Stronger Content Creates a Stronger Self

You know how you can hear something that you know is true, but it just doesn’t sink in? It’s like you’re just not ready for that message.

But then one day, you hear it again—maybe from a different person, maybe when flipping through some old notes, or maybe even from deep in the recesses of your brain. And suddenly it has all the meaning in the world.

It can be a weird sensation—you feel like you’ve discovered something new, something exciting and fresh, and then you realize that you’ve heard it before, or thought it before, and that it’s only now making sense to you.

Last year, around this time, I worked with the ever-wonderful team over at Braid Creative. I hired them to help me with my branding, but also to get their perspective on how to talk about what I do. I had done the work—dug deep, been honest with myself, figured lots of things out—but I just couldn’t make the connections myself. (I have this theory that a lot of times, when we’re hiring someone, we’re really looking for someone to make connections we can’t make ourselves—but we’ll talk about that another time.)

And as we worked together, make connections they did. They took the jumbled-up ideas I was sharing and pulled the threads together into something that felt cohesive and whole.

But while everything they presented to me resonated, there was one idea I just wasn’t ready to grapple with—an idea that I knew was unquestionably true, but whose depths I just wasn’t prepared for yet.

That idea: Stronger content creates a stronger self.

So I set the idea aside for a while and kept on moving forward. I knew that its true meaning would unfold over time, and somehow (this is most unlike me), I was at peace just letting it simmer.

Then, these past few months, I started daydreaming about creating a new site. I passionately believe in the power of self-exploration and self-awareness, and I’m an avid supporter of lifetime learning and growth, and I realized I wanted a place to dig into these ideas more deeply. It felt like something that would happen a while in the future—after all, I had to concentrate on my current work.

But not too long ago, it hit me. I’ve already started doing this work.

I’ve been encouraging you to listen to yourself, to explore what you know, to deal with your fear, to do what works for you. All of those things will help you create stronger content, yes, but the very act of paying attention, of listening to yourself, of doing what works for you will also create a stronger, more capable and confident self.

It was that same message I had already heard, but I was only now truly hearing it.

So I dove eagerly into the place where strong content and a strong self connect. I know I’ve only scratched the surface, but it’s already changing so much about what I do, what I share, and how I help. (So much of what I talked about last week was inspired by this truth.)

But the thing is, if I hadn’t been sharing content anyway—even though I hadn’t figured out that idea that I felt in my bones would be a big one—I wouldn’t have gotten here. If I had held back, spent my time trying to understand everything fully, I wouldn’t have been able to see how it all fit together.

So you can read a bit more about this idea over on my new about page—but before you jump over there, I want to leave you with this thought:

If there’s a nagging idea that just won’t leave you alone, but you also can’t figure out where it fits in, give it some breathing room.

Write it on a piece of paper and tape it up by your desk, or put it on the next monthly page of your planner—so you’ll be reminded of it eventually, but won’t have to grapple with it daily. Give it some space, and be at peace knowing that it may just need a little time.

And then keep on sharing. Because your own content may just lead you to the very answers you’ve been looking for.