You've found yourself in awe of the tree-line with your heart racing remembering all the stories you've heard (both good and bad) and sounds of nature that you're hearing. You take a sip of water, take a big inspiring breath, and enter the Jungle π΄
You quickly find that the Jungle doesn't have a large single trail that leads to your end destination. Every now and then you come across paths that appear to be human-made, and they feel more safe/comfortable than wandering through the shrubs and trees... but there's something special about getting lost and coming across strange/scary plants and animals that you otherwise wouldn't have seen following the path. Coming across some of these animals instills a fear in you, but you push through and gain confidence in your abilities. Some time passes by and you realize you're no longer following a trail, but you have now come to an unimaginable, indescribable, beautiful waterfall that leads into a grand body of water. This is just like the amazing stories you've heard other people accomplishing, but you're the one who's here now π
Starting a community is the perfect blend of scary and beautiful. From the outside it's nothing but noise of success and failures. But once you enter, you quickly realize that there's no one-size-fits-all blueprint to immediate success. More often than not, you'll have to wander off-path and try new things. You'll come across scary animals (technical difficulties, trolls/difficult members, months with higher churn, etc.), beautiful/instagrammable scenery (increased retention, first few success stories from members, higher engagement numbers, etc.), and eventually you'll reach this oasis that is the end destination (leaving your current 9-5, high percentage of your members achieving success, etc.).
Don't be scared to enter the Jungle. Be confident in your abilities and skills that you currently have, and take the first step. Find your Oasis.