21 Comments
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Liza Debevec's avatar

Nice post. Resonates a lot. I am learning to swim freestyle and just wrote a post about it. I do know how to swim breath stroke and am not afraid of water one bit, but I am still finding it very hard.

I have started over more generally as well, in that I quit a full time job, moved to a new country, trained to be a coach and split with my partner, in that order. Reminding myself that I have moved countries several times, started new jobs, learned new languages and also been happily single in the past, all help.

Here is my post on the challenges of learning a new swimming technique at 50, in case you are interested.

https://open.substack.com/pub/lizadebevec/p/learning-to-crawl?r=qclcq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Wow, good for you! And thanks for sharing, I’ll check it out! 🙏 💜

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Michael O'Neill's avatar

This resonates so much! Just started a career transition myself and have been pondering over the same question of what do I know and how can it transfer. Always nice to know one is not alone!

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

It’s tough to transition, isn’t it Michael?! But indeed, the foundations we already have are not trivial 😊

Also - I’m glad to hear you are doing this too - better together! 🤝💯 💪

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Michael O'Neill's avatar

Absolutely better together! Thanks to Smallstack!

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The Tao of Biscuits's avatar

What a cool post! I haven't written a single thing here/on substack yet. Not really sure why. You reminded me there are millions ways to do it, and I probably know more about doing new things than I think.

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Kasia, absolutely. 💯 Feel free to reach out anytime if you need some encouragement to make the plunge. 💗 Thanks for stopping by to read, and I look forward to seeing you blossom here on Substack!

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Kathy Napoli's avatar

My mottos through out my life was given to me by my less than stellar role model of a father,

Learn Something New Everyday

First comes Me, Myself and I, then You

You only get something out after you put something in.

One person can make a difference in this world if they don’t give up

I have lived believing in these quotes he told me over and over, wholeheartedly. I still do,

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Those are great, solid lessons Kathy. It seems almost magical that even with a parent that was really lacking, you were able to extract the good and hold it close to your heart. That is inspiring, thank you for sharing that!

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Florian Martinon's avatar

Hi Rose! It's been a while since I showed up on Substack, but now that I'm back...

I think both learning a new thing and improve at a thing you're an expert at is challenging.

I embrace the learning curve every time and have fun doing it!

I don't think anyone knows for me but myself, so I keep prompting myself rather than AI.

And it's fun! My friend Gail Kraft once told me that my soul is all about divine love and divine communication, which makes me an incredible teacher and therapist.

I'm still learning how to expand and express this in my career, and it's exciting!

Writing is part of it. Podcasting as well.

But anyways, I enjoy your articles and I look forward to reading the next one!

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Florian you have been missed!! It’s so great to see you back! 🙏🤩

Thanks for reading and for sharing your reflections - thoughtful and insightful, as always! Looking forward to watching your journey through all this learning and growing process too ☺️

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Norm del Rosario's avatar

Rose. Every sentence reflected my beginner path. I'm a couple weeks in on Substack so I'm embracing the newness, self-doubt, cringing as I look at my metrics. I'm along with you on this journey. Currently, I'm focusing on my voice because I don't have the mental space to multitask and manipulate marketing. Thank you for this honest post, Rose.

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Norm, thanks for stopping by to read and I’m ever so happy to hear that this resonated with you today.

It really can be overwhelming at times, right?

I too had to take a break from thinking about marketing and such, and cut my Notes interaction way back so I could THINK.

The best relief though is comments like this, reminding me that I’m not alone and that we are in this together. 💛

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Robin Taylor (he/him)'s avatar

This is such a brilliant perspective. 48 degree water. No problem.

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Thanks for reading and for the kind reflection Robin. 🙏

Yeah last summer was my first time trying out the water… I was all set in my Florida beach gear, but I didn’t make it past ankle deep 😆

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Robin Cangie (she/her)'s avatar

Rose, I love your writing voice! Thank you for this much-needed reminder that even when we're outside our comfort zones, we still know more than we think we do. AND it's also okay to be new at stuff and suck at it for a while. 😊

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Robin, thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. Embracing the suck is a critical step, indeed 😆

And yes absolutely.... we worked hard for our experience - we may as well make sure the juice was worth the squeeze hehe! 🍊 💗

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Dennis Merritt's avatar

If you want lots of followers, writing interesting things (you do) is one part but the tricky part is marketing. There are all sorts of ways to let people know about your writing, but I don't know what they are. Most of my Substack articles get 50-100 views, but someone shared one on Reddit and I got 600 views. It's a game I don't understand. Let me know when you figure that one out!

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Dennis, yeah, no clue here 😆. Marketing feels exhausting to me, but I'm giving it at least an inch of a college try hehe. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!

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Prajna O'Hara's avatar

Dear Rose,

You nailed it with this essay. I feel inspired to be in this new place learning all these new things as a newbie. I love your idea about transferability and remembering how you’ve been in places before and haven’t known it. all. There is always learning. It’s OK to be a beginner and go slow. I love learning. I am so glad to be here with you and to watch a growth.

Thank you again !

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Amanda Rose Fadely's avatar

Prajna thanks for your kind words and sharing your reflections on this article! I am really glad to hear that it resonated 🙏🏽 Truly I think none of what we learn ever goes to waste, it is just a matter of figuring out how it applies in new spaces. Thanks again for reading and sharing your thoughts. 💗

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