Former member of the 80% club
Deadlines, infertility, time-blindness, and the final 20%.
Hi! First off – I launched my new website on Friday, and can’t thank you enough for your kind messages and the waitlist sign-ups for The Expansion Collective’s January cohort. Every message has truly meant the world.
By last Tuesday, my self-imposed November 1 launch deadline was looming and my to-do list was 80% complete:
The desktop site was done, but I hadn’t touched the mobile version.
I’d written three newsletters but hadn’t set up Substack.
My podcast episodes were recorded, but unedited.
A new freebie was outlined… and that was it.
The last 20% of tasks felt like a mountain. And I only had three days left to climb it.
I could feel anxiety sinking in at the thought of pushing my launch date yet again.
So, with a few tears, I took my launch stress to my mentor:
"I don’t have enough hours in the day. I’m still learning how to be a mom and get all my work done. I’m great at starting new projects but terrible at finishing them.”
That last one hit hard. My website, newsletter, and podcast were starting to feel like the half-folded pile of laundry sitting on the floor in my bedroom — 80% done but not quite complete.
My mentor, in all her wisdom, called me back to reality: “You *can* finish projects. You just did something massive. You grew and birthed a human.”
At the moment, this made me burst out laughing. A few days later, the thought has stuck. She was right – my journey to motherhood proved I *could* finish a project despite massive roadblocks and pivots. The timeline went nothing like I’d planned:
Months turned into years of expertly-timed sex followed by negative pregnancy tests.
The joy of finally getting pregnant, followed by the heartbreak from learning it was ectopic.
A life-saving abortion and surgery, followed by deep grief.
Fertility treatment, followed by a successful frozen embryo transfer.
A healthy pregnancy, followed by the most beautiful little soul arriving just shy of 9 months later.
It was more than three years of resilience and taking one action step after another, while blindly holding the vision that I was meant to be a mom.
Many lessons from infertility have stayed with me – here are three that have also applied to my business journey:
Go one task at a time.
We get so caught up in the big result that we can miss the importance of each micro-step. The small things add up:
Get a referral to the clinic.
Make the first phone appointment
Do the bloodwork (and so on)
For my launch, when I faced the final 20% of tasks, I focused on finishing one thing at a time. This allowed me to *actually* complete them, proving to myself that I could finish. Website ✔️. Newsletter ✔️.
Release timeline pressure.
Expecting specific results by specific dates — “I’ll be pregnant by my birthday” or “We’ll have a newborn for Christmas” — only amplified disappointment.
Similarly, when I set aggressive deadlines for my launch, I felt like I had let myself down, each time they rolled around and something still wasn’t finished. I learned to allow more time than anticipated for each task (eternal optimism mixed with time-blindness often leads to unrealistic deadlines – anyone else?) and to give myself grace if I needed more time or energy to finish something. After all, the business isn’t going anywhere. There’s no rush.
Allow the vision to evolve.
I had to release my preconceived ideas of what becoming a mom would look like. Going all in on IVF brought grief, as it wasn’t the “normal” experience I’d envisioned. But letting go of that vision made space for the aligned journey that was meant to unfold.
Likewise, this launch didn’t look how I had pictured it. Originally, I wanted to launch the Lead With Heart Podcast with my website and newsletter. But now, the pod is coming on December 1st, to allow the spaciousness to get it right instead of rushing to meet an arbitrary, self-imposed deadline.I had to adjust my vision of ‘all the new things come out at once; new business, new me’ and make space for a softer approach that slows down, honours the ebbs and flows of creative energy, and actually feels good.
As I often say to my clients, “slow down, your business isn’t going anywhere.” (Tattooing that one on my forehead).
Whatever you’re working on right now – whether you’re trying to grow a human (sending all my love), digging deep into a creative hobby, or in the thick of your own business pivot – I hope these lessons might help you ground back into your confidence and motivation when you hit the 80% slump.
Cheering you on,
– Samara
Ways to work together right now:
The Expansion Collective waitlist is now OPEN. The next cohort kicks off in 2025. This program helps you (re)build your business with softness, ease, simplicity, and deeper impact. Learn the exact strategic roadmap I’ve used to grow multiple multi-six figure creative businesses – and get the personalized mentorship to make the strategies your own.
Get on the waitlist for more details and access to discounts + bonuses. DM me with any questions.