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Design by Little Lady Funk
Dear fellow Lean-Iners,
Today, I want to share my passion project with you. When I was 19, I left my native Germany set to explore and better understand this complex world. The journey brought me to magical places around the world. Every place also brought new friends and more experiences than I can truly recount. When I had a gut-wrenching decision to take - I had literally one day to decide whether to move to London or pursue another opportunity in New York – it sparked the idea to create a book, a collection of voices, on the global nomad life. I started writing and interviewing fellow global nomads, and finally managed to put together a first draft. The manuscript often remained idle for months at a time, and when I picked it up again, I had gained new insights and perspectives. I also started working with a professional editor and gained feedback from professional agents and friends. Taking their advice into account, I re-wrote the draft at least three times. After every rejection or critical feedback, I felt like giving up, but I never did. The reason is my community of believers (in me and my project) who time and time again inspired me to continue.
In this post, I would like to highlight how the LEAN IN community in Switzerland has supported me in dream.dare.do-ing for this particular project. During the first LEAN IN conference in Zurich, I met @Annahita de la Mare and we started to talk about our joint passion for writing and creating. At the time, Annahita had already published several children books through #kickstarter. I told her about my project, and we promised to stay in touch. She welcomed me to Zurich and offered all her valuable advice on how to run a successful campaign and about self-publishing. Meanwhile, @Sylwia/Little Lady Funk and @Lidia Zabala from the LEAN IN Conference team spontaneously agreed to participate in a guerilla-style shooting for my #kickstarter video campaign. I took a short break during my pregnancy since there was sooo much work before going on maternity leave, but took up the book again during maternity leave (at night after managed to make by baby fall asleep…). I got back in touch with @Sylwia - we had collaborated on a political campaign before - and she designed this absolutely beautiful book cover, which is also the main logo for my project. While the big conference #dream.dare.do together had to be postponed this year, it is actually happening one project at a time within the lean community.
Which project are you dreaming about? If you are at the very beginning, or closer to the end, I would encourage you to believe in gradual pursuit of your passions and in enjoying the process. We often read about projects, in which people quit their jobs, invest all their savings and go full in, but there are many ways to pursue your passions (and not all of them require you to go full in at once). It took me 13 years from the first idea to my ongoing #kickstarter campaign. You push when life provides you a window of opportunity. But it also is fine to set your project sits aside when life gets terribly busy. Trust me, when you pick it up again, you will be a little wiser and the project will benefit from it. I however suggest to remain connected to a community of believers in you. They will give you the extra-push when you need it, support you and make sure you don’t give up. An easy way to find this community is to join or create a circle.
Finally, I am on a good way to achieve my personal goal (the campaign is 83% funded), but still needs a small push to get the project fully funded. If you are from the global nomad tribe and interested in adding a new book to your reading list, I invite you to check out my #kickstarter campaign and consider ordering a copy. Thank you!
Love, Natalie