It pays to be proactive

Hey 950+ friends, it’s Hannah here from Quoted Visually!

After a break, I’m back with another issue of Floating Thoughts where I share an insight, image and personal update.

It’s really easy to sit back and just let things happen.

To do the things we've always done.

To accept what we are given.

To stay comfortable on the sofa, after all, it's cosy.

But there is a time and a place for comfort and if we are in this state all the time, we are not growing. We're missing out on who we could be.

Leaning into discomfort and inviting change into our lives can be the difference between ‘existing’ and truly ‘living’, surviving or thriving.

But the regret of tomorrow weighs much more than the discipline of today.

It’s better to act while we still have our health, and prevent future regrets.

Getting good at acting on our ideas

Not only do we need to not wait for ideas to come to us, we need to get good at taking a punt and acting on some of those ideas.

Repeated action is the only difference between those who succeed and those who don't.

As Mark Manson shares:

When we sit around waiting for ideas to magically appear, we are procrastinating, but as we all know much can come from just starting somewhere and rolling with an idea.

Action itself produces information that we can learn from. Therefore, we have nothing to lose by experimenting and playing with ideas.

We don't have to have a whole plan figured out, we can just know a few steps in front of us.

Getting out of our own way

Ultimately, for any change to happen, we need to get good at showing up.

Once we have started showing up, we can focus on how we show up.

We can create opportunities by simply making ourselves visible (online or in person) and having the courage to ask for what we want.

This can mean going out of our way to make connections and requests.

We just need to push overthinking to one side for a second to send that message or ask that question.

Don’t be afraid to counter-offer. Do what you need to do to be heard!

There is value in your voice.

🗞️ Update

Friends, there is a huge amount to update you all on:

• I just turned 26 (whattt) 🎂

• which means I’m celebrating 1 year of being self-employed 🥂

• and I’m back from my travels around the beautiful Balkin states!

It was a whistle-stop tour through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and finally North Macedonia, all by public bus 🚌

It’s scary how fast time flies when you are keeping yourself busy.

Even though I am self-employed:

• taking time away wasn’t easy

• switching off while I was out there wasn’t easy either.

Client requests are always coming through the door and social media never sleeps. I am still working on being better at the latter.

But as creative business owners, we must unapologetically make that space for ourselves to get some air.

☁️ NOBODY IS GOING TO MAKE THE SPACE FOR US! ☁️

Putting a stop to forward motion prevents continuous back-to-back projects. It is a necessary boundary to stay in the game.

Quoted Visually as you know it started at the end of 2021. I had a couple of days of annual leave left and I finally decided to put my energy back into this project.

Things happened slowly and then quickly…

But change like this is highly possible for us all! Making time for the first step opens up a new world of opportunities.

If you’ve got something you’ve been meaning to act on, why not start now, or schedule-in some time this week to start moving the needle?

That’s a wrap. Thanks for being here! This newsletter was made with Beehiiv.

Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions, requests or feedback. I am playing catch-up now, but will respond at my first opportunity.

Big love,

Hannah aka Quoted Visually x

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