Shake Off Small Mistakes with an "Awooga!"
This newsletter went out last week with a big old typo right in the title. I schedule these to be sent bright and early so I spotted the typo (“manager” instead of “manage”) while I was having my first cup of coffee. And you know what my first thought was? “AWOOOOGA!”
There’s a warmup game improv people play that has a bunch of complicated rules. When someone makes a mistake the whole team links arms and yells “Awooooga!” and goes right back to the game. It’s a great way to get loosened up and let go of your fear of making mistakes.
Fear of making mistakes can hold us back from trying new things. And while we want to learn from mistakes, it’s a mistake (see what I did there?) to spend a disproportionate amount of time beating ourselves up, reliving, or worrying afterwards. Think of what else you could do with that time and energy!
Am I going to proofread a bit more going forward? You bet! But I didn’t beat myself and I’m not spending an extra hour proofreading every newsletter to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This ain’t that kind of newsletter.
Your Dot Release: The next time you make a little mistake try saying “Awooga!” to yourself (bonus points for saying it out loud!) and then keep right on going.
Release Notes: That bragging workshop I told you about last week at the Metro Innovation Hub went well! We had a full house and the organizers told me it was the largest turnout they’ve ever had for an event. If you’d like me to help your team brag, I run workshops both virtually and in person. I’ve got a few pro bono slots for groups that would benefit but lack funding. If you’re in Portland definitely keep the their Startup Cafés on your radar—they run some great free programming. I attended one by Megan Eckman on email onboarding and learned a lot.
Another free opportunity to brag better is coming up! On Thursday, May 15 from 5 to 7, Kathryn Latham and I will be leading a speed bragging networking event as part of Portland Startup Week. I’d love to see you at either of these free events!
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