The FIERCE Framework - Becoming fierce through messy action, baby steps, & cultivating confidence.

Introspection and reflection are powerful tools to help determine how you feel about where you’re headed in life and if a course correction is in order. 

Avoidance is a common cause of doing things we don’t necessarily want to be doing. Pinpointing what you’re avoiding can help uncover the root cause of a symptom. 

Addressing the underlying reason you have a habit you’re wanting to change can be a powerful tool to help change it. 

Being honest with yourself is crucial when it comes to determining what changes to make, what is sustainable for you, and what goals are attainable.  

You’re human. That means you’re not perfect. Having a plan for when (not “if”) you mess up can be really helpful for getting back on track after a slip-up. 

You might not know what resources or support you need to actually achieve your goals until you start actually going for it. That’s okay. Sometimes you just have to start in order to figure out what else you need along the way. 

The only failure is when you give up on yourself. Making a mistake isn’t failure. It doesn’t make you a failure. Slipping up isn’t failure. As long as you haven’t given up, you’re still making progress. I hope you’re so proud of yourself. 

Working vacations can be great, but sometimes you need to let yourself rest and enjoy an actual vacation. 

Recognize and embrace the “becoming”. Your identity is not fixed. Growth and change is an integral part of life. You can always choose to let go of things you no longer want to carry with you or add on new skills that you want to develop. 

Honor the in-between. That growth process of becoming the next version of yourself isn’t always pretty. Sometimes we spend quite a bit of time in the “messy middle” like a caterpillar in its cocoon becoming a butterfly. Be patient. You’ll get there. 

Comparing yourself to someone who’s been successful in an area you’re starting out in, without considering the full journey it took for them to get to where they are, can be really defeating. Without the full knowledge and consideration of what they went through or how many times they failed before getting to where they are now, it can feel like there’s no way it was as hard for them as it feels for you. The most common conclusions I find that we draw from this type of comparison are: 

They are exceptional - there’s something about them that made it easy for them. 

I’m not good enough - there’s something about me that makes it too hard. 

I’m missing something to be as good as they are - I need something external to give me what I need to accomplish that kind of success (natural talent, a different personality, a different body, a lot of wealth, tons of free time. 

Each of those conclusions leaves you feeling like there’s a gap between where you’re at and what you need to get to what your version of success is. 

The answer is the process. The thing successful people have that beginners don’t have is the experience of doing the thing, practicing their craft, failing and learning from their mistakes. I know it’s not sexy, but there’s no way to get around it. You have to do the thing to get better at the thing. 

You can’t wait until you have it all figured out to start because you figure it out along the way, after you’ve started. The process of failing and learning is what helps you become the version of yourself you need to be in order to succeed. 

You need enough foundational knowledge to know what the first steps are going to be, but you don’t have to plan out every single step of the entire process in your mind before you ever start. 

What we think of as possible or achievable changes depending on where we’re at in life. Once you start the journey working towards what you want to do, the options available to you start expanding.  

You can’t “think” your way into knowing how it’s going to feel for you and whether you actually enjoy doing the thing. Start small so you can fail small, and pivot as necessary. You don’t know where those beginning steps are going to take you. 

You can’t plan for everything because you don’t know what you don’t know. You might find a niche you didn’t know existed, or new ways of doing things that you would have never discovered if you hadn’t gotten your foot in the door. 

Failure is not when something doesn’t meet your expectations, failure is when you stop trying. Mistakes are part of the process. They’re a byproduct of trying something new.