The year my life changed forever

2018 is the year my life changed completely.

At the beginning of that year, I felt tired and a little depressed. I was running a business I no longer loved, and my lack of enthusiasm was translating directly into lower sales. It was getting more and more difficult to pay the bills, and I was considering moving to somewhere less expensive, so I could stay afloat.

The main bright spot in my life was my art, which I squeezed into the cracks, often working late into the night. But even here there was a problem. I couldn't seem to make the work I wanted to.

I saw lots of art that I admired, but I didn't know how to raise the standard of my own work. I was making semi-abstract landscapes and I had even sold some of them via a local gallery, but they weren't satisfying my soul.

That's when I found an online course that opened up my world. (That course was CVP with Nicholas Wilton, which usually runs once a year in February). The teaching was great and I learned a lot, but I think the community was even more important. I was finally working with people who wanted to do what I wanted to do. We were all learning together and it felt great.

When CVP ended, I felt bereft at the idea of losing my connection to the the sense of community, so I suggested a 'rerun' Facebook group. I set up a group and invited people to join me. The idea was to work our way back through all the course content and help each other along. I had not intended to lead this process, but of course every group needs a leader and people naturally assumed that was me (since I had invited them in the first place).

So I started to provide leadership and direction. I answered people's questions and I made a few little videos explaining my understanding of the concepts. To my surprise, I LOVED doing it. I had no idea I had a talent for teaching and I had no idea how much joy it would bring me. (Imagine getting this old without knowing what you were meant to do!)

Raring to go, I set up another Facebook group - this time it had nothing to do with the CVP course. It was just about me sharing my process and offering help and support to others. I made my first Youtube videos during this time, and I started a blog all about art-making. I didn't do this with any idea of starting a business. I did it because it felt really fun and rewarding.

I didn't actually believe it could be a business and that belief held me back for a while. But then I met my gorgeous life and mindset coach Georgina Noel, and she helped me open my eyes to possibilities. 

I remember telling her "I could never make a living as an artist" and "I'm stuck running this other business because I need the money." She patiently and systematically debunked these limiting beliefs by questioning each one and allowing me to see that they might not be true. 

Very soon afterwards (and apologies if you have heard this story a million times!) I was walking my dog when an idea came to me. It was the outline for a course that I knew would be called "Find Your Joy." The name arrived at the same time as all the content - just bam, bam, bam and there it was. 

It seemed as though it had appeared from thin air, but I now see that it was all actually very logical.

Here's how I think it worked: when I started my free group and began teaching, I also started to see where people were getting stuck. The free group was an education for me as much as for the students. So as the months went by, my brain was registering all the problems people were having. I wasn't thinking about teaching at that time, because I didn't see that as a possibility. But every day, the universe was showing me what people needed from me. Group members were asking questions or posting their frustrations or describing their stuck points and my brain was just filing it all away.

Then Georgina came along and removed the limiting beliefs that had been holding me back. Once those were gone, they left space in my brain - and then the answer could drop in. 

After my dog walk brain storm, I rushed home and told two friends of my plans to run a course. They said things like "how will you find customers?" and "don't get your hopes up." But nothing could quell my enthusiasm because I absolutely, 100%, for sure KNEW that this course would be a success.

I started it 6 weeks later, without even having fleshed everything out. I simply recorded lessons as I went, adapting my original ideas in response to the needs of the group. 

The first cohort was 42 people, all of whom were members of that free group. It wasn't enough to make a living, but it was enough to validate my idea.

The following year, 300 people joined. Then in 2020, there were 900 students and I had to hire help. Last year 1,500 people went through Find Your Joy, supported by a team of 8 people.

But I don't measure success by the numbers alone. What's most important is what the course does for people. I passionately believe in Find Your Joy - I think it's the best art course there is, bar none. I don't say that to boast because I didn't create it. It came from somewhere outside myself and landed in my brain. I just received it and put it into action.

I share this story all the time because I think it's the most powerful thing that has ever happened to me. It helped me to understand that we can never plan our lives. Instead, we have to simply follow the little nudges that whisper to us... we have to simply follow what feels good and avoid what feels bad and trust that one day we will look back and say "Oh so that's why I did that!" 

Had I known this years ago, I think life would have been much easier. And so my question to you this week is this: what is nudging you? What is asking you to take action without any idea of where it might go? And can you trust that feeling and do something anyway?