Good morning, builders! ❤️☕ You know what I caught myself doing the other day? Sitting there trying to work something out in my head, going around in circles, getting a little frustrated, and still not asking for help. Todd was right there. LOL! I started thinking about how often I do that. Somewhere along the way, we get this idea that we should know what we're doing. That if we're leading something, building something, or helping others, we should have the answers. But why? Funny how we can give other people plenty of room to learn, make mistakes, and figure things out, but forget to give ourselves that same grace. Some of my best learning has happened when I finally admitted I didn't know. Sometimes the person who helped me see things differently simply asked a question I hadn't considered. Maybe we don't always need another answer. Maybe we just need to be willing to say, "I'm still figuring this out." What's something you're still learning to give yourself permission NOT to know? I'll bet we're not as alone in that as we sometimes think. ❤️

One of our members recently asked about scheduling tools, and I see how many different tools are popping up on Skool... Panda, Skooly, SkoolKit, and probably several others we haven't discovered yet. Todd and I use Panda, but I'm curious what everyone else is using! What are you using, and what's your favorite thing about it? If you're managing everything directly in Skool, we'd love to hear that, too! Let's compare notes! We might discover something that makes community building a little easier for each other. ❤️

Yesterday in Research Lab, I asked how we can tell whether our members are actually getting what they came for. And wouldn't you know it, our conversations have given us even more to think about! ❤️ @Dennis L Stewart asked how we get quiet members to start talking. @Elsebeth Fogh shared about a member who prefers reading, reflecting, and putting what she learns into practice in her everyday life. And @Alex Beviss reminded us that we tend to see our communities through our own experiences, and sometimes our vision needs a little adjusting. The corrective lens analogy was perfect, Alex! 🙌 After teaching for so many years, I've learned that quiet can mean a lot of different things. I've watched people sit quietly, take everything in, and go on to do remarkable things with what they've learned. I've also seen people sit just as quietly because they were confused, uncomfortable, or afraid to ask for help. Here's the thing. From the outside, those two experiences can look exactly the same. So how do we figure out what's really happening? I thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce something Todd and I use when we're working through questions like this. We call it our Thinking Map.🤔 It's nothing complicated. Just five steps that help us slow down, get curious, and make better decisions. Notice → Understand → Design → Try → Learn Let's walk through it together. We NOTICE that some members aren't participating much. That's what we see. But we don't necessarily know what it means yet. So we try to UNDERSTAND. Instead of assuming they need another activity, we might ask ourselves what we actually know about their experience. Then we DESIGN one small way to learn more. Maybe we reach out to a couple of members and simply ask. What's been helpful to you here? Is there anything you hoped to find that you haven't found yet? We TRY it. Then we LEARN from what they tell us.

I've had a few conversations lately that have me questioning something. How do we really know whether the people in our communities are getting what they came for? We can see who's posting, commenting, and showing up. But that doesn't necessarily tell us whether anyone is making progress. I was talking with another builder today about her quieter members. She realized that some of them might actually need a place where they can learn without feeling pressured to participate. But that raised another question for both of us. How do we tell the difference between someone who's quietly getting what they need and someone who's quietly struggling? I don't think we can answer that just by looking at activity. That's what I'd love for us to explore together this week.🔍🧭 Have you ever learned something about a member that surprised you? Maybe they were getting more from your community than you realized. Or maybe you discovered they needed something you hadn't considered. I'd love to hear what happened and how you found out. We might learn quite a bit from comparing our experiences. ❤️

@Dennis L Stewart You made it! ❤️ Welcome to Skoolology! We're so glad you decided to come hang out with us. 😊 For those who haven't met Dennis yet, he's the builder behind The Confidence Reset System, where he's helping people find the confidence to move forward, even when they don't feel quite ready. I went over and spent a little time looking at what he's building, and one message caught my attention right away. “Ready is not a feeling. Ready is something you build.” Dennis, you know you're speaking my language! How many times do we hold ourselves back because we're waiting to feel ready? I think most of us have been there a time or two. 😂 Something else I appreciate about Dennis is his belief that friendships come first. That means so very much to me. Dennis, I'm looking forward to getting to know you better and having you join in our conversations. We're just really happy you're here! ❤️ Everyone, come say hello to Dennis!