The practice of 'unstucking' yourself.

We have two core values at Bosa. One is that “we are not Bosa”, meaning our careers are not the only aspect of our lives and identities. We really want to build Bosa from a place of service. My co-founder EJ and I see it as a calling, and we're just vessels to bring this work to pass.

The second value is “don't stay stuck”. We have to practice these values every day, but especially this one. This means figuring out how to unblock yourself and or leaning into community partners, other people who can speak into what is blocking you.

To uphold these values, Bosa has five other practices to bring these values to life. They’re all important, but today I want to focus on one of them — freedom. I think of freedom for our team as being experimental and having a place of joy to operate in. So when we're stuck, when we're bogged down, when we don't know where to turn, we don't know what the answer is or we're just having general blockers happening, we're not feeling that sense of freedom that we want and need to make meaningful progress.

And usually if you're staying stuck or if you're stuck in a place, you're not being experimental, right? So we really try to remind each other of that internally as we build Bosa, and as we support each other as a team. Ultimately, we hope that sense of freedom comes out in the product as well. We want people to feel a sense of freedom when they, as a result of using Bosa, actually live the lives that they want to live.

We feel like we don't have the tools to be who we want to be. Maybe we don't feel like we have the time or that perfect ideal moment to make some things happen in our lives. There’s a saying that it's always better to start now than worrying about starting too late. That's so, so true. Sometimes it is just really hard to start.

That reminder of our values with “don't stay stuck” is to simply put that first foot forward. Towards the end of 2023 we doubled down on living out, not staying stuck. This brought us into the new year with momentum, all by creating an environment of freedom to share ideas that don’t have to be fully formed yet. These aren’t half-baked in a bad sense, but the core initial thoughts that the team can collectively help each other move forward or ask questions to uncover more threads of greatness.

This approach also helps to get your creative juices flowing, to tap into the experimental side that we all have, but are often too bogged down by thinking things need to be one specific way or operate in a certain system, which can be true at times — but definitely not all of the time. Because most of the time it's best to press forward and explore what the simplest version of something might be. Ask yourself what is the smallest piece of something that can be done or the core of the initial thought.

Here’s a real-life, real-time example: a team member asked me to write an article about our values at Bosa (yes, this very article). She mentioned that if the blank page was a blocker for me to get my thoughts out to try making an audio note instead of staring at the blinking cursor. That was putting the value of “don’t stay stuck” into practice as a team, to help me feel unstuck. 

I was going to even make a reminder to write this post later thinking, “Oh, I don't have time! I'm in the midst of ramping back up to work after my maternity leave, and today has been a really rough day with the baby as well.” But in the practice of taking a small step, I was able to decide “Hey, let me turn on this audio recorder to just do it to unblock myself and to unblock our marketing and content strategist.” It also unblocks this message for our team and for our Bosa community, including you who are reading it right now and possibly days, weeks or months later.

I feel like “don't stay stuck” is one of those things that if we can just move the needle one little bit and be experimental and live in that freedom, so much more can come from that professionally.

More personally, “don't stay stuck” is definitely something that I've been trying to do the last few years. I’m not necessarily striving for something in particular, just striving for more freedom in my life, being more myself and not overthinking anything. Because again, “freedom” is one of our practices that underpins this value. For me, this means be yourself, take that first step, do that tiny thing that you said you would do. 

For example, I have a goal to start sewing. My sewing machine is in my basement, but I just wasn't going in my basement that often. While on maternity leave, I started to go down there more often while working out just to start getting myself comfortable with being down there regularly. It's a pretty straightforward basement and well-lit, so it’s not that going into the basement was a problem, but it was just an incremental change for me to change my mindset around something and again, not stay stuck on the whole big picture of the goal.

It’s not just me. I was talking to a friend around the New Year and she told me that’s how her brain works. She sees a whole big goal or mega-task, and while she can often easily execute on the small related tasks, if one part of the big vision isn't done, she feels so defeated. The vision isn't complete. This bogs her down and gets her down on herself, her progress and the goal itself. 

Here’s the thing: it's ok to have that big picture. It's ok as well to want to do just some of the tasks or even feel like you don’t want to start at all because you can’t fully complete all the needed steps immediately. But we have to take that first step.

That's the philosophy I've been taking in my personal life. I may not be where I want to be right now on some of my creative outlets or hobbies, but let me just do that small piece, let me figure out that one extra step that makes me feel more alive or helps me experience joy.

All this to say, the whole “don't stay stuck” value at Bosa isn't just a work or company motto — it's a way of life. Imagine it as a nudge to break free, be bold and shake off whatever's holding you back, whether in your job or your life outside of work. Like life, the practice of not staying stuck isn’t just about careers; it's about finding joy in serving others and letting your creativity run wild.

So take a moment to think about your own journey. Where have you felt stuck, unsure where to start? Well, that's the magic of “don't stay stuck.” It's an open invitation to embrace the freedom to experiment, make those small moves, and, most importantly, enjoy the ride. My basement anecdote? It's a reminder that even the smallest step — like shaking up your routine by spending more time in the basement near the sewing machine —can lead to a more vibrant, fulfilling life. Here's to breaking free, staying curious, and living your life, one unstuck moment at a time.