Assignment 2: Cultivate your courage!

estimated time commitment: 1 hour.

Note: You could clearly spend a month on this assignment, and many of the others this week. But that’s not what you signed up to do! So go ahead and be RUTHLESS with a timer. When we say “write for 15 minutes,” set a timer for 15 minutes and STOP at the end.

The trick is: during that 15 minutes, FOCUS. No facebook, email, phone calls, snacks, laundry, kittens, fingernail clipping, doorbells. Nope. ITS AMAZING what can happen in 15 minutes. There’s ALWAYS something you can use.

Today you simply bring the guts to use YOUR voice on your web site, and start updating your copy with gusto. This can be, for some of you, a big project - but these are some starting points. Spend an hour on this today, and it will make a big difference to your site!

This doesn't mean you have to throw away all the good advice you have been given about how to speak to clients or how to show up as a professional - it just means that those influences come AFTER your own voice is solid and true.

1.

Listen to the “I am / my work is amazing” recording you did yesterday and write for your web site for 15 minutes in that tone of voice and with that power of conviction. Expand on it. Manifesto it. Whatever flows out, let it flow out. If you have some confusion about the focus or key message of your work, write about a couple of different directions/focuses, one at a time, and see how they feel.

2.

Now, list 5 people who know your work. Write to them, tell them what you’re doing in this class, and ask them to tell you what they think is the strongest power you/your work brings to the world. Ask THEM to tell you, in 3-5 sentences, why the work is important, why it matters to them that you do it.

(When people’s responses come back over the next couple of days, it will be interesting to look at how the mirror of thier observation fills out your own understanding of your work and your strengths. You can integrate their key insights with yours, keeping your own voice at the center. You can also ask to use their reflections as testimonials!)

3.

Now spend some time on your site refreshing your copy where you think it needs it most, keeping the free energy of yesterday’s recordings and your fresh writings in the mix. You might replace sections, or simply shift the language to feel more active, more you.

Our livestream Q&A’s today are at 11:30am (with Amy) & 6pm (with Jenny).

These times are Eastern Standard Time.