Strap in! We’re going on quite the journey of a story today, and it’s gonna be LUVLY.
A serendipitous moment
For Christmas I was gifted Susie Dent’s ‘Emotional Dictionary’ and on first opening, a word I hadn’t heard before revealed itself.
Coddiwomple - “To travel in a purposeful manner towards a destination as yet unknown… you may not know where you’re going, but wherever it is, you’ll get there.”
I was OVERJOYED about this. It put something into words that I’d be struggling to articulate. It explained how I like to approach my own work and how I help my coaching clients to take action in the face of fear and perfectionism. Because…
📢 Not knowing exactly where you’re headed, doesn’t mean you lack ambition
📢 Not knowing every detail of what needs to happen to reach your dream, doesn’t make you ill prepared
📢 Not having a plan is not irresponsible or lazy.
In fact, I think it’s a NECESSITY for folks who are up against perfectionism, fear of rejection and an ADHD brain to not have an exact plan or rigid goal. Especially when you’re getting started.
Proof is in the PUDDIN’ (me, I’m the pudding)
The ONLY reason I finally pressed publish on the above blog in 2019 was because I’d decided to have an expectation free year. No goals or new years resolutions. Just doing what I wanted and getting out of my comfort zone.
It was that freedom that allowed me to just create, do stuff, put it out there, and see what happened. It’s what set the wheels in motion to become a fully self-employed coach, learning facilitator and youtuber six years later.
To Coddiwomple is to approach your creative productivity with purpose and direction, but without fixating on a specific end result.
It's about trusting the path to reveal itself as you walk it, rather than needing to see the entire route before taking the first step.
But it also helps build something essential to life.
Resilience in the face of the unexpected.
WHEN THE PLAN DOESN’T PLANNETH
‘Coddiwompling’ is the philosophy in which I’ve created my new group programme Create Without Fear on. But in order to market and sell it- I did need a plan.
My wonderful Marketing Strategist Georgia Freshwater- Blizzard put together a sensational plan and visual map of how we’d approach this launch and I set to work creating content and doing engagement across the 3 places I’m online: here, Linkedin, and Youtube.
But then… my Linkedin got hacked and as a result I got banned. I no longer have a Linkedin account and I’m not allowed to open a new one.
As you can imagine this was QUITE THE PICKLE.
I’ve wasted time going back and forth with Linkedin support. I’ve lost a huge part of my network. I’ve had to spend time on things that I did not plan for, WHILST IT FEELS TIME IS RUNNING OUT AHHHHH!!!
But it’s also given me a really important reminder on what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.
I’m not here to help people follow a plan. I’m here to help people develop the resilience to thrive even when there isn't one.
This is more important than any plan
Here's the thing about ADHDers - we're actually really good in a crisis. It gets our brains fired up to take action. Unfortunately, we don’t often notice how good we are because our resilience and adaptability are buried underneath a common state of overwhelm, and a heavy weight of feeling like we’ve done something wrong.
But even the best laid plans get messed up. You can’t prepare for every eventuality. That is impossible. There is no ‘right’ way.
And when you realise there is no right way, you open up the freedom to explore, discover, try, experiment, take action. You are able to coddiwomple - you may not know where you’re going, but with the right tools, guide and community, you’ll get there.
Questions to ponder
If you feel bad about your ability to make and follow a plan, or feel overwhelmed about where to start, ask yourself:
"When in the past have I adapted well to the unexpected?"
"Where can I start now that feels exciting rather than overwhelming?"
"What would creating look like if I removed all expectations about the outcome?"
And if you wanna get started on a creative adventure with zero expectations, a ton of accountability, and the validation of 8 other people who get your brain. Join my Coddiwomple Club and let’s create without fear 🥳
A little heads up...
My next post will be a detailed run-through of my Create Without Fear programme. Telling you this is my ‘create without fear’ moment - it gives me permission to not overthink whether dedicating an entire post is the ‘right’ thing to do.
I trust that if you’re interested you’ll read it, and if you’re not you won’t and you’ll just move on with your day ‘cause you have free will and I don’t need to try to control every possible way someone might perceive my intentions harharhar isn’t life a journey.
Until next time - may your plans be loose, your creativity be wild, and your self-judgement be quiet.
Rach x
P.S. If you know someone who struggles with perfectionism keeping them from creating, maybe send this their way? We all need a little permission to coddiwomple sometimes.