What best describes your current situation? Choose one.

Are you a bird on a wire? 

Blank. I genuinely don't know how to explain what makes me different.

I know exactly who I am but the words come out wrong every time.

I know what I do but I have no idea who it's actually for.

I do good work but I can't seem to explain why it matters.

I can explain it fine — it just sounds like everyone else when I do.

I know what I do and why — it just doesn't look like me anywhere.

Dread. I know exactly what I should be doing and I'm not doing it.

Overwhelm. There's too much and I can't see the shape of any of it.

Someone asks what you do. What's the feeling in your body before you answer?

Mockingbird

Give a vague answer and change the subject

List your credentials and hope that's enough

Start strong then trail off into "...I don't know, I just care a lot?"

Deflected immediately ("oh it was nothing")

Said thank you but didn't really believe it

Felt a flicker of "...maybe they're right" before talking yourself out of it

When someone asks what makes you different from others in your field, you:

The last time someone paid you a compliment about your work, you:

Mockingbird_RareBird_LeadMagnet

Songbird

I write something, hate it, delete it, repeat for an hour

I write something totally generic that sounds nothing like me

I write something that feels true and then immediately talk myself out of posting it

I stare at the blank page until something else urgently needs my attention

Completely different from when I write about it, in a good way

Fine until someone asks a follow-up question

Like I'm doing a bad impression of a professional version of myself

When you sit down to write about your work — a bio, a post, anything — what happens?

When you talk about your work out loud — to a friend, at a dinner party — it feels:

Songbird_RareBird_LeadMagnet

Homing Pigeon

Say "everyone" and know that's not actually an answer

Have a vague sense but can't make it specific

Picture one perfect person but feel weird about leaving everyone else out

I'm still waiting for that moment honestly

Someone unexpected — not who I would have predicted

A friend, which felt good but also made me wonder if it only works for people who already know me

Someone who described it back to me better than I ever have

When you imagine who your work is for, you:

The last time someone really got your work — truly understood it — they were:

Pigeon_RareBird_LeadMagnet

Lyrebird

Quote a number that feels too low even as you say it

Freeze and then say something about it being "flexible"

Feel fine about the number but can't back it up with words if they push back

Real — I've seen it — I just don't know how to talk about it

Something I feel more than I can articulate

Something clients tell me about but I don't fully claim

Actually kind of hard for me to see because I'm too close to it

When someone asks about your rates or prices, you:

The transformation your work creates for people is:

Lyrebird_RareBird_LeadMagnet

House Sparrow

Something I copied the structure of from someone I admire

Fine but it could honestly be anyone in my field

Me, sort of, if I was trying really hard to sound professional

Something I wrote three years ago that doesn't fit anymore

Something I know privately but have never said out loud professionally

Something people who know me well understand but I've never figured out how to broadcast

Something I've tried to explain and it always comes out wrong

Read your current bio or about page in your head right now. It sounds like:

The thing that actually makes your work distinctive is:

Sparrow_RareBird_LeadMagnet

Bird of Paradise

Like it belongs to an older, blander version of me

Neutral — it doesn't offend me but it doesn't excite me either

Like it's close but something's consistently off and I can't name what

Something completely different from what it looks like now

Hard to describe but I'd know it if I saw it

Actually I have a pretty good sense — I just haven't committed to it yet