly: "What if I annoy people?"
Nadia: "And what if I make people smile?"
Nelly: "Mmm, that's a possibility."

It won't always be that easy, but by challenging your inner critic, you give yourself the chance not to spiral immediately, and who knows what possibilities that might open up for you!

I'll be here every Wednesday. I hope you will be too.

If this resonated, hit reply and tell me: what does your inner critic sound like?

Shine bright,
Nadia 💛

P.S. Try this today: name your inner critic, give them a persona, then challenge just one thing they've been telling you. What might become possible?

P.P.S. Subscribers get 10% off all my offers. Let me know what you’re investing in, and I'll sort it.