My new strategy: listen.
I’m a strategist. It’s in my design. Give me a complex thing and I’ll design it, organize it, ghost write it, create it, launch it, and dream it into being.
This year, I'm putting my strategist in the back seat.
I’ve wondered, “What if I only sent newsletters or recorded podcasts because I’ve got an idea that is irresistible? Not because I’m trying to meet a metric, or because I should.”
This year, I choose to create for the joy of it.
I want to create a thing because I can’t NOT create that thing.
According to the business coaches to whom I’ve paid many thousands of my dollars, and also according to common sense, consistency works. But right now, it’s not working for me. Besides feeling like I’m spinning my wheels a lot of the time, I despise feeling obligated to send something to my subscribers because “I send something every Wednesday.”
What if I’m not genuinely inspired to share anything I’ve written?
Well, my inner business coach strategist responds, Send something anyway, crybaby. Pull an old email from the archives! You are sitting on a mountain of content.
But this brings up a bigger issue, which is that we receive WAY too many emails. Every day, I get over 100 emails across 3 inboxes. I gave “Inbox Zero” the bird long ago, but even so—I don’t need someone sending me emails because they said they would. I might even call this behavior self-involved and short-sighted. I want my people to *actually* feel more peaceful. How are they supposed to do that if I—and everyone else on the internet—constantly barrage them with emails?
I read a review of Taylor Swift’s newest album written by a diehard Swiftie. It was not glowing. What do you expect, they pointed out? There’s prolific, and then there’s cranking out a new best-selling album every single year… Breathers are appropriate. Otherwise, you start creating to keep up with expectation or please the fans, rather than creating because something important (and maybe even masterful) is pushing through you, like a tulip in an unseasonably warm January.
This is paradoxical, y’all. Because also, I run a business. And like every other (ethical) business owner, I am in business for two reasons: one, to provide a service that genuinely improves the quality of life of my clients, and two, to make money. The latter is not something to hide or be ashamed of. We require financial resources to support ourselves and our families, pay the mortgage, buy groceries not filled with toxins.
To be clear, this isn't me shaming anyone who sends regularly scheduled content. But right now, this year, I am resolved to pivot. I’m endeavoring to send karma-free emails which means respecting your time and attention by only sending you that which I am fucking on fire to share with you. Everything else is unnecessary.
This all tracks nicely for the freshly ignited year of the Yang Fire Horse, according to the Chinese zodiac. Steadiness, grounding, and stability—but with a kick and a snort and a passionate toss of my mane, thank you very much.
I will continue sharing the juiciest, saltiest drippings of my discoveries with you. I know you will not be perched on the edge of your sheepskin-covered office chair waiting for my emails to arrive, so perhaps this "announcement" is superfluous and indulgent. But in case you’re wondering, Britta GreenViolet is very much still here… in a less strategically scheduled way.
More accurately, my strategy is no more or less than to take direct instruction from the Muse.
This actually excites me, because the pressure has subsided and what remains is an invitation to listen more deeply to the quiet inner nudge that whispers, “Oh! Yes! Send them THAT.”
P.S. Happy Lunar New Year! In case you missed it, I deep dive on the Yang Fire Horse energy in my latest podcast episode.
PPS. I've been loving this moody romantic classical playlist lately.
The people-pleasing, hustle-culture paradigm is dying. R.I.P.
Clear other people's energy & expectations from your field so you can think, speak, and act authentically. Grab the Feng Shui Your Field practice and give it a try today.