We rise to our challenges

Hey 1,870+ friends, it’s Hannah here from Quoted Visually!

I’m back with a juicy newsletter, armed with all the lessons I’ve learnt from building my Quoting Ideas Visually course. Let’s dive in ⤵︎

1. On our potential

Hot take: Our potential is defined by how far we allow ourselves to reach 💫

Imagine two scenarios in front of us:

1. There is a small pair of shoes and it’s our job to squeeze into them.

2. There is a huge pair of shoes and it’s our job to rise to the challenge and fill the shoes 🥾

The first is contractive, the latter is expansive. In which scenario would we be better off? The latter, of course.

It’s easy to keep going for the smaller shoes and decide that we are not capable enough for a bigger challenge.

But this is our mindset getting in the way!

When we realise we can choose the bigger shoes, we see that we don’t have to step into them right away but, in time, WE CAN fill them.

We do this by accepting the challenge before we are ready.

Just like in the process of writing my course, I didn’t think that I could do it 😵‍💫

But step by step, I got there and now I believe that I’ve created something truly good. Don’t quit before you’ve begun. You’re capable too!

2. On facing challenge

3. On over-optimisation

In the space of personal development, it is easy to fall into that trap of wanting to be 100% efficient with everything that we do, but in doing so, we can suck the life out of our life.

Oliver Burkeman reminds us that we can give ourselves grace, we don’t need all of that control and we can afford to be less efficient.

He points out that one of the best productivity ‘hacks’ is to create little and often and I can vouch for this too ⤵︎

4. On leveraging our networks

It's easy to get lost in the pursuit of expanding our networks, but forget one of the most important parts, leveraging our networks.

This is something that Simon Alexander Ong brought to my attention over lunch this week, with fellow visual creator, Michael Boorman.

Pretty cool right?

Leveraging our networks can be subtle, like asking for small favours like exchanging testimonials or seeing people in real life.

Or it can be more far-fetched and bold, like asking for big spare-of-the-moment favours that will likely be turned down, but if we don’t ask, we’d never know and the leverage is in the ask, not the reply.

Nobody owes us a reply, but if we send out enough messages, we are guaranteed to hear back from one person soon enough!

5. On Quoted Visually

Friends I can’t quite believe it…

THE 30 BETA SPOTS FOR THE QUOTING IDEAS VISUALLY COURSE ARE FILLED!

My gamble “paid off”. I worked so hard for 4 months, accepted a low income, and then just made 4 months’ worth of income in one month 🤯

This came 50-50 from the course and a huge freelance project.

The lesson: take calculated bets on yourself, and don’t be afraid to set yourself a challenge. You will rise to it!

The course is closed, while I develop it with my beta testers, but if you want to get in on the action, you can pop your name on the waitlist:

That’s a wrap! Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions, requests or feedback. I will respond at my earliest opportunity. Made with Beehiiv 🐝

Big love,

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