Stop waiting for the universe to come to you

I saw a note on Substack the other day that stuck with me. The idea was simple. Don’t wait for the universe to come to you. Go out into it.

It hit because it’s true. When you stay in the same patterns, the same schedule, the same daily rhythm, you get comfortable. And comfortable is where inspiration goes to die.

So, today Claire and I closed our laptops and went to the Central Farm Market Bethesda. See our reel all about it HERE. It just opened today in the Women’s Co-Op space (7155 Wisconsin Ave) and it was exactly the kind of place we love. We met creative local makers and were able to have conversations about their businesses and what they are building and making.

We met the team behind ALL CAPS Farms, a local mushroom grower and we talked with the owner of Gray Wolf Spirits a local spirits company (with really cool branding). Two conversations we never would have had if we’d stayed at our desks answering email. We got fresh peaches, incredible treats for our doggies and beautiful hand made pillow spray.

Here’s why this matters to us. We named ourselves Collab Collective for a reason. We believe you grow faster when you get out into your community and connect with the people around you. That’s not a nice idea we put on our website. It’s how we actually run our business. But even we forget. We get heads down. We tell ourselves we’re too busy. So today was our own reminder too.

Getting out of your comfort zone doesn’t have to be big. Try this week:

• Go to a coffee shop you’ve never been to

• Schedule that coffee you keep saying you’ll schedule

• Ask someone to go on a walk

• Show up to the market, the event, the thing you’d normally skip

You don’t need a plan. You just need to leave your desk.

The best connections we’ve made never came from staring at a screen. They came from showing up. So go show up somewhere new this week. Then come tell us where you went. We want to hear about it.