That's all folks!

We’ve reached the end of an incredible season two of the Hectic Podcast! 

This season has been special for many reasons. Along with hearing from some incredible guests, it was my first chance to offer my insights to all of you. My hope is that you have learned something new, gained a new perspective, or even just been encouraged to check out the podcast through these blogs. I know every episode has offered me a chance for growth, so I hope you give it a try!

When Michelle first approached me with the idea of taking the blogs in this new direction, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Many blogs later, as we enter this break between seasons, I’m excited to take this time to refine my approach and make the next set of blogs more helpful and challenging to all of you. 

Before I dive into that, however, I thought I would use this blog to share my goals for these reflections. As fun as it is to write these every week (like, SO fun), I want each blog to be useful to at least one person. So, along with sharing my thoughts, this is also a call for feedback. Whether you want to leave a comment below or on social media, or send an email to hello@moxie.com, I want to hear what you want from these blogs. 

If I’ve learned anything from the podcast guests, it’s the importance of community. Connections start with conversations, so please reach out with questions, comments, and concerns. I’d love to get to know ya.

Now, back to goals. When you’re reading these blogs, I hope you gain:

Confidence in yourself as a freelancer

When you hear, see, or talk to veteran freelancers, you don’t always get the full story. You may not hear about their struggles, major mistakes, and moments of insecurity. It’s easy to doubt yourself when all you can see are the ways that you don’t match up.

Imperfection and failure are part of the human experience. Though I sometimes fear that I overshare about my flaws, I hope that you can see that being successful doesn’t mean being perfect or even amazing at your job. Running your own business while also succeeding in your craft is hard. You will mess up. You will struggle.

But that doesn’t mean you’re failing.

Success is owning your mistakes, learning from them, and doing better next time. It’s learning what you’re good at and finding the resources needed to support the areas you’re weak in. Every day that you decide to keep trying is proof that you are the independent creator you want to be.

So be human. Be imperfect. And know that you are surrounded by people who believe in you and the path you’re taking.

Opportunities to grow

In episode 216, Alex Drummond shared his strategy for personal growth. He said that he pursues relationships with people who are at different stages of life than him, using these connections to learn from their experiences and knowledge.

In sharing what I am learning from the conversations on each episode, I hope that you also gain insight that you can apply to your life. Growth happens when we make a change, whether that’s shifting our approach or just gaining a new perspective. It’s easy to forget what we hear from each guest in our noisy world, but my goal is to draw out something that sticks with you and gives you a chance to grow from it.

Permission

Have you ever told someone about a new piece of advice that’s revolutionizing your life, only for them to remind you that they’ve been telling you the same thing for months?

Sorry, mom.

For whatever reason, our brains sometimes need an outside opinion to accept the truths you’ve been telling yourself forever. My goal is to offer that nudge here.

Maybe you’ve stopped trying to monetize that hobby or finally listened to your body’s need to rest. Maybe you’ve decided to delete TikTok to focus more on mental refreshment than mental distractions.

Whatever it may be, I hope that you are listening to yourself and your needs. This is the sign you’ve been waiting for. So just do it, okay?

I’m off to plan all my holiday bakes, but I’ll be back with season three in January. Until then, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Tune into Darryl and Michelle’s season two recap here, where you’ll hear their favorite moments, the themes that showed up throughout the season, and some behind the scenes tidbits.