🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 200 | Mind Your Business | Shame
🎉 Chickbook Creative is celebrating 5 YEARS! 🎉
Five years of brain-based strategy, creative clarity, and helping heart-centered entrepreneurs build purpose-driven businesses with a touch of neuroscience.
My idea of connecting creativity, cognition, and commerce has grown into a community of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who lead with both heart and mind.
For everyone who’s read a Weekly MindSweep, MindSweep Mapped an idea, or shared their story—thank you.
You’re the reason this matters.
Here’s to five more years of clarity, courage, and creativity — turning ideas into impact and energy into alignment.
With gratitude and so much love,
Jamie Chapman
Founder, Chickbook Creative 💜🧠🧡
November 2025
Week 198: Curator’s Perspective: The Unmasking
Week 199: Curated Conversation: Shame
*Week 200: Mind Your Business: Shame
Week 201: Manage Your Mind: Shame
Week 202: What’s On My Mind: Shame
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
In the MindSweep this week:
Weekly MindSweep: with curated GIF’s & puns (for your entertainment).
Jamie’s Second Brain Corner: Links to references. Need a map? I’ve got you!
What’s Inspiring Me: Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson, Brian Rea (Illustrator). A very special thank you to Kate Hollis. Writer. Editor. Librarian
Collaboration: with Shannon Giordano and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce (First Friday of every month)
Massachusetts Business Network: Did you catch our Curated Conversation on Discernment? I expanded on our discussion in a new guest blog post!
My face đź’ś and a link to schedule your free consultation.
The Price of Proof
Have you ever sent a proposal that made your stomach drop the moment you hit “send”?
You sit there staring at the screen, pulse racing, brain humming with the same uneasy rhythm that used to precede a pop quiz you forgot to study for. You’ve just quoted a price that’s double what you’ve ever charged before—the price your work is actually worth—and your nervous system is having none of it.
Within seconds, you feel the familiar rush: your cheeks get hot, your heart rises into your throat, and you wonder if you’ve gone too far this time. You picture the client opening the email, eyes wide, saying to their team, “Who does she think she is?”
You refresh your inbox like it’s a slot machine you don’t really want to win.
And then it happens. You get a reply.
Your body reacts before your brain does. The adrenaline spikes, your palms start sweating, and you freeze with your eyes fixed on the subject line.
It says nothing dramatic, just “Re: Proposal.” But your brain has already filled in the blanks: They hated it. They think I’m greedy. They’re never going to hire me again!
You hover over the unopened message, bargaining with yourself. Maybe I should have taken out that line item. Maybe I should have added more deliverables. Maybe I should’ve lowered the price before they even read it.
You wait an hour. Then another. I’ve begun calling this professional procrastination. The fear isn’t even about the number anymore; it’s about what that number means.
Because when you put a price on your work, you’re not just selling a service. You’re revealing your relationship with worth.
Finally, you click.
The message opens with warmth: “We’re in. We can’t believe the value you’re providing for this scope. Let’s move forward!”
Your body can’t compute.
The same nervous system that was bracing for rejection now has to absorb approval. Relief floods in, but so does confusion.
Because even when it turns out fine, the shame still lingers.
That’s what shame does: it convinces you the verdict was written long before the evidence arrived.
When Your Business Becomes a Mirror
Running a business as a creative ADHD entrepreneur means living in that liminal space between intuition and overthinking, courage and collapse.
Our work is an extension of who we are. Every proposal, price point, or pitch becomes a mirror reflecting our internal landscape.
We don’t just build brands; we build belonging.
So when something threatens that, like when a client doesn’t respond quickly, a social media post flops, or a quote feels “too high,” our brains see it as a threat.
The ADHD-creative mind is wired for sensitivity. We read nuance, tone, silence. We notice every unreturned emoji and interpret it as evidence.
Shame loves this. It feeds on hyper-awareness.
“They probably found someone cheaper.”
“I should’ve offered more.”
“If I were more organized, I’d deserve this rate.”
This internal dialogue isn’t melodrama; it’s neuroscience. When you perceive rejection or judgment, your amygdala fires an alarm. The body floods with cortisol, your prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that governs logic and perspective) goes offline, and you lose access to rational self-talk.
The brain reads potential disconnection as an actual threat.
Which is why creative entrepreneurs often swing between two poles:
Overproving: “I’ll throw in extra deliverables to make them happy” and
Avoiding: “Maybe I’ll lower my rate next time.”
Both are protective. Both are shame, wearing different outfits.
But shame isn’t proof of failure; it’s proof that you care.
It means you’re emotionally invested in the work, and your nervous system is —awkwardly—simply trying to keep you safe.
Shame and the Price of Worth
Let’s be honest: pricing our work is rarely about math. It’s about memory.
Every past feeling of not-enoughness sneaks into the spreadsheet.
Every old belief about being “too much,” “too sensitive,” or “too inconsistent” whispers in the background while we type.
For creative trailblazers, money can feel like a performance review and popularity contest rolled into one. The stakes feel high because our sense of value is often tied to contribution and feedback. We thrive on the dopamine hit of appreciation, and dread the crash of perceived rejection.
So when someone questions or even pauses at our price, it doesn’t just threaten the project; it threatens belonging.
The brain’s translation:
“If they say yes, I’m safe. If they say no, I’ve failed.”
But here’s the reframe: your rate is not a measure of self-worth; it’s a boundary for your energy. It protects your time, focus, and creative bandwidth so you can deliver the very magic they’re paying for.
And boundaries, while uncomfortable at first, are what make sustainable success possible.
From a neuroscience perspective, every time you hold a boundary (including a price) despite discomfort, you strengthen the neural pathways of self-trust. You teach your brain that discomfort doesn’t equal danger.
You rewire the loop from proving yourself to believing yourself.
Reframing the Feedback Loop
Whether it’s feedback, pricing, or a missed opportunity, shame tends to narrate before facts arrive. The practice isn’t to silence that voice, it’s to pause long enough to question it.
This week, let’s practice this:
Pause before you interpret. Notice your body’s first reaction. Where does shame land? In your chest, throat, maybe it’s in your stomach? Label it without judgment. (“I feel heat.”) This names the emotion before it hijacks your story.
Name what’s being protected. Ask yourself: What part of me feels threatened? Maybe it’s your integrity, maybe it’s belonging, maybe it’s the need to be seen as competent. Identifying the value beneath the shame reframes the experience from punishment to information.
Anchor in the present. Gather the facts. What do you actually know? What assumptions are you making? Often, the shame narrative collapses under the weight of real evidence.
Regulate, then respond. Do something grounding before you act: breathe, step outside, stretch, or pet the dog. Calming yourself helps you think clearly so your next move is a choice, not just a reaction.
The more often you walk this loop, the less power shame has to run the show.
Grounding in Self-Trust
Entrepreneurship will always expose your inner landscape. It’s designed to.
Each proposal, launch, and pivot pulls you closer to the edges of your comfort zone, where shame and courage often travel together. But self-trust doesn’t arrive once the shame disappears. It grows because you met it and stayed.
Each time you:
Hold your rate instead of discounting out of fear,
Open the email instead of avoiding it,
Allow feedback without collapsing into self-blame,
You’re teaching your brain a new truth: Safety is built from within.
For creatives, that inner safety becomes the foundation for consistency, clarity, and authentic connection. It’s what lets your brilliance shine without burning out.
When you run your business from regulation instead of reactivity, the work becomes lighter. Not because it’s easier, but because you’re no longer fighting yourself to earn the right to do it.
That’s what it truly means to mind your business—to understand the mind behind your business.
Mind Your Business
A few days after that proposal email (and once I was self-regulated), I could look back at that exchange with new eyes.
Nothing had changed in the thread—the words are still the same—but I had changed in the reading.
I realized how quickly my brain had turned an opportunity into a threat, how my body had carried a story my mind hadn’t fact-checked, and how easily worth can feel conditional when you live and work from your creativity.
But this time, I didn’t rush past it. I noticed the flush in my cheeks, the tremor in my hands, and said quietly, “You’re safe. You can believe good things, too.”
Because the truth is, the shame never came from the client.
It came from an old equation that said worth = approval.
And every time I choose to price, to pause, and to trust, I rewrite that math.
After two hundred Weekly MindSweeps, the main takeaway remains: your business can only grow as much as your self-trust grows.
Meeting the moment before the story, choosing curiosity over critique, and trusting yourself are the real foundations of sustainable success for creative trailblazers like you.
My questions for you this week:
How does shame show up for you when you talk about or set your prices?
How might your business change if you trusted that discomfort meant growth, not danger?
Reply and share with me!
✨ Work with me
If this conversation stirred that familiar ache between confidence and doubt, know that you’re not alone in it. Shame doesn’t mean you’re broken; it means your brain is trying to protect what it values most — connection, belonging, and creative freedom.
That’s where the work begins.
Together, we’ll trace the stories beneath your self-talk and uncover the hidden patterns that keep your creativity on edge. We’ll map how emotion becomes behavior, how protection disguises itself as perfectionism, and how to re-establish safety so your best ideas can finally breathe.
Your story doesn’t need fixing — it needs witnessing. When your mind feels seen, your creativity comes back online.
If you’re ready to build a business rooted in clarity, confidence, and creative safety, let’s start with a MindSweep Mapping Session — a deep-dive designed to connect your brain, your business, and your next brave move.
🧠Your brain. Your business. Mapped.
👉 Book your free MindSweep Chat: www.chickbookcreative.com/mind-sweep
Book a free consultation to learn how I can support you and your business.
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
The words in bold within the Weekly MindSweep are all topics we’ve covered in Curated Conversation. You can dig into them here:
Did you miss our month on Success?
Did you miss our month on Self-Trust?
Did you miss our month on Boundaries?
Did you miss our month on Self-Worth?
Did you miss our month on Consistency?
Did you miss our month on Failure?
Did you miss our month on Choice?
Did you miss our month on Curiosity?
Did you miss our month on Consistency?
[X] Did someone say MindSweep MAP?!
[X] Follow Chickbook Creative on Substack!
[X] NEW>> Now on Apple Podcasts!
MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
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What I’m reading
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen
by James Robinson, Brian Rea (Illustrator)d
My friends, Kate Hollis does it again.
Kate is a dear friend, a brilliant librarianist, and a phenomenal writer. When she comes across a book she knows will speak directly to my soul, she lands it—every single time.
From Emmy Award–winning documentary filmmaker James Robinson comes a breathtaking illustrated memoir for readers ages 10 and up—inspired by the viral, Emmy-nominated short film Whale Eyes.
Told through an experimental mix of intimate anecdotes and interactive visuals, this book immerses readers in James’s experiences growing up with strabismus, allowing them to see the world through one eye at a time.
Readers will get lost as they chase words. They’ll stare into this book while taking a vision test. They’ll hold it upside down as they practice “pretend-reading”…and they’ll follow an unlikely trail toward discovering the power of words.
With poignant illustrations by Eisner Award–nominated artist Brian Rea, James’s story equips readers of all ages with the tools to confront their discomfort with disability and turn confused, blank stares into powerful connections,
Find it where you browse for books. Check out James Robinson’s website.
Collaborations!
Join us on Friday, November 7, 2025 from 9am-11am.
Join us Friday, December 5th, 2025 from 9am-11am.
Join Shannon and me at the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce for an inspiring session with Andy Hoffer, a former rocket scientist turned mindset mentor.
Andy helps professionals and entrepreneurs identify and overcome the mindset blocks, self-limiting beliefs, and money stories that hold them back from success.
Discover how shifting your perspective can open the door to greater confidence, clarity, and abundance—in business and in life.
This event is free; REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
Did you catch our Curated Conversation on Discernment?
I expanded on our discussion in a new guest blog post for the Massachusetts Business Network, exploring how intentional decision-making can sharpen both your business and your peace of mind.
👉 Read Choose Better, Not More: The Business Case for Discernment
In other news…
Feeling #FOMO about Curated Conversations? Join us!
