You can do hard things...

but will you?

Hey, it’s Wamide. Welcome to issue #44 of OnGrowth&, a monthly newsletter on personal and career growth 🌱🚀

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I’ve done hard things before.

Like birthing a child, leaving a job with none in sight, moving to a new country at 25 to get an MBA.

But I still get afraid.

When I wrote this piece back in February, I was at a point in my life where I knew I wanted needed to do hard things but I was utterly afraid.

Afraid of the outcome.

Afraid of failing.

Afraid of my own capacity (or lack thereof).

Afraid of other people’s reaction.

Then I spoke with an amazing therapist and things got clearer in my head.

I can do hard things.

Rather than looking at this hard thing as an obstacle, I decided to do things differently. Come along with me.

5 Questions to Guide You.

1. Has this been done before?

   When the thought of hosting a summit this year came to mind, I knew I had to sit with myself to understand the root of my fear. I had nursed this dream since 2022 and each year I came up with excuses of how I could not do it. In the same time period, I have seen other people rise above these excuses and host successful conferences. So had this been done before? Yes.

2. In 2 or 5 years, will you regret not doing this?

   If there’s anything I’ve learned in my journey as a startup operator, creator or a builder, it is the fact that clarity comes from doing. Many of the successful companies and people we see today started from a simple idea/dream, one that got clearer by the day . If perfectionism is holding you back, remember that you cannot perfect what you have not started.

3. Is this a me problem or a them problem?

   So I finally accepted my team and I were going to regret not hosting this summit. To minimize the risk of failure, I thought maybe we’ll make it completely virtual (since we haven’t done this before, let’s test the waters). But deep down, I knew that I was merely running away. Since most of my fear had to do with fear of failure, I knew that was a me problem and running away wasn’t going to solve it or make it go away.

4. What can I do now?

   So me problem, right? Great.

   It was clear that I needed to build capacity by doing this “hard thing”. So, I put on my big girl pants, tapped into my network and used my expertise building strong partnerships. Instead of trying to tackle everything by myself, I focused on my areas of strength (partnerships, relationships) and asked for help.

5. What do I need to get me there?

   God. People.

   There’s an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

   I’ve prayed long and hard. I’ve also gotten help from amazing people.

   4 months of planning, 1 amazing event planner, 35 volunteers, 12 partner companies, and 200+ registrations so far; and we’re 18 days to CAWSTEMSummit, and it’s a physical one!

I’ve gone from wondering how we’d fund the summit to raising over 90% of our budget in 3 months.

P.S:

If you didn’t know, I run a community for African women in STEM (CAWSTEM).

We hosted our first physical summit in 2024 for STEM women at all career stages.

12 speakers, 10 panelists and moderators, 8 mentors, 1 vibrant host, 30 volunteers, over 100 physical attendees, 200 online, and 12 partner companies.

Catch the replay here or click here to read the key highlights.