hey, pine nut.

on a call the other day, a client was talking through several different possible risks from which to choose, through the lens of what LEVEL of risk she wanted to take

what immediately came up for me was the idea of risk as a counterbalance to trust

or rather, the way in which well-placed TRUST can serve as a counterbalance to uncomfortable RISK

the key here is to be very discerning around WHERE you place your trust

(psssst… the deepening of SELF-trust that happens when we work together will serve you well in this!)

let’s say you live in the US + you’re trying to make a decision regarding something that may be directly or indirectly impacted by top-down decisions from the government —

given the current state of affairs, i WOULDN’T recommend putting your trust in the idea that those decisions will be made rationally —

trying to place your trust in the governing bodies making those decisions right now probably isn’t going to mitigate your worries related to riskiness

(though cory booker sure did help this week)

but that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of trust as a counterbalance to risk at all

it just means you need to broaden the pool of what you DO trust

maybe you decide to lean into trusting yourself + how, while you can’t predict what will come, you do trust that you’ll be able to navigate whatever does

maybe you choose to consult a knowledgeable figure who you’ve got good reason to trust, to help inform your path

(YOU get to decide what constitutes “good reason,” by the way)

maybe you do some research, intentionally choosing sources you trust as well as those you might not, in order to get a fuller picture of what kind of information + misinformation is out there

(and trusting in your own ability to make sense of what you find)

maybe you take a deep daring breath + choose to place trust in the inherent humanity of most people as opposed to the demonstrated inhumanity of a few (albeit obscenely powerful) “leaders”

and then you get to work

identifying the places you CAN put your trust in is something we can work on together, for sure

it all starts with a well-developed sense of trust in yourself

so if you often find yourself questioning your decisions, seeking validation from others, waffling, angsting, or torn as far as what to do next —

i encourage you to take note so you can start to see how much time, energy + joy a lack of self-trust is costing you

i first started using my weeble analogy during the pandemic, to help explain what it could be like to navigate uncertainty from a place of self-trust

if you’re not familiar with the weeble, it’s a very simple egg-shaped toy from my childhood that’s painted or printed to look like a limbless person

its catchphrase is “weebles may wobble but they don’t fall down” because when you tip it to one side it “wobbles” back + forth but the design of the thing makes it impossible to tip fully over

on this call the other day, i realized that the weeble could also be used to think about the way risk + trust work together —

when you feel like you’re about to be knocked down by the impact of a big risky decision, well-placed trust can help bring you back

it’s not always quick or simple

it might take a fair bit of back and forth

but trust, and particularly self-trust, can always help bring a world-weary soul back to center

what about you, sweet bloom?

what brings YOU back to center, keeps you from falling down when you wobble?

xxoo, cc

ps: i mentioned the other day that i was going to do my own Q2 quarter forward spread this week, and i've already experienced some powerful shifts as a result —

booked a mutually beneficial work gig at just the right time
had a marked influx of positive feedback + other gifts both personally + professionally
connected with a great new colleague + client
saw an uptick in my subscriber count
was able to call on much-needed focus with relative ease
chose to stay instead of run (and was well met)
revived a project + client connection that had been on pause

and it's just been a couple days! if you're ready to try something new to catalyze new results, i'm still taking bookings for Q2 quarter forward spreads

see the deets + purchase here

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