How Do You Learn to Do Something New?

How do you learn to do something new?

Not by thinking, planning, or strategizing.

Instead, we learn simply by doing the new thing.

We learn by being okay feeling uncomfortable and awkward.

We learn by experimenting and having a beginner’s mindset.

Over the weekend, I was reminded of this.

One of my new endeavors for the year is taking adult ballet classes.

It’s been decades since I studied dance almost daily as a teen.

My mind remembers, but my body needs to re-learn how to do the steps.

Our instructor told the packed classroom at the outset, “the way to learn to dance … is to dance.”

So simple. Yet maybe it’s not the first thought when we start something new.

It could be anything new, whether it’s leading, marketing, designing, or something else.

For those who follow me, you know I’m learning to speak Spanish.

This year I’m also learning more about AI. I’m curious about how to better apply it to my work communicating, coaching, and leading.

One of the cool new LinkedIn tools is “rewrite with AI.” So this post appears in two versions, A and B. What resonates with you in each post and why? Drop a comment and let me know. 👇

This is Version A, written by me.

_____________________________

This is Version B, rewritten with AI.

How do you learn to do something new? Not by overthinking, but by simply doing. We learn by embracing the discomfort of being a beginner and experimenting with a beginner’s mindset. This weekend, I was reminded of this while taking adult ballet classes. Though it’s been decades since I last danced daily, my instructor reminded us that “the way to learn to dance…is to dance.” It’s a simple concept, yet one we often overlook when starting something new. Whether it’s learning a new language like Spanish or exploring the possibilities of AI, the key is to take action and learn by doing. So what new skill are you looking to tackle this year? Share in the comments below.

__________

P.S. One of the most fascinating learnings from this “rewrite with AI” experiment? I did it 3 times as I made slight edits to my post, and each time the rewrite was fairly different. Trying to decide what to make of that.

 

 

How to Lead and Learn through Discomfort

Feeling uncomfortable? Keep going.

When you’re on unfamiliar ground, how do you lead through discomfort?

Our inner critics can come out when we’re learning something new. When we’re leading through a challenge. When we’re not sure what to do next.

This inner critic may be trying to protect us from disaster by telling us we don’t know what we’re doing. We’re going to fail. We should stop right now.

But, really, how true is that inner critic?

What if we just kept going instead?

Of course, it can help to assess risk. It can be valuable to make course corrections. It can be wise to seek feedback and advice.

But overall, keep moving forward.

This uncomfortable feeling has surfaced for me as I commit to learning Spanish over the next few years.

I’m taking Spanish 1 at a local community college. More here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/leachcaroline_learning-spanish-activity-7103129806455672832-8RjY?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

After the first week of class, my inner critic was in overdrive. It’s hard to memorize the vocabulary and accent marks. I’m not pronouncing the alphabet correctly. I didn’t get 100% on a few of my homework assignments.

The conclusion? I should just quit now.

But what if I got curious instead? What if I looked at the discomfort head on? What if I saw being uncomfortable as a sign of growth?

And the most important: what if I let go of perfection on my learning journey?

It takes time to learn anything new. There are going to be difficulties along the way. And I’m here for it. I’m okay being uncomfortable for a while.

How about you?

The Best Gift You Could Get on Labor Day

August is the Sunday of Summer

August is the Sunday of summer. So said a chalkboard sign I spotted by the beach a few years ago.

And so true. It’s bittersweet when summer comes to an end. The longer, more leisurely days start getting shorter and filling up with more commitments as Labor Day approaches.

Businesses and teams have year-end goals to meet. Children are back in school. Maybe the Sunday Scaries are staring you down as you head into Labor Day.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. During a last-minute summer getaway, I learned something important. Maybe it will help you, too.

Although it’s summer, it’s been an intense season with two fledgling businesses in our household mine and my husband’s. I realized I was putting life on hold, so I headed to the Eastern Sierras for a few days. A mini-retreat, I called it. Or a working vacation. Or working remotely.

Whatever it was, it was delightful. With the backdrop of mountains, trees and summer breezes from my desk, I worked on some of my big projects, did client calls, and dipped into the flow state of being completely consumed by what I was doing, oblivious to the passage of time.

The Lingering Project

One of my projects has been on my list for the better part of a year. As a new author of What Successful People Do in Social Media, I know I need to build an email list of subscribers. I even created a free workbook to accompany my book as a reason for people to sign up.

But I ran into a roadblock in the spring, figuring out how to integrate the MailChimp email service with my download document on this WordPress site. I did research. I leaned on the chat and email service functions of the various providers. I reached out to experts to see if someone could do it for me.

And completing this project has been standing in my way. As much as I talk about the need for everyone to have a social media strategy for their career, I also emphasize the importance of owning your own online real estate.

That means your own website where you control everything. That way, an algorithm change on a social media platform doesn’t impact your ability to connect with your community.

And it was standing in the way of my next project — turning my book into an online course or series of courses. If I don’t have an email list of devoted fans who are interested in what I have to say, it’s much harder to launch a course.

I even did a workaround on my free workbook. Not wanting to delay to release of my book in April, I simply put a note on my website that people interested in the workbook could email me to request it. It wasn’t the most efficient or elegant of solutions, but it enabled me to keep moving forward.

One of the lessons I’ve learned over the last year of launching my own business is to fight the oppression of perfectionism. It’s hard to balance a standard of excellence with taking it too far and delaying, as marketing guru Seth Godin would say, shipping the work.

Learning the Way

My last day in Mammoth was my day to tackle my website. The night before, I decided to refresh my WordPress knowledge by completing an online class called WP Savvy by Iglika Mateeva-Drincheva.

It came in a group of online classes called the Entrepreneurship Bundle. And it’s thanks to Marissa Stahl that I learned about it. She’s the COO of Something Social LA along with founder Callie Cholodenko. Marissa and I met through the USC Alumni Association earlier this year.

Marissa was kind enough to speak to my social media class at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising this spring. It was right about the time the Entrepreneurship Bundle was launching. She and Callie had a course in it called Instagram Strategy for Business (great class, BTW!).

The bundle of 31 classes had a special offer for $99, so I thought, why not?

As life often gets in the way, though, I didn’t complete many of the classes right away. Has this ever happened to you?

But what a lifesaver WP Savvy turned out to be. Even after a few years blogging on my WordPress site, I learned several new things from Iglika’s course. And I felt re-energized to tackle the email integration issue.

Figuring It Out

The other inspiration came from Mark Cuban, the business leader and investor on Shark Tank, among other things. He gave a talk at my former employer’s headquarters in the early 2000s.

As the head of communications at the time, my job was to play host while he was onsite. He had driven all night from Texas to Los Angeles to speak to our employees, but he was full of energy.

And I’ll never forget what he said. In the early days of his business, he said they’d be in client meetings, taking in what the client wanted, and telling them they could deliver.

Later, Mark and his colleagues would look at each other and say they had no idea how to do what they’d just committed to. But they had all night to figure it out.  And figure it out they did. Time and time again.

If they could do it, so could I.

Figuring it out in this case took a lot longer than I planned. I had to figure out the original email list subscription I started with wasn’t going to work. I had to download existing subscribers and move them to a new platform. I set up the sign up forms, the welcome forms, and the thank you forms. I tested them by subscribing myself. The look and feel still isn’t great yet, but that’s relatively easy to fix.

The Breakthrough

What I couldn’t figure out was how to make my free download available to subscribers. After some web searches, I decided to start clicking through every screen on WordPress to see if I could find something that would work.

And I finally found it. Buried six screens down, in the middle of the page. Even though I wasn’t selling a product, I wondered what would happen if I checked a box that said “enable shop with the plugin I’m using.”

VOILA! That was it. Which was mentioned exactly nowhere in all the online materials I consulted. Or perhaps it was there, but I missed it, which is entirely possible.

The point is, I told myself I would spend whatever time it took to resolve the problem. I was not going to let up until I figured it out.

It now feels like a huge weight is lifted from my shoulders. So many other actions depend on this, and now I can move forward. It’s a release of positive energy and momentum.

I’m going to tackle part two over Labor Day weekend, which is a long-overdue new look and feel for my website. That way, when Sept. 3 rolls around, I’ll have a big project behind me and I can truly move forward with my big goals for the fall.

What’s Holding You Back?

My question for you is, what’s on your list that’s holding you back? Could you devote a morning or an afternoon of your Labor Day weekend to tackle it? Or at least start the process? How much would that jumpstart your fall season? Would it help you greet it with energy and enthusiasm?

I bet it could. And there will still be plenty of time for being with family and friends, celebrating the last of the summer season, and recognizing the social and economic of achievements of American workers on Labor Day.

In thinking about the value of work, I’m inspired by author and poet Maya Angelou, who said, “Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.”

What do you love to do?

________________________

Here’s how to join my email list (on the left-hand column) to get a free copy of Your Social Media Success Roadmap. You’ll also get an email update from me once or twice month with tips about boosting your career through social media.

 

 

Angelica Kelly Profile: If I Can Do It, You Can Too

“If I can do it, you can too.”

So says Angelica Kelly, the creative force behind the YouTube channel, You Brew Kombucha. Her 31 videos shot over a single summer weekend in 2017 have attracted 11,000 subscribers. All without advertising.

Why did she do it? How did she do it? And what is kombucha?

It’s “a beverage produced by fermenting sweet tea with a culture of yeast and bacteria.” And this sweetened tea is believed to have several health benefits, including boosting energy and immunity.

Angelica shared this with me one recent summer afternoon. We enjoyed a refreshing cup of cold green tea scented with jasmine she brought for our chat.

My first memory of Angelica is a Skype interview when she was a summer intern candidate at my employer (note: opinions expressed in this blog are my own).

She hit the ground running and never looked back. Her internship evolved into a full-time job as a corporate communications specialist. That led to a series of increasingly responsible roles. And she’s now a senior manager of internal communications at a new company.

Her Instagram posts started catching my eye over the last year. I wanted to learn more about her side gig. She was a fascinating candidate for my series of profiles on how professionals are boosting their careers through social media.

What I found was inspiration about learning, about experimenting and about exploring passions.

Here’s what Angelica shared …

Tell me about this tea we’re drinking.

It’s Chinese green tea, scented with jasmine. The cold brewing reduces the astringency. Good tea can be brewed over and over.

And all tea comes from essentially one plant – the camellia sinensis. I’m fascinated by how you can make so many teas from one plant.

Tea helps relax you and bring you back to nature. You’re literally just drinking a leaf.

How do you show up in social media?

There’s an unspoken belief that your work persona has to be different from your non-work persona. I believe they are one in the same. But people are multi-faceted, so there is a time and a place for certain topics.

Social media is all about using the available resources. You can share your knowledge and help others learn in social.

I’m on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit and YouTube.

On Instagram I follow experts in fields of interest. I find them through hashtags and search. (BTW: her Instagram has the perfect summary: I strategize, I write, I read – for fun and for work. To recreate, I create. Check out one of my passion projects @youbrewkombucha on Insta + YouTube.)

My search process starts with books. Then I look online for the best sources of knowledge on the topic. I scour websites and blogs. I’ll follow my favorites’ social media handles and see who comments, who’s engaged and who’s asking or answering questions. And that’s how I connect to other learners.

On Facebook there are so many communities for niche groups. I’ve found home brewer groups for my kombucha research. There’s an interesting dynamic of knowledge sharing, and these are places to troubleshoot questions.

What else is unique about your research process?

It’s fun diving into a field where I feel out of my element. I read a lot of reference books. I borrow ebooks from the library through a great app called Libby, by OverDrive.

Learning is about allowing ourselves to be curious – to be fascinated by a topic. It’s important to be curious in all aspects of life and to go into things with a “beginner’s” mind.

Networking with people, asking questions and connecting with other enthusiasts and subject matter experts are all great ways to learn.

What are your LinkedIn rituals?

At the end of every year I take stock of the personal and professional. I consider what I’m grateful for and what I want to improve.

I use LinkedIn like a notepad and do an annual update after this reflection process. Everything professionally relevant goes into my LinkedIn profile. Accomplishments. Interests. Volunteering. Big projects that highlight transferable skills and new knowledge I’ve gained.

To understand what’s in the ecosystem, I follow and keep tabs on various companies. It’s also interesting to see how others see my company, through their comments and shares. As a communicator, understanding that external perception is crucial.

Why did you launch a YouTube channel?

This is my newest platform. As a viewer and consumer of content, I created the resource I wish existed for me. I couldn’t find a comprehensive YouTube channel on kombucha. I’m all about knowledge sharing, so I wanted to house everything I learned all in one place to make it easy for new learners.

My husband, Ryan, is a writer in the film industry. Together, we created three dozen videos over a weekend. He helped with planning the shoot, rigging the lighting, sequencing the segments and editing the footage.

Ryan understands the intricacies of video and where quality matters. For example, a mismatched quality of video and the heart of what I’m trying to convey could turn viewers off.

I’m a home brewer, not a professional expert. This is a passion project. So I wasn’t trying to make it look super polished. It has a low-budget feeling. It’s more realistic. It says “I’m one of you,” to my audience members, and that makes the topic more accessible.

In the process of shooting the videos I learned not to be camera shy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not about you. It’s about your audience and what they can learn.

People told me I should release the videos in phases. But I wanted to be the most comprehensive kombucha home brewer resource. So I released all the videos at once. I didn’t want any of it to be incomplete in any way. They’re like a 101 entry-level college course.

To promote them, I posted in the Facebook home brewer groups. Some groups are open to sharing of self-created resources, and others aren’t. But I trusted the information was good and that people who wanted it would find it.

And they did. In under a year, my subscribers grew to more than 11,000. I’ve enjoyed engaging with a small but zealous community of followers – or “discerning enthusiasts” as I like to call them. (I consider myself a discerning enthusiast too). Many of them are in the United States, and some are from as far away as Brazil and Australia.

What are the “do’s” you observe in social?

Be authentic and genuine. That’s the first thing. Just make it; never fake it till you make it.

Give credit. If you repost, find the source and give credit. This is important because the reason people make things is to create joy or inspire some other feeling or reaction. They deserve credit for their work.

Focus on things I’m doing and people I’m with. Those are so much more interesting than too many photos of me.

Teach somebody something or give a new perspective on something.

Let social media spark personal connections. Share your enthusiasm with others. Let it be a catalyst that leads you to dinner or afternoon tea with an old friend or a colleague.

Be careful about negative topics. But don’t sugarcoat like everything is perfect.

How does empathy guide your social involvement?

You never know what state of mind people are in when you put stuff out into the world. And I think about my own state. Rather than using social media as a venting platform that could bring someone else down, I’ll reach out to a circle of friends to talk.

This is so personal and unique to what works for each individual, but if I’m feeling negative, I don’t share in social unless it can spark a constructive dialogue or inspire positive change.

What’s next for you?

My kombucha and tea research is evolving into a focus on Chinese pottery. I’m learning about how different glazes and clays affect tea brewing. And that has led to looking into ceramics classes. That may be the next big thing. It’s all part of my personal quest to be curious in all aspects of life!

Are you as energized by Angelica as I am? Want to learn more about her? Here’s how you can connect:

YT: You Brew Kombucha

IG: @angellykellyYou Brew Kombucha

FB: facebook.com/ange.c.kelly

LI: linkedin.com/in/angelicakelly/

Web: youbrewkombucha.com

Watch for more profiles coming soon. And if you’d like to be profiled, leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!