I finally opened the shop I'd wanted for a decade: A photography studio and pet boutique two minutes from my front door, in beautiful Southwest London. I signed a ten-year lease and invested £40,000 pounds in the business (most of which was spent on renovating the derelict space), and I named it 'Little & Large' after my Great Dane and French bulldog. It truly was a dream come true.

But not even two years in, I was clear that this investment, this beautiful dream was actually a big mistake.

In this episode (Joy First Decisions #3 and #4) I tell the whole story: the VAT I never understood, the freedom I lost, the guilt of realizing I'd built my own cage, and the decision I dreaded most which turned out to be the joy first decision in disguise. It's the one that led to Whyfinding®, to the work I actually love, to the next business which grew to six figures in eight months.

If you've ever hung onto something too long because quitting felt like failure, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• How to tell whether a decision is rooted in joy or fear

• Why joy doesn't always look shiny (and often asks for discomfort first)

• What closing the shop made possible that I never could never have foreseen

Go deeper on Substack: joyfirstworld.substack.com

If this resonated, follow the show and leave a review - thank you! See you next time for Joy First Decision #5

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My fiancé was a genuinely nice guy. We had a solid 8/10 life: there was no, drama, no red flags, and we were comfortable... which I guess is what made it so hard to explain why I was leaving.

Welcome to #2 number in our series on the Top 10 joy first decisions I've made. It's the story of why I called-off an engagement, packed-up and moved from Seattle to a L.A. and wrote a very important list of 200 things. It's also the story of what happened five months later at a wedding in a Bavarian-themed town... where a handsome guy handed me his business card.

In this episode:

- The question I kept asking myself (and why the answer sits inside the question)

- What I discovered about my relationship that made me end it

- The list of 200, and the worthiness work that it kicked-off

- The hives, the joint pain, and the parts of this decision that were truly brutal

- What made me deciding I was willing to be alone forever

- How I met the man of my dreams (complete with sexy British accent)

Go deeper on Substack: joyfirstworld.substack.com

xx -Nic

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I was going to be a veterinarian: I'd get to work with animals, I'd make a decent living, and I'd never have to be the broke, starving artist everyone warned me about. Then my boss at the vet clinic looked at some photographs I'd taken at the clinic and asked me one question that blew the whole plan out of the water.

This is the first in a 10-part series where I walk back through the biggest joy first decisions of my life, the ones that felt a little (or a lot) reckless at the time, and look at how they actually turned out. This one is about choosing passion and creativity over the responsible plan, dropping out of art school the same day I brought home a Great Dane puppy, and building a career in a risky field that didn't really exist yet.

In this episode:

- Why the "starving artist" fear runs so much deeper than money

- The moment I realized what I wanted and what I'd planned were two different things

- How a tiny, tightly niched photography business taught me everything about branding

- The joy lesson under it all: joy is not an indulgence, it's information

Come and go deeper on Substack at Joy First World, https://joyfirstworld.substack.com/ and take the Joy First Audit to find your current joy pulse... and maybe get a nudge in the next right direction for more joy in your life.

And if this one lands, for you I'd love a review. Help us help new listeners find us.

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