The Power of Personal Storytelling and Writing for Oneself

“You do not need to cannibalize your healing for content.” Today, I’m in conversation with longtime blog-turned-IRL friend Nic Antoinette, diving deeper into her decision to shut down her Patreon community (taking a $30,000/year haircut to do so), then pivoting to a private paid Substack while she navigated her way through decisions about what might follow.

We discuss the generosity of being honest, the trap of wanting to be special, knowing where to draw the line on how much or how little you share, and much more. Be sure to also check out our earlier Pivot conversation in episode 342: “Whatever Comes Through Me Comes for Me First,” with Nicole Antoinette.

More About Nic: Nicole Antoinette is a writer, long-distance hiker, and former indoor kid who never imagined she’d wind up spending months of each year pooping in the woods. In 2017, stuck in a loop of codependency and people-pleasing, Nicole set off to find her self-belief and inner resilience by doing something she did not for one second believe she could actually do. The results are two adventure memoirs, How To Be Alone: An 800-mile hike on the Arizona Trail, and What We Owe to Ourselves, and a weekly Substack newsletter called Wild Letters.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways

• Spirals of intimacy: who has access to which parts of you, and when, and why?
• Before posting, ask: What am I hoping to gain from sharing this? Is it coming from a place of your ego seeking validation, or does it feel “true and good” to share?
• Remember: (Almost) all deadlines are arbitrary!

📝 Permission

Go your own way: if you are going to use a certain platform or give a certain type of offering, you don’t have to opt into the ways other people are using that offering.

✅ Do (or delegate) this next

For an existing program, reflect on how you might realign with your strengths, energy, and values. Ask, “What does this offering really want to be?”

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Nicole on the web, IG: @nic.antoinette
• Adventure writing: Backpacking Books
• Substacks: Wild Letters, Rolling in D🤦🏻‍♀️h
• Patreon: Honest Conversation Club
• Coworking: Get Sh*t Done Club
• Jenny’s BFF Community

📚 Books Mentioned

• How To Be Alone: an 800-mile hike on the Arizona Trail
• What We Owe to Ourselves
• Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• Life After College

🎧 Related Episodes

• Nicole’s podcasts: Real Talk Radio and The Pop-Up Pod
• Good Life Project: Ann Patchett | On Solitude, Writing & Indie Bookstores
• Pivot: 342: “Whatever Comes Through Me Comes for Me First,” with Nicole Antoinette
• 327: 🐺The Wolf You Feed — On Addiction, Recovery & Codependency — and What We Get Wrong About All Three with Eric Zimmer
• 302: Moving Beyond Burnout with Dr. Susan Biali Haas
• 338: Is Midlife Messing with Your Enoughness? With Mandy Lehto
• 305: Is What You’re Wanting Actually What’s Best for You? With Luke Burgis
• 341: Pivoting from Prestigious Consulting Jobs to the Pathless Path with Paul Millerd
• Free Time: 141: Process, Permission Slips, and Business Pivots with Tara McMullin
• 042: How I Run My Business without Social Media
• 183: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt with Madeleine Dore
• 205: Why Paul Millerd Turned Down a $200K Two-Book Traditional Publishing Deal

📝 Check out full show notes and share with friends: http://itsfreetime.com/episodes/241

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