I’ve been thinking a lot lately about time. More specifically, about the idea that we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in a year and wildly underestimate what we can accomplish in a decade.

I can’t tell you what thinking this way has done to my brain.

I am someone who has a lot of ideas. 😂 I see something interesting and immediately start thinking: What if we did that? What could that become? How could we make it better? It’s one of my favorite things about myself. It’s also exhausting sometimes, because I have this habit of getting an idea and immediately feeling like I need to figure out what it is, how it works, how it can give back, what the website looks like, what the logo is, and how I’m going to build the entire thing.

Preferably by Tuesday.

Lately, though, I’ve realized I’ve been collecting things. Not actual things, but ideas, feelings, moments and things I notice that I can’t stop thinking about.

I went to see Noah Kahan at Fenway recently, and while I loved the music, I also found myself looking around a lot. Thousands of people singing the same words. Strangers standing next to strangers with their arms around each other’s shoulders. All of these people sharing one experience at the exact same time.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what it is that makes certain experiences bring people together like that. Why do some places make us want to stay longer? Why do some events just feel different from the second you arrive? What is it that makes us feel like we’re part of something?

I’ve been reading about the Danish idea of hygge, that feeling of warmth and coziness and being together that makes you want to pull up a chair and stay awhile. I’ve been thinking about campfires and conversations. About the feeling I want people to have when they come to Pumpkinman. About why I’m drawn to certain places and what happens when people actually spend time together.

Stories. Curiosity. Belonging. These things keep showing up for me.

Until recently, I felt like I needed to figure out what I was supposed to do with all of it. I wanted to know where every idea was going before I allowed myself to really start. I wanted to understand how all of these things connected and what the bigger picture was supposed to look like.

Then I started thinking about decades instead of years, and something shifted.

Ten years ago, I took over Pumpkinman. At the time, I was focused on the race in front of me. I certainly wasn’t sitting there with some perfectly mapped-out plan for where it would all lead.

If you had told me then some of the things that would happen over the next decade, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I never would have guessed that I would pitch and idea to and collaborate with Jesse Itzler. I couldn’t have imagined that I would spend three years as part of a Race Across America crew, crossing the country and getting a front-row seat to what people are capable of when things get really hard. I couldn’t have predicted all of the people I would meet, the places I would go, the opportunities that would come my way, or how one experience would somehow lead to another. Or that I would be the one who cheers for 8 hours straight each year at Jesse’s RUNNINGMAN Festival.

Or that I would have written a book on mindset: The FIO Mindset.

None of that was on a ten-year plan.

I just kept showing up. I followed things that interested me. I said yes to things that scared me a little. I met people, tried things, got some things right, got plenty of things wrong and figured things out as I went. One thing led to another, and another, and somehow ten years passed.

Now I can look backward and see connections that I never could have seen while I was in the middle of living them.

I think I’ve forgotten that lesson a little bit.

I’ve been looking at some of my new ideas and trying to see ten years into the future before I’ve even taken the first step. I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what The Lenz is supposed to become, what kind of community I want to build, how all of these different ideas connect to each other and where they’re eventually going to lead.

But if the last ten years have taught me anything, it’s that I probably couldn’t predict the best parts even if I tried.

Ten years ago, I couldn’t have imagined some of the things that are part of my life today. So why am I putting so much pressure on myself to know what the next ten years are supposed to look like?

I’m not lowering my expectations for what I want to build. If anything, I’m dreaming bigger than I ever have. I’m just starting to understand that the biggest dreams might need more room than I’ve been giving them.

And that’s where The Lenz comes in.

I haven’t been able to get the idea of The Lenz out of my head for more than five years. I’ve imagined different versions of it, thought about what it could be, changed my mind, come back to it, put it away and then somehow found myself thinking about it again.

So I’m done waiting until I know exactly what it is. I’m just starting.

For now, The Lenz will be a place for the things I find interesting enough to stop and pay attention to. People I meet. Places I visit. Ideas I can’t stop thinking about. Things I see someone doing that make me want to know more. Stories that stick with me. Questions I don’t know the answers to and, I’m sure, plenty of rabbit holes along the way.

I want to pay attention to the things that bring people together and the places that make us want to stay awhile. I want to learn from people who are building interesting things and people who see the world differently than I do. I want to keep collecting ideas and experiences without feeling like I have to immediately know what I’m going to do with every single one of them.

I don’t know what The Lenz will look like ten years from now, and I’m finally realizing that’s okay. If I couldn’t have imagined where the last ten years would take me, why would I limit the next ten by thinking I need to know exactly where I’m going?

So this is me finally starting the thing I’ve been thinking about for five years.

I’m going to write about what catches my attention, talk to people I find interesting, go places that make me curious and share what I learn along the way. Maybe all of those things will eventually connect in a way I can clearly see. Maybe The Lenz will become something I can’t even imagine sitting here today. I’m actually hoping for a few surprises, because when I look back at the last decade, some of the best parts of the story were the ones I never saw coming.

Maybe there’s something you’ve been putting pressure on yourself to figure out, too. Something you think should be bigger by now, further along by now, or something you’re convinced you should already have a perfectly mapped-out plan for.

What if you gave yourself a little more time? Not because the dream isn’t big enough, but because maybe it’s bigger than you realize.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I can get done this year. I’m starting to get a lot more interested in who I might become, and what we might build together, over the next ten.

And if you’re curious about where The Lenz goes from here, subscribe and follow along. I can’t promise I know exactly where we’re going yet, but after five years of thinking about starting, I’ve decided that’s no longer a requirement. 😂

I’m excited to see where this goes, and I’d love to have you along for the ride.

Stay curious and keep figuring it out.

Rachel

I’ve actually been building something behind the scenes.

FIO Friday has officially moved to Substack!

And the best part? You don’t have to do anything. I’ve brought the FIO Friday community with me, so you’ll continue hearing from me right here in your inbox.

I think you’re going to love our new home.

It gives me a place to bring more of my world together. FIO Friday. The podcast. Video. Stories. Ideas I’m exploring. Interesting people I meet. Lessons I’m collecting. And probably a few experiments that don’t go exactly as planned. We’ll figure those out too. 😂

This summer, I’ve also been trying to pay more attention. To the places I go, the people I meet, the conversations that stick with me and those moments that make me stop and think, Huh. There’s something here.

I’ve been traveling, going to concerts, working on Pumpkinman, collaborating with Runningman and dreaming about what The Lenz could become. Somewhere in all of it, I started connecting some dots.

And I realized something.

Maybe all these things I’ve been building aren’t separate things after all.

That’s what today’s FIO Friday is about:

READ + WATCH TODAY'S FIO FRIDAY

And if you’ve missed me over the past couple of weeks, the FIO podcast has still been rolling along. You can catch up anytime and hear some of the lessons I’ve been collecting and ideas I’ve been figuring out along the way.

PREFER TO LISTEN? You can also catch today’s FIO Friday on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

I don’t know exactly what this whole thing will become yet. But after writing an entire book about figuring things out, it would be a little suspicious if I suddenly had everything figured out. 😂

What I do know is that I love bringing people together. I believe curious people tend to find interesting places. And I think some pretty incredible things can happen when the right people find each other.

So, come with me.

And if there’s someone in your life who you think would fit right in, forward this to them. Bring them along too.

Let’s see where this goes.

Stay curious and keep figuring it out.

Rachel

P.S. Take a look around our new home and hit reply to tell me what you think. I’m really glad you’re here.

I think I’ve actually been paying more attention.

I’ve been traveling, going to concerts, having conversations, working on Pumpkinman, collaborating with Runningman and dreaming about what The Lenz could become. And everywhere I go, I seem to be collecting little lessons about people, connection, belonging and what happens when you give people a reason to come together.

I was standing at Fenway Park recently at a Noah Kahan concert, surrounded by thousands of people singing the same words, and I had this moment where I thought, this is it.

This feeling.

People who don’t know each other suddenly connected by something they care about. For a few hours, we’re all part of the same thing.

And I realized...I’ve been trying to create that feeling for most of my life.

I started thinking about everything I’ve built and everything I’m dreaming about building next. Pumpkinman. FIO. My book. The podcast. The Lenz. My work with Runningman. And about 47 other ideas currently taking up residence in my brain. 😂

For a long time, I think I saw them as separate things. But I’m starting to realize they’re not.

There is a thread connecting all of them.

I love bringing people together.

I love creating the space and then seeing what happens. I love meeting interesting people and hearing their stories. I love discovering something new and immediately wanting to tell someone else about it. And I love those moments when two people who might never have found each other suddenly realize they have something in common.

Because I think people are pretty incredible.

I think we underestimate what can happen when the right people find each other.

And I am endlessly curious about what might happen next.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that curiosity might be at the center of everything I’m building.

So that’s what I wanted to talk about in today’s FIO Friday.

So, what happens now?

I don’t totally know.

Which, for someone who literally wrote a book about figuring things out, feels strangely appropriate. 😂

I’m figuring it out.

I want this space to be somewhere I can share what I’m discovering as I go. The people I meet. The conversations I can’t stop thinking about. Things I’m reading. Places I’m going. Ideas I’m exploring. Things I’m building. Lessons I’m collecting.

Some weeks we’ll talk about FIO. Some weeks I’ll take you behind the scenes of what it takes to build an event and community like Pumpkinman for 20 years. Maybe I’ll introduce you to someone I think you need to know. Maybe we’ll talk about a conversation around a campfire, something I noticed at a concert or an idea I’m experimenting with that I haven’t quite figured out yet.

And sometimes I might try something and it won’t work at all.

We’ll talk about that too.

Because I don’t want this to be a place where I pretend I have all the answers.

I’d much rather say, Hey, I found something interesting. Come look at this.

And then see what happens.

Maybe we talk about it. Maybe we try something. Maybe we bring some people together. Maybe one idea leads to another and suddenly we’re somewhere none of us expected to be.

I keep coming back to one question:

What could we figure out together?

I think I’m going to follow that question for a while.

If you’re curious too, I’d love for you to come along.

And if someone popped into your head while you were reading this, send it to them. Just say, “Hey, I think you’d like this.”

Because I think the best communities probably start that way.

One person finding another person and saying, Come with me.

Then that person brings someone else.

And before you know it, you’ve got a bunch of curious humans in the same place, sharing ideas, cheering each other on and figuring out what might be possible.

And who knows where that could lead?

I certainly don’t.

But I can’t wait to find out.

If you’re curious too, come along.

Subscribe so the next one lands in your inbox. And if you know someone who might like what we’re building here, send this their way and simply say, “Hey, I think you’d like this.”

Let’s see what we can figure out together.

Stay curious and keep figuring it out!

Rachel