For the last two weeks I've been answering your questions about the new class one by one, but today I want to share those answers and tell you a little more about how it came to be. If you have a question about the class, please ask in the comments, or send me a note.
First, I want to say: I love this class so much. It is so different from anything else I've done, but it's the kind of work I've been wanting to do all along. This is the very foundation of what we talk about here. Exploring is the heart of how you build a sustainable business, share your work with the world, and connect with customers in meaningful, profitable ways. And the heart of exploring is something I find missing in our online world – the reassurance that you don't have to get it “right” the first time. You don't have to know what you're doing to start doing something. You don't have to be the best, biggest, brightest star in your field. You can build something that reflects who you are, in every aspect (product, people, communication, all of it!)
Now, in order to actually facilitate your personal exploration, I had to do my own experimenting about what works.
Students tell me that their favorite part of a class or book is the worksheets, where you apply what you've learned to your own business. The best thing about a class or session is the time you invest in looking closely and being open to new ways. It's never the individual lessons, it's always the thinking and experimenting that results. I don't hold the magic answers, but you do. And you only find them by spending organized time looking and thinking about them…which is hard to get in your day to day business life. A class gives you the kind of structure you need to prioritize fixing something.
In Explore You, I'm taking all that to its logical conclusion. Instead of teaching lessons on how to do something specific, I'm guiding you to find your own answers, within your own experiences, for any situation. I'm sharing tools, for you to use in your life. I've built a space for you to take the time and apply your thoughtfulness to the area of your business that needs it most. And I've filled the space with other clever, helpful explorers.
In order to create that kind of environment, I've transformed the way I lead the course. We have a totally new class space and many many more lessons than every before. Pay Yourself had 6 lessons over one week. How to Talk about Your Work had three lessons over three days. Explore you has 15 lessons over three weeks + 6 lessons in the welcome week, that are available as soon as you join. But, because this about leading you into an exploration (and not teaching you facts) – each lesson is different. There are videos, worksheets, discussion questions, and creative assignments (no special equipment needed). You won't just read or watch, you'll also write and think and do. You'll capture photographs or sketch or collage.
Because this course is a completely different kind of experience, I've had a few people ask for an example of what it's like. So I'm going to share a video from the “welcome” week of materials. This is one of the extra lessons, about one of the first Exploration Tools you're going to need for this journey:
(included with every video is a copy of my notes, so if you don't want to watch the videos, you can read it all!)
Explore You starts on Monday.
I'm deliriously enthusiastic and can't wait! Monday's the very last day you can join us, so invite you to read more about and sign up here.