mental health

When Spencer joined the Collective, he’d been brewing a dream since 2013— to become a grant writer. As a technical writer, 📝 he saw the value in helping people find funding with a well-worded proposal. He wasn’t sure how to turn his trade into a career. Spencer joined the 🦄 Global Grant Writers Collective in 2022, hoping to manifest his long-time dream into his life. Spencer’s journey to becoming a grant writer was also navigating multiple priorities, health being a big one. After being diagnosed with Complex PTSD, Spencer had greater obstacles to bringing his dream to life. “One of the biggest hindrances to achieving your dreams when you have mental health issues are (the fears) ‘I’m too overwhelmed’ or ‘I’m too depressed.’ But mindfulness gives you the space to step from all that.” Spencer instead sought help, connected with others, and prioritized self-care with grace. ♥️ Spencer brings a whole new level of what self-care looks like to the Collective community, being an advocate for those in the community who want to achieve their goals. “Some people want to make self-care all glitter and rainbows and feel good, but sometimes self-care does not feel good. Sometimes the best things you can do for yourself feels like crap in the short term… but the work is worth it for the long-term effect.” Spencer shares that to balance mental health & grant writing, you should find a daily mindfulness practice you can lean into (meditation or intentional breathing) and prioritize connection to have support (maybe seeing a therapist to work through baggage for better social skills). “Those two things in combination can empower just about anyone!” Spencer has grounded himself in doing the work. 💪 He worked through the steps to setting up a business–relationship building, branding, creating a website–and even found a unique way to reach clients. A way more suitable to his personal mental health goals for connecting with others. Spencer put a slit twist on how the Global Grant Writers Collective teaches Information Interviews to reach new clients. Instead of cold emailing, Spencer wanted to explore good old-fashioned cold calls. ☎️ The personal nature of a phone call, a different approach to connecting, has led to crazy amounts of success, he says. Leaning into this new reality of success, he says, is vindicating. “It’s very surreal… things can happen if you just keep trying. If you keep pushing forward, things can happen if you keep trying and believe in yourself.” Spencer continues to grow his consulting business and connect mindfully with the Collective community. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:25 The dream of becoming a grant writer 02:18 What does success look like 03:16 Success in the next 3-6 months 04:15 Breaking from cold emails 06:57 Wanting the dream and begin living the reality 08:43 Keeping the dream going while balancing Complex PTSD 11:22 Defining self-care 15:05 Advice on pursuing a dream with mental health 17:25 Rewarding aspects of the grant writing journey 20:48 Rapid fire questions