Stop Waiting for an Audience to See You. You Need to See You.
I never script these episodes. I get a spark — turn the mic on, something inside me wants to come out — and I talk as freely as I can. But it took inner work to get here.
You Are Your Own First Listener
When I sit down to record, I'm not thinking of showing up for an audience. I'm here to show up for myself. This is first and foremost an act of healing — of my inner child knowing it's safe now to have a voice, have an opinion, say it out loud.
So if you're counting how many listens your first few episodes got, you're still not seeing the little girl inside. You are your first listener. It has nothing to do with who else is listening.
We Do to Ourselves What Was Done to Us
For years I only gave myself a certain amount of permission to express myself. That's the ceiling — because we do to ourselves what was done to us. Everything underneath it stays emotionally stunted, waiting on a permission you keep withholding.
The repair is turning toward little Michelle and saying: I am letting you have your turn now. I am a safe place for you to have an opinion.
No one can see you the way you need to see you. No one can reparent that inner child but you.
Your Business Is the Byproduct of Solving Your Own Problems
I didn't start my business to solve a problem for a customer avatar. My business is the byproduct of me solving my own problems. The life binder that went on to make six figures? It was already in my purse. I was using it for myself first — and the reason it made six figures is that it benefited me before it ever benefited anyone else.
I built Easy Peasy Podcast Studio the same way. I was tired of other people's software getting more bloated and complicated, so I made the thing I actually wanted. The energy wasn't "what does the market need." It was "I'm done tolerating this." That is such a more beautiful place to create from.
The Inner Work Is the Only Real Hard Work
I don't believe you have to sacrifice and grind to “make it.” A lot of that hard work dissolves when you're willing to do the inner work — and the inner work can bring up pain and grief. Which is why so many avoid doing it.
Part of taking 100% responsibility for your life is making the things you want to do as easy as possible to do. Take something that feels difficult and use your power to make it easier. Seth Godin once said fear is a compass. Follow it into the real work, and watch how much of the exhausting external work you stop needing to do.
