I've noticed a few of us lately looking around at what everyone else is building, and quietly feeling behind. So let's talk about comparison for a minute, because it's a thief, and it's stealing something from you that you'd want back. Think about what you're actually looking at when you compare. You see someone whose community seems further along, more polished, more alive, and you measure yourself against it. But what are you really seeing? The finished front, or everything it took to build it? Because they didn't just arrive there. Nobody does. Look at anyone further down the road, and you're looking at someone who went through the exact building you're in right now, the messy middle, the mistakes, the quiet weeks, the nights they weren't sure it was working. You just don't get to see that part. Look a little closer at the gap you feel between you and them and ask what's actually in it. Is it talent? Luck? Some secret you missed? Or is it something quieter and more ordinary? Did they hit the same walls you're hitting, and instead of quitting, they reflected, adjusted, tried another way, and kept their eyes on their own target? Which one is it, really? Because if the difference is talent or luck, that's out of your hands. But if the difference is that they simply kept going, that's a different story entirely. And that one is available to you. Perhaps the answer to comparison isn't to look away from other people, because that never really works anyway. Maybe it's to change what you take from looking. Instead of "they have what I don't," what if it became "they kept going, and so can I"? That's the learner's mindset. Studying the process instead of envying the product, understanding that success was never an arrival. It was always a practice. Here's what I'll leave you to consider... The next time you catch yourself comparing your community to someone else's, what if you asked a different question, not "why am I so far behind them?" but "what did they refuse to give up on, and what would it look like to refuse to give up on mine?"

You’ve probably seen Golden Ticket Calls, Meet the Builder, Behind the Build... and eventually, Beyond the Build. Different names. Different conversations. But they all come from the same place. We want people to see what you’re building. These conversations and features are one of the ways we give back to the people building alongside us in Skoolology. 🎟️ Golden Ticket Calls give us a chance to sit down with you, hear where you are, and talk through what might help you move forward. 🐼 Meet the Builder introduces the person behind the community. Your story, your why, and what you’re creating. 🔨 Behind the Build takes us into the actual work. What you’re building, testing, changing, learning, or trying to figure out. 🌱 And eventually, Beyond the Build will give us a chance to come back and see what happened next. But there’s another piece we don’t want to dance around: We’re promoting you. Your community. Your work. Your ideas. Your experience. Your build. When we feature a member, we want other people to discover what you’re doing, learn from it, and get curious about you and the community you’re creating. And you do NOT need a finished build or a big success story to be featured. Right now, our research and conversations are focused on onboarding and the early member experience. If you’re building, rebuilding, simplifying, testing, or questioning your onboarding, we’d love for you to take us Behind the Build. It doesn’t have to be polished. And you don’t have to have the answers. What you’re trying, what you’re noticing, and what you’re learning are all part of the story. We can do it in whatever way works best for you: • A written Q&A • A recorded conversation • A live session • Or something else that fits you and your build Want to share your build? Reach out to Todd or me, and we’ll get it scheduled. There’s no expectation that you promote Skoolology in return. Skoolology was never meant to be a place where Todd and I are the only people with the microphone.

You are so generous with each other. Someone shares what they’re building, and you lean in. You ask questions. You offer ideas. You share something you’ve learned. You encourage someone who’s unsure. You celebrate the wins. And sometimes you simply say, “I get it.” You notice each other. You remember what someone was working on and come back to ask how it went. You see a question and think, “I might be able to help with that.” You share what worked for you without assuming it has to be the answer for someone else. And sometimes you ask the question that helps another builder see something they couldn’t quite see on their own. When you share what you’re learning, someone else learns, too. When you ask the question you’re afraid might be obvious, someone else is relieved you asked it. When you encourage another builder, you remind them they don’t have to figure all of this out alone. You make this room what it is. Not just by being here. By bringing what you know, what you’re wondering, what you’re trying, and what you’re learning. And by being willing to share some of it with each other. I hope you know how much that matters. And how much YOU matter here. 💜

Well, look who wandered back through the door. 😂💚 Our friend @Lynne Vella is back! Lynne, you’ve been part of Skoolology from the early days. You’ve built with us, learned with us, shared the messy middle, asked great questions, encouraged other builders, and made some pretty wonderful friendships along the way. So there’s really only one thing to say... Welcome home! ❤️ No catching up required. No expectations. Just pull up a chair and jump back in wherever and whenever you feel like it. We’re really happy to have you home. 💚🐼

A little reminder because @Jessica Cosci Jessica’s Human Advantage Summit speaker applications close in 2 days. And before anybody reads this as “Donna thinks I should apply”...I don’t. 😂 But I DO think opportunities like this are worth stopping long enough to consider. Jessica invited me to speak, and my immediate reaction was: “But I’m not an AI expert.” So I almost ruled myself out before I really thought about what she was asking. The more I looked at The Human Advantage, the more I realized this isn’t necessarily about being an AI expert. It’s about what we humans bring as AI becomes a bigger part of how we live and work. Our experience. Judgment. Creativity. Curiosity. Connection. Perspective. The things we’ve learned by actually living, working, building, failing, trying again, and figuring some stuff out along the way. 😂 And that got me thinking beyond Jessica’s summit, too. When we’re building something of our own, it’s easy to spend most of our time inside our own little corner of the world. But sometimes participating in someone else’s summit, podcast, panel, interview, workshop, or community puts us in conversations we wouldn’t otherwise have. 🧩We meet people. 🧩We practice talking about what we believe. 🧩We hear different perspectives. 🧩We discover which parts of our own message connect. 🧩And yes, sometimes new people discover our work, too. So this isn’t me telling you to apply. It’s me saying: If you looked at Jessica’s summit and thought, “Oh, she doesn’t mean someone like me,” maybe take one more look before the deadline. Your perspective may genuinely belong in the conversation. And if this particular opportunity isn’t for you, that’s okay, too. Maybe the bigger question for all of us is: Where might we be ruling ourselves out before we’ve even explored what could happen if we stepped into someone else’s room? 👀 Jessica has all the summit details in her In the Build post. 🔨💜