Welcome to “The Looking Glass”, a weekly newsletter journey of personal growth into mindset, meaning and mastery in work.
#39 – 20 Jan 2023
Hello friend,
Thanks again for being here!
I share an insight, a question, and a quote for reflection, then an actionable learning you can implement.
Contents:
- 💡 Non-obvious procrastination
- ❔ The path unfolds as you walk
- 💬 Your future self is watching you
- 📣 Reflecting on newsletter length – a cognitive dissonance
💡 Non-obvious procrastination
You feel excited about all these things you are going to do.
But there is one problem.
You aren’t doing much to make those things a reality.
I get it.
During the upheaval of 2020, I was struck with a lightning bolt idea:
“I should start a podcast on my personal growth journey. I could also interview successful creators on their journey. And this would inspire others to leave their dead-end jobs and pursue a more meaningful path.”
So I talked about starting a podcast for the next year:
- I signed up for courses on how to produce a podcast.
- I listened to hundreds of podcasts as research.
- I bought some books on the art of conversation.
- I even recorded some “test” podcasts.
There was only one problem…
I never actually released a podcast to the world.
Here’s the worst part.
I deeply regretted knowing I would have a year under my belt if I had just put my head down and started my podcast. Those shitty first episodes would have been out of the way, and I would be on my way to greatness.
Now the period of pain is still in front of me, thanks to my procrastination.
Anyway, no sense beating myself up here. And neither should you.
(Thankfully, I did work up the courage to start this newsletter.)
I don’t know if I was delusional or if fear took over me, but something powerful got in my way.
Steven Pressfield calls this “The Resistance”, that ugly force of nature that prevents us from doing our best work.
The Resistance built up in my head that starting the podcast was too hard, and people would hate it. So I should just keep my head down and stay in line.
But that is no way to live a meaningful life.
I keep returning to this idea that the path unfolds as you walk.
You don’t get anywhere without taking action.
Sitting around reading, pondering ideas and learning through courses is fun, but it’s not real progress.
My creator friend Colin Matson calls this non-obvious procrastination:
You have to start an actual project to see results.
So whatever you are sitting on, it’s time to start!
Or shut up and stop saying you are going to do it.
❔ The path unfolds as you walk
Eventually, we get so fed up with ourselves and our pathetic excuses that we decide to do something about it.
You’ve been there, haven’t you?
- You get puffed out walking up the stairs and decide it’s time to go for a run.
- You order Uber Eats for the third night, then delete the app from your phone.
- You cancel your Netflix subscription and start reading that book staring at you for six months.
- You feel your life wasting away as you scroll social media and decide to start writing that novel you always put off.
So we start something
Yay!!!
But wait, that doesn’t mean much.
Most people start but then give up.
As it quickly gets intimidating and overwhelming.
For example, “this is fun, but how can I make it into a business and get paid for it?”
That opens up a whole series of crippling problems.
- “I know nothing about creating a product.”
- “I’ve never had to market or sell.”
- “How do I keep coming up with good ideas.”
Yes, this is scary.
But it’s not productive thinking, getting so many steps ahead of ourselves.
Because the path unfolds as we walk.
Steven Pressfield is a testament to this philosophy:
I have written like 20 books now, which is amazing to me since my first book came out when I was 55.
It’s absolutely true that before I wrote any one of those books, I had no clue that I was going to write that book.
You know, it wasn’t like I was sitting going, I’ve got this whole magazine of books, like bullets, waiting to go.
I had no idea at all.
But, the point of that is that we find out who we are by the works that we produce.
And so, yet those works as they come along are mysteries to us, we don’t know, where is it coming from?
If we dare to start and keep moving along, facing the challenges, we make progress – we find out who we are through the works that we produce.
As Steven said, he had no grand plan for his writing career.
It just kind of happened.
This often stops the average person when they see someone super successful with a body of work. They think the master has some extraordinary power or gift from god. But no, they are just consistently showing up and figuring it out as they go along.
Rich Roll rounds this idea out nicely:
The path unfolds in front of you slowly.
The idea being that what paralyses many is they want to see what they path looks like or at least be able to forecast pretty far down the line before they take the first step.
And it just doesn’t work that way. You have to take those steps not knowing and trust that the brick will get laid one step in front of you as you go.
You’ve got to have faith.
What’s stopping you from setting out on the path?
How is that working for you?
💬 A quote to ponder
– Your future self is watching you
You feel bad because your future self is watching your every move, and they don’t like what they see.
Dan Koe
📣 What happened this week
Reflecting on newsletter length – a cognitive dissonance
I’m torn on where to take this newsletter in terms of format and length.
(If you have any feedback – please let me know by replying)
Some of my favourite newsletters are super short and punchy with massive value. These are some of the ones who got me interested in the power of newsletters:
- James Clear: 3-2-1 Thursday
- Farnam Street: Brain Food
- Anne-Laure Le Cunff: Maker Mind
- Justin Welsh: Saturday Solopreneur
- Tim Ferriss: 5-Bullet Friday
But I also love long form content when it’s relevant.
These are the ones that inspired me to start a newsletter. I saw the value of using a long-form newsletter as a vehicle for personal growth by going deep on ideas and exploring your curiosity. I feel like anyone can share a bunch of links and quotes, so it’s nice to wrestle with something more profound. Some examples I enjoy:
- Dan Koe: The Koe Letter
- Sahil Bloom: Curiosity Chronicle
- Nat Eliason: Infinite Play
- Paul Millerd: Boundless
So the dilemma is that the longer your newsletter, the lower your open rates will be, and slower growth will be.
But the upside of depth is that over time you can establish yourself as a unique authority with a serious body of work, which becomes a real asset.
Depth is how you build authority.
If you are a value creator, I can tell you right now that only writing short-form content will lead to pain and a lack of authority.
Sure, it works for ecommerce brands that are going for quick cash… but if you want to do something that you don’t think is monetizable (like spirituality)? Depth is not an option. It is a priority and the only way you can monetize effectively.
I write long newsletters because I love it. The mental benefits spill over far beyond business.
Dan Koe
My confusion on content length was triggered by Kieran Drew’s newsletter last week, ‘Every creator needs a newsletter’. I have been trending into the long-form territory, but Kieran advocates short-form newsletters:
But there are two big mistakes creators make.
First, they wait too long.
A great newsletter takes time. Not just list size, but skill. Finding your flow requires repetition.
The second biggest mistake is thinking you need to write a 1,500-word email like this to succeed.
For the most part, they hurt rather than help.
You’re super busy, right?
You probably don’t have time to sit around reading newsletters all day.
So the ones you do read have to be valuable.
Otherwise, why bother?
Kieran advises creating a “lean” newsletter:
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the focus.
It isn’t the length of email that matters most. It’s turning up weekly to help your audience win. Do it with a short, valuable email, and you’ll get the desired effect without the undesirable effort.
You’re like a friend who calls often.
But instead of a long, draining conversation (I ain’t gonna pick up), you call for a quick check in.
Maybe a small story.
Bit of humour.
And a useful tip to ace the week ahead.
People will look forward to your emails – and that’s a powerful position to be in as a creator.
How do you add value?
We all like interesting things, but they also need to be valuable.
Value can take the form of:
- Educational
- Entertaining
- Inspiring
Kieran recommends hitting all three points if you want to dominate.
Set boundaries, so it doesn’t take over your life
The newsletter will be no more than 400 words. It gets 45 minutes of your week, max. 30 minutes to write, 15 to edit.
If this sounds tight, good.
Kieran Drew
Lol, I currently spend about 5 hours pulling together 2,000 words, so I am failing miserably in that department.
But I am (only?) 39 weeks into this newsletter game, so I am still learning and developing my craft to an efficient process that delivers value.
Explore what works for you.
Experiment with different formats and see what works.
I am enjoying the long form as it is fun and interesting for now.
I feel like I am getting something more out of the process, almost in a spiritual sense, which might sound weird. As Dan Koe said, “the mental benefits spill over far beyond business”.
You may prefer otherwise.
💭 Thanks for reading!
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Cheers!
