Ten months ago, I wrote my first article on LinkedIn. The first paragraph was this…

“As a small business owner, I learn new things every day. Some of them come from observation, some of them come from experience and some from my mistakes. The vast majority of the things I learn though, come from my relationships with other business owners. It’s when I connect with other businesses that I learn the most, grow the most, and take the significant steps forward in my work.”

Looking back on it today as I’m launching the Depth Not Width blog, that statement captures the essence of what I want this new blog to become. My goal with this blog is to create a space where we can connect and learn together as business owners, leaders, and people who are all battling the same things.

We’re all in the same boat, and I hate to burst your bubble, but none of you are unique. If I talked to each of you one by one, I would hear the same things every time…

“I’m busy.”

“I don’t have enough time.”

“I feel stretched too thin.”

Your challenges are common to all of us. There’s at least one other person reading this right now who is going through what you’re going through or has been there. As a leader at OrangeBall, I spend my days talking to business leaders and professionals about their challenges. Most all of our conversations start with discussions about their marketing, but over and over again they end up sharing insights around the battles they’re facing as professionals, in their business and at home, trying to keep everything balanced and on track. Those battles are normal.

You are normal.

So today, as I’m launching this new blog, I hope that it helps each of you find a little more depth in your life, in your work, and in your relationships. Thinking back to that first article I posted on LinkedIn, which you can read here, I recall being scared to death when I hit the “publish” button. What if no one read it? What if no one liked it? What if people thought it sucked? It turns out some people did like it, and they let me know. And so, a week later I added another article, and a few more people found some value in it. I was still afraid, but a little less so…

Today, ten months later, I’m not scared. I know that no matter what, at least one of you is going to find some value in the words I am sharing. It might only be one, but I’m not afraid anymore to fall on my face, because I already took the first step ten months ago and I’m doing just fine today.

The Takeaway

You’ll notice I end each post with a takeaway, one simple thought for you to carry with you through your week. So here goes… Try something new! Be brave, quit worrying about what everyone else is going to think, and take the leap! I can tell you personally, through the experience of getting here right now, it is worth the risk. The only regret you’ll have in the future is not acting today and then living the rest of your life with the question in the back of your mind, “What if?”

See you next week! Remember to subscribe, and thanks for sharing this time with me!

– John