This weekend in a big travel weekend in the US, so hope everyone stays safe and calm. Atlanta airport alone is projecting 2+ million people over the next few days. We'll still be responding in the community, but we might be a little slower than usual. FYI- The first Labor Day Parade in the US was in 1882.

I shared a shorter version of this somewhere else this morning, but I kept thinking about it. Because I realized something. Some of the most valuable things you’ve shared with us haven’t been polished wins. They’ve been things like... “I tried this. It didn’t work.” “I thought I wanted this, but now I’m not so sure.” “Here’s what my members are actually doing.” “Something feels off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.” And occasionally... “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing next.” 😂 I’m also grateful for the quieter people here, too. The ones reading. Watching. Thinking. Trying something in their own community. Taking what they need and leaving what they don’t. Maybe you rarely comment. Maybe we have no idea what you’re experimenting with behind the scenes. You’re part of this, too. ❤️ Participation doesn’t always look like posting. And the conversations we DO get to have have changed some of our thinking, too. There are things Todd and I were pretty sure about when we started Skoolology that we see differently now. Things we’ve changed. Things we’ve simplified. Things we thought mattered that turned out not to matter nearly as much as something else. And I’m quite sure there are still things we’re wrong about. 😂🤫🔬 Maybe that’s one of the things I love most about treating Skoolology as a research lab. We can have hypotheses. We can bring our experience. We can study what seems to work. But then real people enter the room. And we have to pay attention. Building WITH people doesn’t mean doing everything everyone asks. It means letting what we learn from people influence what we build next. That requires us to listen. To notice. To question our assumptions. And sometimes to say, “Well... apparently THAT wasn’t it.” 😂 So today I’m grateful for all of you. The people who share the messy middle. The people who ask the awkward questions. The people who challenge an idea or tell us when something isn’t working. The people who let us peek behind their builds.

In the Build is where we bring the work that is still...well...in the build. 😂 Not just the finished version. The graphic you’re deciding between. The offer you’re testing. The post that got crickets. The community you’re getting ready to open. The idea that makes perfect sense in your head but isn’t quite translating yet. The thing that WORKED and now you’re wondering why. The little win that happened before you’ve reached the finish line. This is the messy middle. And we think there’s a whole lot we can learn from each other here. When we created In the Build, we kept coming back to four questions: What are you trying? What are you wondering? What would help? What are you learning? A few of you have since reminded us of something important... Sometimes knowing you’re welcome to post isn’t enough. It helps to know how to start. So if the blank post box is staring back at you, here’s a little shape you can borrow: What I’m building: Who it’s for: Where I am right now: What I’m working on next: What would help: That’s it. Use all five. Use two. Ignore the whole thing and tell us the story your way. 😂 This is a starting point, not a formula. Explorer Panda would approve. 🐼🧭 You don’t need the whole map. You just need to show us where you are right now. Then keep us in the build. You don’t need to create a brand-new post every time something happens. Come back to your original Build and tell us: What I tried: What happened: What I’m wondering now: Over time, that thread becomes something pretty cool. It becomes a record of the decisions, experiments, wrong turns, little wins, surprises, and changes that got you from there to here. And those are surprisingly hard to see when you’re the one doing the building. When someone lets you into their build, come alongside them. This may be my favorite part. You do NOT need to have the answer. Ask a question. Tell them what you notice. Share something you tried. Look at the graphic. Click through the page.

Our monthly Skoolology Meet & Greet is tonight at 7 PM Central our time, and we’d love to see you. Let’s get to know each other better so we can grow together! Nothing to prepare. No pressure to stay. Drop in. Say hi. Meet a few fellow builders. Stay for five minutes or the whole time. Listen in or jump into the conversation. It’s simply a chance to connect, laugh a little, and get to know the people behind the names. Tonight at 7 PM Central. You’ll find the link in the Skoolology calendar. 🐼

Thanks @Donna Thornton for letting me share this... Something small happened today that actually feels pretty big to me. 𝗜 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲. And honestly, the number isn't what I'm most excited about. It's everything that happened before it. In August, the channel started picking up: 𝟭𝟰𝗞 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟭𝟱𝗞 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟭𝟲𝗞 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟭𝟴𝗞 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 And VidIQ now has the channel in the 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝟮𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝗞 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀. But when I look back, the biggest thing I learned wasn't about views. It was about 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆. Because when you're starting something new, your brain gives you a hundred reasons to wait. "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵." "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨." "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩." "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵." I had those thoughts too. But eventually you realize... 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁. You start. You learn. You improve. And confidence comes from seeing yourself make progress. I'm still at the beginning of this journey, but I'm documenting the process and sharing what I'm learning through YouTube. And now I'm curious about everyone here: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄? Maybe it's a YouTube channel. Maybe it's a business. Maybe it's a personal brand. Maybe it's something completely different. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻?