Welcome to The Quiet Rich, your weekly guide to a quiet mind and rich life. Yesterday was International Women’s Day, so today I’m celebrating all of the fearless women in our lives.
CONTEXT
There are certain women in my life who walk into a room and make it brighter. Completely at ease in their own skin. Laughing a little louder, not apologizing for taking space, unbothered by what anyone thinks of them. Just a deep, unshakeable sense of who they are.
I've always been quietly in awe of them. And I noticed what they have in common.
Most of them have spent real, intentional time alone. Not lonely. Alone.
They've taken themselves to dinner. Packed their life into a suitcase and moved to a new city where they didn’t know anyone. Applied to the thing they weren't "ready" for. Somewhere along the way, they stopped waiting for life to happen to them, and started building it for themselves.
That's a version of confidence that no relationship can give you, no job title can grant you, and no amount of external validation can manufacture.
I’ve been reflecting on my own journey with this. Some of the most confidence-building moments of my life have been the ones I did entirely on my own—with no one to lean on if it went sideways. Just me, figuring it out.
That kind of self-trust isn't something you're born with. It's something you earn.
METHOD
20 things everyone should do alone (at least once):
Solo experiences that build independence:
1. Take a solo trip to explore a new city
2. Take yourself out to a fancy dinner. Eat at the bar with a good book
3. Spend a Sunday walking through a museum or art gallery, just you
4. Work from a coffee shop alone and strike up a conversation with a stranger
5. Go to a yoga or meditation retreat
Solo experiences that build courage:
6. Negotiate your salary. You don't get what you deserve; you get what you ask for
7. Apply for the job you don't feel "ready" for
8. Attend a networking event alone and introduce yourself first
9. Set a boundary with someone you love, and hold it
10. Say no to something you're lukewarm about, without guilt or explanation
Solo experiences that build your dreams:
11. Spend a "think" weekend with no phone. Write down all your goals for the year
12. Spend 30 days learning something completely outside your comfort zone: a language, an instrument, a skill
13. Turn your passion into a business or side hustle
14. Take a course on personal finance and get your investments in order
15. Write down everything you want from life: career, relationships, health, lifestyle. Your "rich life" should feel slightly unreasonable.
Solo experiences that build self-love:
16. Plan a dinner party and host it entirely by yourself
17. Take a boxing or jiu jitsu class
18. Buy yourself flowers on the way home from work. No occasion needed
19. Live alone (even for a little while). Design a home you're proud of
20. Realize that your own company is enough. It always has been.
WHY IT WORKS
Of course, you don't have to do everything alone in life.
But there is an incredible confidence that comes from knowing—without a shadow of a doubt—that you could.
Every time you travel somewhere solo, ask for the raise, or hold a boundary you used to cave on, you're depositing something into yourself that no one can ever take back.
Self-belief is the most underrated form of wealth there is.
As Brianna Pastor puts it: "If anyone is magically going to appear and suddenly make your life better, just know that person is always going to be you."
Happy Women's History Month.
If you know an incredible woman who has done any of these, share this with her. She deserves to be celebrated.
Much love,
Jade
You can catch up on all my writing at TheQuietRich.co
