#45 – 03 Mar 2023

I’ve always struggled with doing the “real work”.

I get bogged down on all these seemingly meaningful but mostly meaningless tasks masked as “work”.

But they are not.

And they are holding me back.

And I bet they are holding you back too.

You know the ones:

• Clearing your inbox
• Writing tomorrow’s social media post
• Responding to social media comments

They are not the lever moving tasks, and you know it.

You’re not going to be on your deathbed one day proudly proclaiming:

• “I maintained inbox zero.”
• “I spent all my time building shallow posts on a platform I did not own.”
• “I became known as the person who always responds to comments.”

No, that is rubbish.

And you know it.

That is not what you’re here for.

You have a deep, burning desire.

You feel called to bring something creative into this world.

You might not know precisely what that thing is, but you feel its weight nagging at your soul.

You want to produce something substantial in your lifetime.

Something that you can truly be proud of.

Now I have no idea what thing is.

But I am here to be your guide in actualising it.

Let’s dive in.

The creative project

So you have this creative project you would like to be doing.

But how often are you actually doing it?

Come on, be serious now.

Don’t lie to yourself.

Pretending is not the real thing.

In a previous letter, I mentioned a time when I happily told people I was becoming a podcaster.

But the big elephant in the room was:

I didn’t actually release a podcast!

There was a big gap between my dream and the current reality.

Just naming or quantifying that gap can be an excellent first step to understanding where we are and what’s in front of us. 

First, let’s gauge how important this creative dream is to you on a scale of 1 to 10.

• 1 is “meh”. It doesn’t really matter that much.

• 10, is “this means the world to me”. It could be your life’s work.

Great, now you have a feeling of how important it is to continue or not.

I will flag that the journey forward isn’t easy. You need a lot of intrinsic motivation to press on through the inevitable highs and lows.

So I would only move forward on something that scores 8 and above.

Otherwise, I know I will eventually give up if it doesn’t mean much to me.

Now that we have gauged how important it is to us, let’s reflect on where we are currently.

Where are you now with achieving your creative quest? Rate that on a scale of 1 to 10.

• 1 is doing nothing. It’s just a dream in your head.

• 10 is you are working consistently every day with some form of deliberate action. 

So where did you land?

The path to mastery

Now, what would be required to get there, given what you hope to achieve with that creative dream?

Break down into detail what you would need to be doing.

For example:

• To write a book, maybe it’s writing 300 words every day.
• To grow into a thought leader, maybe it’s starting a weekly newsletter and promoting on social media.
• To start that podcast or YouTube, maybe it’s hitting the record button on your iPhone and riffing to the camera for 10 minutes.

Some tasks make us feel like we are moving closer to our dream, like reading books and online courses, but these are often a form of procrastination.

We would be better served to do the real thing, like writing the daily 300 words above. Consistent effort will get you much further than reading the best book on writing.

Think of a game like golf.

Now I am a terrible golfer, so I have no idea why I chose this topic. But I know from trying first-hand how difficult it is to master the game of golf.

And let’s picture two golf enthusiasts who want to become the next Tiger Woods (but without the controversy!).

Person 1 starts by buying every book they can find on golf and studying everything they can on the game. They watch YouTube videos of highlights and techniques. They relentlessly study golf for the next six months, waiting for the perfect time that they will be “ready” to start playing at a competitive level.

On the other hand, Person 2 just buys some golf clubs and starts playing a round of golf every Saturday morning with their golfer friends for the next six months.

Who do you think is a better golfer after six months?

Now, Person 1 might have accumulated a lot of knowledge on the game and know it inside out theoretically. 

They are an “expert” on golf but have no practical experience. 

The real thing is always different to what you read in books.

No matter how much you study the perfect golf swing, your natural swing will differ – especially if you have never practised a swing.

So even though Person 2 isn’t a “student of golf”, they will be a much better golfer, as they just got on with it, taking action, learning, and growing along the way.

You cannot underestimate the benefits of taking action and growing with like-minded peers. This compounds any lessons learnt as the group shares insights with one another, and the group grows forward together.

I think you now know which golfer you would prefer to be.

And so, why this little story on golf?

Well, the same is true for you, my friend, in your creative endeavours.

I know you are hiding in some way.

Cause I do it too, and I know human psychology doesn’t differ much.

Now, I am not totally discounting the value of books and courses.

That distilled wisdom can radically change your life.

If you implement that information by taking action.

I am at a point where I have more books and courses than I have hours in the day to read/watch them.

They are a great baseline, but sometimes they are just another form of procrastination.

We default to what is easy and what feels like work.

But I am sorry to say that it is not good enough. 

We are here to achieve our massively purposeful dream.

So we need to take things seriously. 

You need to get good at what you do.

You need to chase mastery.

And that starts with taking action and doing the actual work.

You don’t have to be the best in the world

Once we commit to taking action, everything changes.

It’s like a light switch going off in our heads.

We move from consuming to producing.

We become a creator. 

Instead of mindlessly absorbing things, we start creating value.

And that is tremendously fulfilling, being a value creator.

Now, it’s easy to give up before we start, as clearly, we aren’t the best in the world.

A million other creators are fighting it out in our space, grappling for some form of attention.

The heroes we idolise appear to be in another stratosphere. 

“We’ll never catch up.”

“So why bother.”

Wrong!

They were once like us, starting with nothing but a vague dream – a creative calling!

Something called them to create, and so they started.

They wrote the blog, produced the video, and recorded the podcast.

And they hit publish, to the response of:

*crickets*

Nobody cared.

But they kept trying.

They iterated and got a little better each time.

I love the example of Jimmy Donaldson – a.k.a. “MrBeast”, the 24-year-old YouTube sensation with 135+ million subscribers. Forbes proposed that MrBeast could be the first YouTuber billionaire.

That’s insane.

A kid can go from making little home videos and publishing them on YouTube to becoming a billionaire.

That possibility should blow your mind.

To think we live in a time with that kind of opportunity.

There are two ways you can look at this:

1. “Look at this little kid who got lucky. He’s probably got someone with deep pockets supporting him, or worse, cheating the system somehow.”
2. “Wow, this is amazing! What a time to be alive. Why aren’t I creating online and capitalising on this potential opportunity?”

I’m in camp two there.

It ain’t easy though

We glorify the results – 135 million subscribers, billions of views, and a creator worth more than $500m.

But here’s the overlooked part:

Reminder:  

Mr Beast published YouTube videos for 7 years before a single one did over 1000 views.  

Now his videos do 1B views a month.

Tim Denning

That’s what I like to see.

It gives me hope while I am here, showing up and writing to a relatively small but growing list each week. 

According to Tim Denning’s post, MrBeast didn’t start seeing consistent “success” on his channel for 7 years.

7 years!

That’s a long time to keep putting in the effort without significant results.

Most people would give up.

And that’s why many people call us creatives crazy!

They can’t see what we can’t see.

They can’t feel the muse which is driving us.

We aren’t just doing this for kicks.

We are called to do it.

We can’t not do it.

That’s why I am here, building on this “creative calling” concept.

Be prepared to be a “loser”

It feels weird being a “creator”.

We shut ourselves away, think about ideas, and then spend hours, months or years creating things.

This obsessive behaviour is not considered normal by the general population.

But that’s ok.

Mr Beast once told creators:   

If you wanna make it, it takes 3-5 years minimum of just sitting in your room being a loser.

Tim Denning

Lol, that resonates.

Sometimes, I feel like a loser staying home on a Saturday to write or record videos when I could be off at the beach with family or out having a beer with my mates.

But I am choosing to do otherwise, as this creator mission is more important to me.

And I’m sure you have some creative inklings of what you could or should be doing.

Are you comfortable just sitting in your room being a loser for 5 years?

As that’s probably what it’s going to take if you are going to succeed here.

There are no quick wins, shortcuts or hacks.

You need to push through a lot of “suck” before you get good.

So you better buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Time to start grinding

I’m not a fan of the hustle culture we see online.

It’s toxic and can have severe consequences like burnout.

What’s the point of burning the midnight oil one night if we are left flat as a tack and useless for the next three days?

We need to be sustainably productive. And we need room for creativity and things which fill our cup.

So I am a fan of grinding in the sense of continually showing up sustainably over a ridiculously long time. 

In effect, you work hard, but you don’t overdo it. 

“Protect the goose that lays the golden eggs”, as Stephen R. Covey said.

Those efforts compound into greatness over our journey.

But the important thing here is:

It’s uncommon.

Most people don’t have this persistence and dedication.

So what about those million other creators? The ones in your field who you feel compelled to compete with and compare yourself against?

Well, I have some news for you, most of them will drop off in the next year.

Case in point: 

Late last year, I did a creator-solopreneur business growth course.

I made a bunch of new friends who were all beaming with excitement and enthusiasm.

They each had a big idea of how they would hit it big on social media and take over the world with their business.

But here’s the thing:

A few didn’t even show up and complete the course (a wasted opportunity and resources).

The rest eagerly launched out of the blocks, relentlessly posting and engaging on social media.

But now, here we are, almost six months later, and I noticed many have dropped off posting on social platforms. 

They dropped off.

They got busy.

Life gets in the way.

When the going get’s tough, most people give up.

But a few stand out by simply staying in the game and pressing on.

And a select few from that course showed up daily, did all the work and are now totally dominating.

Not only in terms of follower count, but they are now building thriving creator businesses.  

It’s impressive to see.

Now I haven’t yet achieved any ground-breaking results. Still, by simply lasting this long, I have undergone a mindset shift that will serve me long into the future. 

I have now made creating a non-negotiable.

I have improved.

It has become effortless for me.

And that is why I encourage you to press on through these weeds.

Good things are around the corner.

As you develop mastery, things seem to take less effort.

You get in a flow state, and the muse takes over.

You have more time than you think

I could be kinder to myself.

I often beat myself up for not being further along in my journey.

“You wasted too much time.”

“You’re still not good enough.”

And on and on.

I have gotten better at this as I mature along this journey. At some level, I have made peace with the Resistance in my mind.

I’ve realised that life is an infinite game with no set rules or finish line.

We are all on our own path.

So we should:

• Think long-term and remain patient for success.
• But have some short-term urgency to keep things moving along.

That’s why this quote from Steven Pressfield hangs in my head:

People always tell you that life is short, but actually life is long. 

And if you’re 24 years old or 34 years old. When I was 34 years old, I was still 21 years away from having a book published. 

Even though I had been busting my ass for all that. 

So, I would say to a younger person: take some pressure off yourself. 

It’s all this bullshit in the social media that there is a hack and you can do it tomorrow. 

Enjoy the trip! 

Pay attention and keep your eyes open on the journey. 

When it’s ready to happen, it’ll happen.

I find it fascinating that at 34 years old (close to my age now), Steven was 21 years away from having a book published.

Could I handle another 21 years of this grinding with no external success?

Could you?

That is a clue to our alignment here. Think back to the dream rating above. I bet Steven’s was 11/10!

At this point, I could safely say “yes”.

I could keep doing this for another 21 years.

I feel called to do it.

Sure, it may evolve into new formats as technology, and the world evolves, but the calling to create remains. 

That is a great litmus test that we are on the right path.

As we have that long-term patience. 

But the other vital parts of Steven’s message there are:

• Busting your ass
• Taking some pressure off yourself

He realised that dream 21 years later because he continued to show up and write every day. That’s the short-term urgency, and he was busting his ass.

But he learned something along the way.

Self-care is important.

Look after yourself as the road is long.

As if you don’t take self-care seriously and burn out or give up. Then the world misses out on your creative gifts. 

But even more importantly:

Enjoy yourself!

Try to have some fun.

If you aren’t enjoying the ride, 21 years of busting your ass is a long time.

And finally, keep your eyes open.

As you make your way along here, an opportunity will arise.

And you better be ready for it when it does!

Reflection

We’re going a bit deeper today. So I suggest you journal on these:

How does your creative dream rate on the 1-10 importance scale?

• Would you be willing to “be a loser” for 5+ years working your craft, as MrBeast did?
• Would you be ready to commit 21 years to it, as Steven Pressfield did?

If it’s not above an 8, you must keep exploring possibilities until you land on something that lights you up on that level.

• What could get you possibly get excited about? Remember that passion develops over time through mastery. 
• Pause and listen to your body, mind, or soul – what do you feel called to do now? 

(I’m not a “woo woo” person, so this seems weird. But I honestly felt this creative calling, “the muse”, telling me to start writing and creating online to make a meaningful impact. And my life has gotten better since trusting that inner voice and following the calling.)

• This is found through taking action. Try stuff! 
  (e.g. I didn’t know I was passionate about writing until I started writing.)
• If you are still stuck, who do you admire? Model them and what they do to get started. 

Where are you currently with achieving that dream, on the 1-10 scale?

What daily/weekly habits do you need to commit to if you’re making that dream a reality?

What meaningless tasks must you stop doing to make this dream possible?

How can you better develop that long-term patience and short-term urgency?

A quote to ponder

But I think we over-index for talent. And we underappreciate the grinders. 

And I think, in so many pursuits, whether it’s writing or anything else, often the prize goes to the guy who refuses to walk off the field. And keeps showing up.

Look how long it took you to get your first book published. I see that time and time again.

And it’s not sexy. It’s not the growth hack that everybody’s looking for. 

It’s the hardest way to do it, but you learn along the way. So that when your persistence meets with some slither of opportunity, you’re more prepared than you would have been ordinarily.

…

It’s a good news / bad news thing, is it not? 

Bad news – maybe you’re not that talented. 

Good news – you can learn to grind! 

This is a skillset that you can develop that is accessible to you. Right? 

If you can master that, then you are putting yourself way ahead of 99% of people out there who just aren’t willing to put in the work. 

So it’s really a function of – how badly do you want it? 

That goes back to the pain thing. 

Are you in enough pain? I hope you are. Cause it’s gonna be a long road!

Rich Roll

What happened this week 

Café writer

I am trying to take my writing more seriously, so I implemented a cliché this week by becoming:

A café writer.

I dropped my son off at childcare and then went to a nearby café to just “write”.

I took my laptop with no charger, so I couldn’t muck about before that battery drained.

No wifi connection, so I am not tempted to do anything online.

Load up on that liquid gold – coffee!

And off I go – writing.

Wow! I was amazed by the results. 

I punched out 2 hours of deep writing. Here’s the crazy thing – I completed what usually takes me 1 day at home due to the distractions & procrastination.

So I will keep this strategy up once or twice a week.

And if you have the flexibility to give it a go, I highly recommend it!

There is something special about the background buzz in a coffee shop.  

Final thoughts 

Today’s writing background playlist was the “Remain In Light” album by Talking Heads.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with a friend, and if you haven’t already, sign up here or below.

It would be great to have you on board!

Cheers!

Matt K. Head

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash