A friend who is a multi-media crafter takes an interesting tack to get inspired: She cleans up. If you know crafters—especially ones who paint, draw, scrapbook, and make jewelry—you know their work area can quickly resemble a small mountain of art supplies! So, when my friend finishes one project, she takes time to get organized. Somehow, the clarity that happens with cleaning up always generates her next Big Idea.
Clarity seems like an obvious yes. After all, who wants to muddle around in confusion? But taking charge of your life isn’t simply about highlighting what looks good and minimizing anything that may not be flattering. It also requires facing what seems like it’s getting the best of you and developing the grit to stare it down.
Let me tell you how one woman used that grit to build a multi-million dollar empire.
Entrepreneur Nancy Whiteman didn’t try to create blockbuster success – she simply had a belief that marijuana edibles were a viable market, and she wanted to see where that belief led. She went step by step for over ten years, and last week completed a deal for Canopy Growth Corporation to purchase her company, Wana Brands, for $297 million dollars.
You might think the acquisition announcement would be a hit parade of Wana’s highlights. Instead, she downplayed her status as Fearless Leader, giving a frank profile about Wana’s trip to the top. She wrote on LinkedIn, “In the past 11 years, I have had more sleepless nights than I could count, days where I have been seized with anxiety and many times when I have wanted to give up. Fear is part of the entrepreneurial journey and rather than aspire to erase it, I would suggest that we lean into it, hear what the fear is telling us, and see what there is to learn from it…But having moments, days, even weeks of experiencing anxiety and fear are normal. It doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. You are simply awake and experiencing the reality of your choices.”
Nancy finished by encouraging other leaders, from solopreneurs to CEOs: “If I can offer one more piece of unsolicited advice, I would say rather than aspiring to be fearless, choose other aspirations that are more useful and realistic. Aspire to be persistent, to be resilient, to be of service to others, to be clear in your priorities and your values. For me, those aspirations have been my touchstones.”
Sticking to a practice of seeing clearly doesn’t seem sexy when it’s giving you a bird’s-eye view of failure looming just over the horizon. But Wana’s story shows how the brave choice to say no to magical thinking (which will certainly lead to failure) can pay off in a big way.
And did you catch how Nancy Whiteman used soft skills to keep going? Perhaps they apply to you, too. For instance, you may have to use creativity and adaptability to think on your feet to find your next opportunity, discernment to decide when to say yes to small starts and no to the wrong partner, and show yourself compassion and healthy self-esteem to keep going through the sleepless nights and the days you’d rather forget.
Here are three ways for you to start saying yes to clarity:
In the October series, Make Your Yes/No Shortlist, we’ve discussed the power of deciding your yesses and no’s. Understanding what lights you up or makes you walk away sounds easy enough. But the challenge is to bridge the gap between the intellectual and practical. You can’t just know your yesses and no’s in your head—you must put them to the test in real-time in a loud, complicated world.
Here’s a recap of the four ways to make your yes/no shortlist:
An incredible job offer or inspiration for a game-changing business could be headed your way, but it may be hard to take advantage of that chance without knowing your yesses and no’s. Use soft skills to act like the creative wise, CEO of your life—a Soul Boss—and bring your personal yes/no shortlist to life.