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Morning—Clay here.
One of the hardest parts of growth isn’t the effort. It’s the doubt.

That quiet voice in your head that says, “You blew it.”
That inner critic that shows up right when you're trying something new.
That urge to shut it all down and retreat until everything feels safer… more polished… more perfect.

This week, I’m sharing a recent moment when that voice nearly took the wheel, and why I’m learning to show up anyway.

Not because I’m ready.
But because I’m willing to keep going.

Let’s get into it.

When the Voices in Your Head Say You Blew It

There’s a reason I started a newsletter and not a YouTube channel.

I’m a deeply introverted person. I’m much more comfortable with a keyboard than a camera. Give me a quiet morning and a blinking cursor, and I’ll write something from the heart. But give me a microphone and a countdown clock, and suddenly I start second-guessing every word coming out of my mouth.

Part of building Campfire Gentleman means putting myself out there.
That’s not easy.

It’s not easy to message a podcast host I admire and say, “Hey, I think I’d be a good guest and here’s why.”
It’s not easy to summarize everything Campfire Gentleman is about when the host hits record and I’m suddenly trying to speak clearly, passionately, and concisely while my brain is screaming:

Am I talking too much? Am I rambling? You’re losing him. You’re bombing. He’s not interested in this at all. You sound like a guy who has no idea what he’s doing.

Those thoughts aren’t just distracting, they’re loud. And when the conversation ends and I’m left alone with my headphones and doubts, it’s hard not to believe them.

That happened recently. I recorded an interview for a podcast I was genuinely excited about, and afterward, I walked away thinking: I blew it.

It wasn’t just a vague insecurity—it felt like failure. And the worst part? It didn’t feel like some dramatic, cinematic crash. It felt quiet and disappointing. Like I had a real opportunity… and I just fumbled it.

There was a part of me that wanted to shut it all down for a while.
To say, “Okay. That didn’t go well. Time to hibernate and not come out of my cave until I sound like I’ve been telling my story for the last 15 years.”

But the truth is, that’s not how growth works.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about failure and how it doesn’t have to be some defining moment in your story. Sometimes it’s just a thing that happened. You learn from it. You carry it forward. You move on.

That newsletter was easier to write when I wasn’t sitting in the fresh discomfort of a personal flop. But this was my chance to live it out in real time.
So instead of retreating into perfectionism, I did the only thing that actually builds confidence: I took another rep.

I recorded another podcast. I didn’t wait until I had the perfect talking points or a polished script. I just showed up again.

Because that’s the only way confidence is built.
Not by trying to sound like you’ve done it for 15 years,
But by doing it once… then doing it again.

Confidence doesn’t come from imagined perfection.
It comes from demonstrated ability.

From reps.

From choosing not to make one bad experience the whole story.

So if you’ve got something in your life right now that feels shaky—something new, something uncomfortable, something where you feel like you’re blowing it—I hope you’ll take another rep. Not because you’re guaranteed to get it right this time. But because that’s how you get better. That’s how you build something that lasts.

Not through perfection.
Just through practice.
One honest rep at a time.

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Speaking of podcasts, if you didn’t catch my appearance on The No Half Cakes with Jim Sabellico, you missed a great conversation. 👇 Check it out below.

Until next time—
keep the fires burning.
– Clay

Worth Your Time

If you’re digging Campfire Gentleman, check out a few other newsletters I actually read and recommend. No fluff—just solid stuff from like-minded guys trying to build something that matters.