Fridays are my fun gig days

So here I am, starting a new thing that I’ve been on the edge of starting for months and not quite bit the bullet, or hit the publish button, so to speak.

I’ve been at that indecision stage. I know I want to do this. I have a rough idea of where I want to head. Yet, something has been stopping me.

Whilst my life over the past year has something to do with it, the main thing holding me back is building this thing into my schedule. The way my mind works, the way I compartmentalise things is to make the specific space and commitment to proceed whilst avoiding the bigger picture.

Thinking too big gets overwhelming. It’s easy to get lost in the possibilities and fail to take action. And when I look back on my life I know that whenever I make ‘progress’ it’s from the taking action whilst letting that big picture thinking just sit there, at the back of my mind.

My goals and dreams are there, I know I need to focus on taking the action. This is me, and where I am right now, I write here to take that action.

There are a few more things that I need to do to ensure that I keep showing up in this space to avoid it becoming yet another space that never gets updated.

Fridays are now my fun gig days

This means I (mostly) put my main work focus to one side and do something productive yet different. It’s a way of giving permission to myself to do something different (which ultimately does energise me).

I love writing. I want to do more of it and I hate it when I make good intentions to do work on Indiependent yet I find myself getting distracted with my Rosieland stuff or the internet in general tbh, hah.

I hope compartmentalising my Fridays as being the time I give myself permission to do this thing.

I’m switching on subscription payments from Day 1

Oh, no not another subscription to pay for!

I do this is with the full expectation and understanding that people won’t sign up, none of this is really about the money. It’s mostly about learning and building the habit of showing up.

Having just one paid subscriber is my way to keep accountable to keep showing up, maybe I have one true indie fan out there. 😆

I’m not quite sure of what will be the balance of free and paid for posts, time will tell.

I’m creating space to get away from the noise

I love the benefits of social media, however the downsides are big. On my deathbed I’d rather leave behind this Substack over a social media account. What a cheery perspective!

As part of this I’ve set up a MacBook which is only for writing. No Twitter. No Slack. Just me and a web browser to get my words out there. My whole goal is to remove distractions with the hope of finding more focus.

Yes, I’ve already picked up my phone about 10 times during the writing of this thing. I’m still a work in progress.

Fine-tuning what works for me

I have a recent ADHD + Autism diagnosis. Whilst I’ve naturally been finding what works for me over the years, I’m trying to fine tune everything. There is still so much room to understand myself better and create adjustments.

A huge part of being an indie founder is designing life around my needs. Part of this is my neurodiversity, another part is my family, and then, of course, my health.

In addition to this are my ‘special interests’. This is a very autistic phrase. 😅 Community, indie businesses and alternative education are the topics that I can’t stop thinking about. This space will allow me to dive deeper into the indie world, with some natural overlaps with community and (un)education.

I have lots to give

I also have different things to give that come from a different world view and formed by different experiences.. I’ve even had unconventional successes. This is a core driver for me.

The reality is that I have the odds against me.

• I’m woman in tech, I’m surrounded by white tech bros.

• I’m a woman in business, I’m surrounded by white business dudes.

• I’m a mother with a gobsmacking five kids, life can only be wild with this thrown in the mix.

• I’m Autistic, the world can be disabling for me.

My views matter. There are lots of people like me. The world is not designed for us.

The reality that I’m coming to terms with, is that it means I have to work 100x harder at everything else, the fact that privileged people cannot see this is kind of mind-blowing. Part of me showing up here is to shed more light on all of this.

And just so you know - the shedding light on all of this is one of the many examples of how people like me spend our energy on educating other people rather than progressing ourselves. There is only so much energy we can give.

I’m creating space to create something different

I don’t even know what it specifically is.

The only strategy I have is following my interests and heart. There is no 5 step framework. I come with zero hacks. There is just me showing up with the hope to tap into the things that I and other people need.

What I do feel is that I feel ‘meh’ and bored with the status quo and I’m using that as a driver to move forward.

I’m building in community

I love the building in public movement, but for me it misses a deeper connection. There’s a huge emphasis on vanity metrics and gaining reach. I have nothing against it and I love having reach too.

However, I’d be lying if I felt like it was truly fulfilling me. My whole approach today is to build in community.

There are two main parts of this that I love:

• I don’t want everything to be public: even though nothing is truly private, I prefer sharing in smaller scale to then maybe share on a bigger scale.

• Building in community has more context: when people know you, they can respond and support in a more helpful way

• I want deeper relationships: I have lots of loose connections, deeper ones are harder, they take time and evolution. Building in community is one way to help me get there.

My main focus at the moment is Rosieland and I want to document how and what I’m doing there. I’m generally very open, but there are still things I feel uncomfortable having completely open.

To me it’s not about making money from subscriptions, it’s more about having a space to comfortably share in the moment with people who hopefully care to some extent.

I also have the Indiependent Slack community, which I refer to as a back channel, which started in January of this year. That’s where I normally dump thoughts and life happenings first. Now I have the view that some of them end up on this Substack.

Thanks for reading, and welcome to The Indiependent. 🏁