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Writer's pictureAriana Friedlander

Long Bike Rides and Trampolines



Have you ever gone on a long bike ride that you looked forward to with nervous anticipation. Getting started is hard psychologically. But after a while you’re pedaling along and you get so focused being in the moment, enjoying the journey that eventually you lookup surprised to realize you are almost at the end.

That’s what happened to me this week with writing and releasing the draft of A Misfit Entrepreneur’s Guide to Building a Business Your Way. While I had crafted the outline and journaling timelines months ago, I have been writing each chapter post by post.

I’ve had my head down writing so intently that I did not realize the draft is almost done until I just reviewed my timeline for the book and saw I made a mistake…I had tacked on a few extra weeks to the draft release by accident. How did this happen?

The week I was supposed to release my first journaling timeline (which shares my very raw emotions about this journey, most of which I have not shared publicly before), I got sick with the flu. My entire family got sick with the flu too. It was rough, it was the sickest I have been in years. I had false starts, feeling better then worse. The flu turned into bronchitis and my recovery was a slow process. I felt so worn down I contemplated if it was a sign I should give up on writing the book.

That last time I was, drop everything and focus on getting better or I might never recover sick was my senior year in high school. I had just been dumped by my high school boyfriend, had a bad allergic reaction to an antibiotic my doctor prescribed me and landed in the hospital…at which point I learned I had mono.

Heart broken, physically weakened and utterly fatigued I was at my lowest low point. I tried on wallowing, crying and feeling sorry for myself. Then out of the blue an image appeared in my mind.


What if, this is me bottoming out? And what if, at the bottom is a trampoline? When I had moments where I felt I was sinking deeper I pictured myself on that trampoline, eventually I was going to spring up to a higher and better place then I ever had been before in my life. Despair turned into hope. Suffering turned into resilience. And off to college I went, where I would come into my own.

It took me a year to recover from that illness in high school. My body was so ravaged by the sickness, I lost weight, muscle mass and stamina. But I just kept visualizing myself literally bouncing back on my trampoline, springing forward to a better place and that is just what I did.

I have since carried that visual with me through many trials and tribulations of life. As I felt myself bottoming out this past February, I kept the trampoline in mind. I put caring for myself first then did my best to work the plan and persevere.

Even with my best efforts, I got behind on writing and releasing the draft of the book. Still a little foggy from my sickness, I updated my calendar where I made a mistake, and projected it would take a few weeks longer to release the draft then it actually will. In March and April I focused on writing and sharing two posts a week.

This brings me to today. As you reach the end of a journey it is normal to feel sad or disappointed about all the things you wanted to do but didn’t. If you have been reading my journaling, you know I’m hard on myself. Of course, my first reactions to this realization were sadness and disappointment…and then I remembered, the journey is not ending, just this portion of it.

The saga will continue after I am done releasing the draft of the book on my blog. I have to review and revise the manuscript. And then there is the community of co-creators. Together, with this amazing community of fellow misfit entrepreneurs we are going to review the revised manuscript in May and June. We will share stories, discuss ideas for improving the content, and add in the “choose your own adventure” component of the book.

So, stay tuned. In T-Minus 6 posts, the first draft of A Misfit Entrepreneur’s Guide will be done. If you want to realize your own dreams of freedom through entrepreneurship, I invite you to join our community of co-creators.  What better way is there to learn than to help write the book!

Sometimes you want the peace and quiet of taking a long bike ride alone, this is not one of those times. I want to share this journey with you because we are better together. When you learn and grow, I do too. Together we are rising the tide for misfit entrepreneurs everywhere!

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