Project Fearless: Unblock Confidence and Tap into Courage

Hi GoodHuman, 😊

I'm so happy you're here and on the journey with me to becoming a BetterHuman for ourselves and for those around us. Now, I want to apologize for showing up one week late, but I hope it was for good reason. 

On my journey to becoming a BetterHuman, 

accountability has been a significant focus for me, and it's something I struggled with greatly when I first took the initiative to better myself and grow personally. For this reason, I wrestled with the question, do I release a post that I felt was somewhat premature in order to stay accountable to my biweekly schedule? Or do I delay it by a week to rewrite and publish something more authentic and aligned with building the foundation to becoming a BetterHuman? Interestingly enough, what I'm sharing today is exactly about building accountability, self-trust, and confidence. Reflecting on this, I believe the inner work I've done has allowed me to trust in my decision to delay, but still hold myself accountable for posting, even when things haven’t gone as planned, and embrace the confidence to be vulnerable. 

With that said, let me share with you my personal project that led me to build confidence: Project Fearless.

In August 2023 I couldn't have felt farther from my Self**. I was disconnected, uncertain, and depressed. I was practicing my dream career as an eye doctor, I was in a wonderful marriage, I had great friendships, I lived in the beautiful city of Chicago, and yet, here I was unhappy with life. WTF?? HOW??? 

I was desperate to fix this conundrum, so I got SUPER honest with myself, and I admitted to the root cause: envy of those who had confidence—confidence to chase opportunity, to believe in themselves, and confidence to embrace taking risks for a chance to GROW. It was clear. What I lacked as the foundation in my life was confidence and from this self-assessment, came Project Fearless. 

The mission of Project Fearless is to have the courage to try new things—to take action on ideas, on activities, and on opportunities. 

Anything that I wanted to do, anything I wanted to say, anything that basically came to my mind that caused uncertainty, self-doubt, or anxiety—this would be what would serve as my weekly Project Fearless. These projects started off as mostly small tasks like working out just once in the front of class (keeping the action simple, specific, and doable), talking to two new people in my workout class, and spatchcocking a chicken for dinner. But within just a few weeks, I was taking on larger projects like throwing a massive holiday party that included the logistics of busing my friends from the city an hour away! This was a little longer than a one-week Project, but each week I crossed something off the list to get to the final action of throwing the party. (December 9, 2023, and it was EPIC🥳.) Other bigger projects that had a huge impact on leading me to where I am today included applying for a leadership program with my national professional association and signing up for a 6-month personal development program with Mel Robbins. Without my Project Fearless self-accountability structure, I would have NEVER had the guts to commit to a 6-month program.

After months of completing a Project Fearless each week, I paused, looked up, and what I found was that from simply taking small actions and holding myself accountable to my weekly deadlines (just like we use to have to complete homework in school, or like we meet deadlines for work), and I had taken so many meaningful steps forward. Using Project Fearless, I built confidence, created so many wonderful experiences to look back on, and I began to truly trust myself to make change in my life, to be the person I wanted to be, and live the life I wanted for my Self.

And that's the story of Project Fearless.

If you want to build confidence, grow towards the life that you dream about, or do simple everyday things

like dine alone and enjoy yourself, or try a new workout routine, sign up for a class, go somewhere you've always wanted to go, or ask someone on a date, use Project Fearless to get you there. If you need an accountability partner, message me on socials at GoodHuman Design, submit a message on the Contact Us form, or text me at 773-800-3428 and share with me each week what your Project Fearless will be. If you need ideas, I am here for you on that too—use the contact info above to ask. I'll also be dropping ideas on GoodHuman Design Instagram and sharing stories of how others used Project Fearless in their life to build confidence and become BetterHumans. 

My GoodHumans, we deserve more. We deserve to love our Selfs. We deserve to love our lives. When we do, we're BetterHumans. 

With Love and confidence in YOU☝️, 

Taryn

**Take note: I will be referring at times to self/selves with a capital S because this for me symbolizes my insides, a part of me that deserves recognition; myself is the physical me, my Self is my spiritual me, and she deserves a capital S, as a Proper Noun.