Embrace The Suck

“Be the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the next time.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Embrace the Suck.” I first heard this term from Rachel Hollis a little over a year ago. What exactly does that mean? Basically, as she explained it, it means how long are you willing to suck at the thing you want to pursue in order to get better at it. Do you want to start a blog like me? It’s going to take time. It’s going to suck. A podcast? It’s going to suck to learn how to start one, learn equipment, and then market it to the world!

Fast-forward to August 2021, we went on a trip and went white water rafting. And what I remember most was the tour guide Marti was talking about the weather. And my brother in law asked her, “well, what do we do if it rains?” Marti replied, “embrace the suck.” And I looked at her, and thought, dang, I have never heard anyone one else use that term, and that is exactly what we have to do right now on this river, and what I have to do with Hey, Goal Sister.

Why did this struck me so hard? Because I have this idea for this brand in my head, and I know a little bit about what it takes to start and grow it from zero. I know I have to put myself out there in front of all my peers, and ask them AGAIN to follow me while I try and start something new. Again.

I am trying something new. AGAIN.

Yep, I am a serial hobby starter and quitter. A food blog, photography, meal planning, and running. I have quit all those things at least once. Photography and running I have come back to, and now here I am starting something new. I know I have to write blog posts that are optimized, come up with content for social media, engage with my audience, and keep showing up to give it a chance to grow. It takes early mornings because I am a busy mom. It takes intention and time to grow something from zero.

That is where I always quit. Right when I am learning and soaking up all the knowledge to grow the thing I am currently passionate about, I quit. Will this time be any different? I certainly hope not, because helping women become confident about achieving some goals and living the life, or being the woman they are dreaming about is what I have been dreaming about for a year and a half. I was embarrassed to even tell my husband about it, in fact I didn’t until a few weeks ago. When I finally told him about it, he immediately said, “go buy the domain before someone else takes it.” He basically forced my hand to start.

How Can You Embrace The Suck

Do the thing! Do whatever thing is in your heart that you are dreaming about. Make a list and a schedule. When in your week can you make intentional time to devote to your thing? Commit to that time and tell your partner that you need x amount of hours a week to devote. And do it. That’s the big ticket advice there, you have to do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to exist in the world for it to have a chance to grow.

So here I am, embracing the suck. Thinking about timing that a complete stranger would say the thing that I needed to hear while struggling with my self-doubt and lack of followers to start something from zero. But knowing in my heart that I want to create a community of women that believe they can become the woman they are dreaming about. They can also embrace the suck and do the hard thing they know they need to do.

Let’s do hard things together.

Your goal sister, Alicia