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Professional Human

Humans are professionals.

Professionals are humans.

Welcome to the Newsletter...

... for humans who worry about how much of their authentic selves is safe to reveal in so called "professional spaces"

I'm Jess And I'm a Professional Human. Who's too often grappled with just how much of my authentic self is "appropriate" in professional spaces...

...And I'm just really tired of feeling resigned to hiding myself, to toning it down, and to endlessly attempting to acclimate to an outdated professional ideal - aren't you?

Each edition of the newsletter contains the following sections:

• On Being Human
• On Being Professional
• In Hindsight
• Professional Human Strategy
• (Coming Soon!) Spotlights

Today we talk about how biology can help us understand change, business lessons from 1980s video games, and getting unstuck at the intersection of old tech and new tech.

Let's dive in!

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Change is hard.

As humans, we are averse to change, even if it's for the better. We typically resist all change, even the good stuff

We typically struggle to implement change,

even when we're desperate.
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And of course once we finally give in, we're often pleasantly surprised and we wish it hadn't taken us so long in the first place.

But where does this reluctance come from?

I suspect it's something sort of primal.

I think it's sort of like homeostasis.

Homeostasis is a biology term that refers to maintaining our internal status quo,

our body's ability to regulate things like temperature, heart rate and breathing rate.

When the outside environment threatens that status quo,

our bodies get to work, doing whatever to maintain homeostasis,

And it is completely automatic, we have no conscious input to the process whatsoever.

So when I talk about the "fear of success"

I think what I'm really talking about is an unknown universal force to maintain that status quo,

An invisible foe??

The Homeostatic Enforcer!!

When change begins to brew,

the invisible force gets to work doing whatever it needs to do to keep things the same.

How do you defeat that which you cannot see?

This is why levelling up can feel so hard,

so impossible

Why it seems like you're giving it your all and you still seem stuck.

On Being Human

I played a lot of Nintendo Entertainment System growing up.

Super Mario Bros was my game of choice.

I would breeze through the entire world, and arrive at the "boss"

Sometimes the boss was easy enough to beat,

Sometimes the 'how' was pretty obvious, but it was still hard to beat.

Other times?

I would remain stuck for days. Weeks. Months.

Sometimes I would feel so stuck that I would give up, walk away from the game, play a new one for a while.

Eventually I did beat Super Mario Bros.

Eventually I got very good at beating Super Mario Bros.

But maybe I could have beat it sooner

Maybe I didn't need to stew in my frustrations for as long as I did.

How did I end up beating those bosses that kept me stuck for so long?

On Being Professional

Levelling up is hard.

And sometimes it feels ridiculous,

like there's absolutely nothing in my way,

so what could possibly be holding me back!?

Sometimes it feels like it's right in front of me,

and it feels like it doesn't make any sense, that I can't just reach out and grab it.

(The Homeostatic Enforcer strikes again!)

In the earliest days of my business,

this is when I would succumb to "shiny object syndrome"

If I was stuck, I assumed it was because I didn't know enough,

Didn't have enough.

I would seek out courses,

Secrets,

Hacks.

But all shiny object syndrome ever did was get me more stuck,

Take me further away from where I was trying to go.

And you can ask pretty much anyone:

Shiny objects just get in everyone's way.

The NES Winning Strategy

I'm endlessly amused by the fact that my childhood NES gaming strategy is how I get unstuck in business today.

1. Ask for advice from other "gamers":

I have a network of other business owners I stay connected to. Some of them are a few steps ahead of me on their journeys, some are a few steps behind me.

When I'm stuck,

I can reach out and ask for advice in one of my online communities,

I can book a virtual chat with another business owner,

I can send an email to a mentor.

2. Come at it with fresh eyes

One of my mentors calls this the "double moon"

And typically we apply it to writing copy:

Write the thing,

and then walk away for 2 sleeps (2 moons)

When you come back you have fresh eyes 👀

And a fresh perspective.

It's the same with any challenge in my business.

If it's available to me,

I put a pin in it, walk away, and do the double moon 🌙 🌙

The double moon is important, because it tells me when to circle back,

it keeps me from walking away for too long

3. Take a systematic approach

A common example of a systematic approach to tackling a problem is the good ol' pros & cons lists.

A pros and cons list involves brain dumping all the pieces of the puzzle down on paper 📝

And categorizing them as either "good" or "bad"

I prefer the "big picture" exercise

and instead of an organized list,

It's a mind mapping exercise

There are plenty of apps and jam board style programs to do this,

But I prefer post its and a white board.

Visualizing and manipulating my thoughts

Grouping them and rearranging them,

Is one of the quickest and most efficient ways I have to "get unstuck"

In Hindsight

I know we're talking a lot about getting unstuck lately,

But it's because everyone seems to be feeling it.

Post pandemic economy is in limp mode,

Technology and automation are changing the ways we do business,

Almost faster than we can even learn about them.

I started my business 1 year before the release of ChatGPT,

the generative AI tool many businesses are turning to

to save on the costs of service providers.

I had no idea what I was in for.

The business I planned and the business I'm running are very different.

For a while I was reluctant to use the new tool,

But honestly it is a great tool to use to "get unstuck"

It can write, help with research,

It can spitball!

Ever feel like you want to ask a mentor or peer a question,

Like you just need a sounding board,

But no one is around?

The "bots" are a fantastic stop gap in those situations.

I wish I hadn't been so reluctant to use these AI tools in my own business.

I've found ways to not only get unstuck,

But also to save time,

To "delegate" tedious tasks that I don't want to do

And to offer new value to my clients.

Are you using ChatGPT or other generative AI tools in your business yet?

1. Yes!
2. No: I would but I don't know how to use them or where to start
3. No: I don't want to use them

Hit reply and let me know!

Til next week,

Jess

PS In case I did a poor job explaining it 😉