Hello friends,

Today I want to talk to you about dreams, fear, and failure.

A Recent Failure

As most of you would know, I recently launched the pilot of a group coaching program.

One of my biggest fears in creating and launching this program was: What if no one signs up?

I spent countless hours worrying about the outcome, until one day, I decided that my longing to teach what I've learned was worth listening to even if no one signed up for my programs.
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Besides, how could I be sure of the outcome without even giving it a shot?

In January 2024, I started building the pilot. I spent time deciding the topic I wanted to teach, I spoke to dozens of people who struggled with challenges I was hoping to address, and I tested some of the main ideas with a couple of groups for free.

Finally, in March 2024, I announced the program.

By this time, I felt really good about the topic and the content. I knew it could create a positive impact in the lives of the participants.

I reached out to friends and colleagues to spread the word. I posted on LinkedIn. I emailed you all too.

And then I waited.

Until the deadline came and went and no one signed up.

Yes. My worst fear about creating the program had come true.

While a lot of people resonated with the idea and offered support and encouragement along the way, at the end of the day, there were zero enrollments in this group program.

Déjà vu

This setback is reminiscent of something similar that happened a few years ago. In 2020, I offered a group coaching program that no one signed up for. That failure crushed me. I found myself filled with deep shame and embarrassment. But I didn’t want anyone to know that, of course, so I never mentioned that program again. After that, my fear of failure grew so strong that I didn’t even offer a group coaching program for four years.

Only to be met with the same outcome: no enrollments.

But this time, my response is different. Because now, I am different.

In the past four years, I’ve done the required inner work to deeply understand that my worthiness as a human being is not dependent on any success or failure. It just is.

To be clear: this doesn’t mean that I am fully enlightened now and was totally unfazed by the setback. (I have spent a staggering amount of time playing Candy Crush Saga in the past couple of days to avoid dealing with my uncomfortable emotions. True story.)

What I am saying is that this time, I am aware that my worthiness is not at stake here. The real issue is that I am still learning how to effectively communicate the value my clients get from working with me.

That is a very different spot to be in. It is not as emotionally charged. It feels like something I can easily take action on.

Why Am I Telling You This?

Let me begin by sharing this quote from Brené Brown.

Remember how I mentioned that when no one signed-up for my program in 2020, I stayed silent in the face of shame and embarrassment? I don’t want to do that anymore.

Sharing these stories with you is an act of freedom from shame for me.

Some might say it’s a career limiting move to share with your mailing list that no one signed-up for your offering.

I don’t care.

What I care about is showing you that if you are letting your self-doubt and fear of failure hold you back, you’re not alone.

What I care about is making sure you know that there is nothing wrong with you. That other people experience fear, self-doubt, and shame too.

What I care about is normalizing the experience of difficult emotions so that they don’t make their way and set up camp in every corner and crevice of your life - drowning out the desire to fulfill your soul’s longing.

Because more than anything else, I care about more and more people living a deeply fulfilling life.

Because otherwise, what’s the point?

Much love,

Yashi

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