I Have Bad News and Good News: Why Growth Lives in the Hard Things
Growth in business and life doesn’t come from comfort, it comes from doing the hard things we resist. Here’s how building discipline (and showing up) leads to consistent clients, creative freedom, and a thriving business.
The Truth About Growth (And Why It Feels Hard)
Here’s the bad news:
Your business won’t grow if you keep resisting the very thing that will move it forward.
Here’s the good news:
The thing you’re resisting? It’s never as hard as your mind makes it out to be.
I’m writing this at 5:07AM. The house is quiet, the coffee is still kicking in, and—confession—I’m usually a 7AM girly. But today? It’s a mortar day. We’re laying tile in our new home.
And if I want to write, coach, build, surf, and live this big, beautiful life… 5AM it is.
Growth often hides in the unglamorous: early mornings, the tasks we don’t feel like doing, the little habits that compound into results.
The Commitment That Changed Everything
Last month, standing in Cabo, I made a promise to myself:
Show up.
Write more.
Hit send.
Not because I always want to, but because writing to you is the missing bridge between curiosity and transformation:
From “I’m curious about The Hive” → to “I’m ready to build my $20k/month creative business.”
Every creative I coach has, at some point, whispered:
“Show me how.”
This is me, showing you.
The Comfort Keeper vs. The Discipline Muscle
We all have a voice inside that resists. I call it the comfort keeper.
It convinces us to delay, avoid, or wait for the perfect time.
But thriving creatives? They train another voice: the discipline muscle.
One rep at a time.
One action at a time.
Until showing up becomes natural.
What We’re Building Inside The Hive™
This month, we’re rolling out The Magic Marketing Map™. It is a simple, repeatable system designed to help you:
✨ Show up consistently
✨ Attract right-fit, ready-to-say-yes clients
✨ Market without second-guessing yourself
We’ll be practicing this for the rest of the year so that by the time 2026 arrives, Hive members will be:
Marketing with ease
Overflowing with aligned client leads
Running businesses that feel exciting (not exhausting)
The Real Key to Growth
If you want different results, you have to show up differently.
Stop avoiding the thing.
Do it anyway.
Train the discipline muscle.
Because once you start? The task isn’t that hard.
It’s the story we tell ourselves that makes it feel heavy.
Let’s stop resisting.
Let’s build momentum.
Let’s make some real magic together.
Big Magic,
Ash
