If you accomplished one thing on your to-do list this week, raise your hand! It doesn't have to be a huge milestone. Maybe you: ✅ Made a phone call you've been avoiding ✅ Finished a project ✅ Went for a walk ✅ Cleaned out a drawer ✅ Published a post ✅ Sent an email ✅ Started something you've been putting off Progress is progress. Tell us one thing you completed this week, and let's celebrate it together! 🎉💛

I just watched a video from Evelyn Weiss about the new Growth Boost feature that was announced this week. You can find it here: Community → Settings → Discovery → Growth Boost Right now, Growth Boost is turned ON by default. According to the description in settings, Growth Boost allows Skool to: ✅ Show your community higher in relevant search results ✅ Run off-site ads (Meta) promoting your community ✅ Front the advertising costs ✅ Charge a 30% commission when Skool brings you a paying customer ✅ Charge nothing for members you bring yourself One detail that caught my attention: @Evelyn Weiss, the queen of Skool ads (she literally creates and runs them) shared that Skool will use not only your main community image, but also all of the images and videos on your About Page as part of these ads. If that's the case, your About Page visuals are no longer just onboarding assets. They may become marketing assets too. This has me looking at my own community differently. Every image now needs to answer: "Would I be happy if Skool used this in an ad tomorrow?" I just made a major update to them earlier in the week, thanks to some coaching by @Katya McEwen and Jen. And I am still learning about how all of this works, so let's get a conversation going below. Here are some questions I'm curious about: • Are videos used differently from images? • Will there be reporting on clicks, conversions, and commissions? ❓ What questions do you have about Growth Boost? Drop them below. Let's talk.

A few years ago, I took out my first Kiva loan. It was $4,000. At the time, Burn Bright, Not Out was still small. I had a book, a growing journal business, and a vision for what it could become, but like many product-based businesses, I faced a challenge: You need money to make money. You can't order one journal. You order hundreds. Sometimes thousands. You pay for manufacturing, shipping, inventory, advertising, software, and all the things that happen behind the scenes long before a customer ever clicks "Buy Now." That first Kiva loan helped me take a step forward. And I'm proud to say I paid it off 7 months early. Since then, a lot has happened. My journals have earned Amazon's Choice badges. I've sold thousands of books and journals. I've built communities that support entrepreneurs in creating income without burnout. I've coached business owners, spoken at conferences, and continued to grow a business centered on helping people live and work more intentionally. Now I'm ready for the next step. Tomorrow, my new Kiva loan opens for private lending. The goal is to raise $10,000 to invest in inventory, advertising, technology, and business growth so I can continue expanding what I've already built. The loan is specifically intended to support inventory, marketing, technology, and operations needed to grow the business. This isn't about starting a business. It's about scaling one. Over the next few days, I'll share more about how Kiva works and how you can support the loan, if you'd like. For now, I just wanted to say thank you. Whether you've bought a journal, read my book, joined one of my communities (you have if you are reading this!), hired me, referred a friend, or simply encouraged me along the way, you've helped make this journey possible. And I'm incredibly grateful.

One thing I’ve been trained to do my whole career as an educator is pay attention to what authors do. As a teacher, I taught kids to notice author’s craft and try the techniques in their own writing. And as an author, I can’t help but do the same thing when I read. This weekend I started The Miracle Morning and by page 2 (there are lots of sections before the book starts!) I had already pulled out my notebook and made a T-chart. On one side: Content On the other: Author Moves Under Content, I captured this quote: “I would argue that becoming the best version of ourselves and creating the life we want is what should be focused on each day.” Under Author Moves, I noted: 1. First spread: Watch the movie (QR code) 2. First spread: Download the app (QR code) 3. Real-life stories of transformation and testimonials 4. Invitation to join the community after I’m hooked by the introduction and can’t wait to keep reading more! I find it fascinating to learn from both sides at the same time. What is the author teaching? And what is the author doing? The book isn’t just a book. It’s connected to a movie, an app, and a community. Just like many of us are trying to do! Every page is teaching me something about personal growth and something about building a body of work that helps people beyond the pages of a book. As authors and creators, we should be studying everywhere we go. What is one smart thing you’ve noticed recently in a book, course, community, podcast, or product you’ve consumed? Drop it below. 👇

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that most of us are much better at cheering for other people than we are at cheering for ourselves. We celebrate a friend’s win. We encourage a family member when they’re struggling. We tell others to keep going when progress feels slow. But when it comes to our own work? We focus on what isn’t finished. We compare ourselves to someone further ahead. We move the goal post the second we accomplish something. What if today you paused long enough to recognize what you’ve already done? Maybe you published the post. Maybe you made the sales call. Maybe you took the walk. Maybe you showed up for week one when no one was watching. Progress deserves acknowledgment before perfection arrives. So here’s your reminder: 📣 Celebrate the small wins. 📣 Give yourself credit for showing up.📣 Notice how far you’ve come, not just how far you have left to go. Sometimes the voice you need most is your own. Tell us one thing you’re proud of from this week. Big or small, let’s celebrate it together below. 👇💛