5 Things I Learned from a Failed Creative Business
I failed.
My cohort launch made 0 sales.
In the sea of make money online projections, I want to share my raw and honest reflections of a failed launch.
Here’s my full breakdown of 5 things I learned from a failed creative business.
(it’s all about self-narrative and the humor of life)
You can’t control circumstance.
“Life will always present you with people and circumstances to reveal where you are not yet free.” - Peter Crone
Needless to say, this launch was very illuminating.
Let me set the foundations for how my narrative changed from freedom to constraint during this launch.
The first week of my scheduled marketing sequence gave a wildly unexpected surprise.
Around the eclipse, my partner and I had a very difficult situation to navigate around feeling unsafe at home.
It brought up deep feelings of :
root chakra fear/base level needs imbalance
lack of belonging
inadequacy
unconscious control patterns
I was halted, and my state of being changed from being grounded, creative, and hopeful to dysregulated, fearful, and scarce.
Then a huge part of me was frustrating because, ”Why now God, wtf, i clearly have big plans coming up - cant you see?.”
So my inadequacy and scarcity directly reflected back out unto my outer environments.
2. You attract what you are.
The way I was seen in the world matched the energy I was operating in.
I was completely operating from a place of just trying to survive rather than a place of thriving and stepping into the responsibility I desired to step into.
Despite my desire to change this state, I find that it’s helpful to accept it fully.
It’s funny how Life calls us IN to practice what we preach.
This is how my feedback loop works:
Circumstance
Unconscious patterns of reaction/Dysregulation
Cognitive looping/relating to self through this lens of the sh*t that’s been brought up
Life is giving me this experience to learn more about my limitations - and the irony of it all is that timing just so happened to line up with the ‘big plans’ I had for this cohort.
It showed where I was grasping for an outcome instead of reveling in the process, sh*t, sunshine, and all.
3. You must accept your shadows, and learn to love them.
After about a week of us being dysregulated on and off, entertaining the idea to just load up the van and never come back, and trying to carry-out the responsibilities on our plates, we were finally able to somewhat reconcile the issue and feel safe enough to be at home again.
But f*ck m8, it brought up insecurities I didn’t know I had that I couldn’t ingore.
As much I felt ready, willing, and confident to handle what life was presenting me, I could not avoid the feelings of not being good enough, being a failure, and having no right to play big in this life.
With a weeklong pause in the middle of my schedule launch, I made this offering available to the world, but my energy had already decided what I wanted the outcome to be in order to justify these feelings further.
“If no-one signs up then it will be absolutely true that I’m not good enough.”
Multiply those stories by about 12.
Here’s the truth:
My small idea of self is in need of constant evidence to justify it’s presence.
In regards to the cohort launch, it’s a tricky line navigating between:
I’m going to continue on and make this happen no matter what
Is this inauthentic to me?
It felt like I was stuck between needing to make this happen and wanting to honor how I was feeling inside and crawl up in a cave.
Ultimately, the only place where I’m empowered is taking full responsibility while simultaneously giving myself grace.
4. Integrity is showing up for yourself, just as you are.
I’m going to follow through on my commitment and honor the fact that I’m feeling less than.
I accept that energetically I created this outcome, AND I can be okay with that because I learned so much about myself though allowing myself to feel it all and stay committed in the capacity I could sustain.
Enrolling 0 students in my cohort tells me more about what I can refine in my inner landscape which is extremely valuable insight for a prosperous evolution.
Yes, it would have been amazing to facilitate this container as a means of resiliency, but it’s also okay when life has other plans for me.
Life wanted to show me these insecurities at this precise time, and I will listen to that.
Maybe the nudge will come to change things up slightly and try again, but now life has my full attention with less of ME in the way.
5. Uncertainty is a great ally
You don’t know how Life may be collaborating for your highest becoming in ways well beyond your current perspective.
For anyone who fears stepping up to be seen only to met with crickets, I hope this helps you be more at peace with uncertainty.
Failing does not have to mean you’re a failure.
Self-worth and circumstance can be wholly interdependent of each other.
There is always so much more available to you when you embrace uncertainty and discomfort with an open-heart.
love
-kev