Making a change
Hey friends, happy Sunday!
A slightly different Filter today. Over the past few weeks I've been gaining clarity around what I should work on and this week I have a big update.
This email is a short-ish essay on what to work on / an update on what I'm working on going forward.
No one knows what they are doing.
People might look like they know, but they don't. We're all just making it up as we go along. Our decisions and actions are based on the stories we tell ourselves and the mental models we lean on to make decisions.
I say this because I often get caught up on the stories I tell myself. The problem area being deciding what to work on.
In our heads we see ourselves as certain types of people "I'm a designer", I'm not creative", "I'm healthy".... our identities then lead us to take action. If you believe you're a healthy person you're much more likely to exercise and eat clean.
The problems arise when you want to be [and do] a lot of things in life.
For me those things are becoming a Creator [writing + making videos that are useful & build an audience], Designer/Developer [designing + building great digital products] & an Entrepreneur [someone who builds/runs a profitable internet business].
Long Term Thinking
Many of us try to pursue multiple different directions at once only to become frustrated through the lack of progress.
In my case I was trying to build a business to suit each of those needs at the same time. Even though each of these paths overlaps I had three very different potential paths in my head.
- Be a creator - Write + make videos and build an audience under my name
- Be a designer / developer - Build a design studio and serve businesses [already doing this one]
- Be an Entrepreneur - Leverage my skills to build a profitable business solving a need.
After weighing up my options I realised all my problems were coming from one thing. Thinking short term.
The solution, think long term [like really long term]. When you commit to a path for 5-10 years you're able to focus on achieving what you want without the fear of missing out.
You can stop looking around at what others are doing and focus in on improving your craft.
There will be plenty of time to pursue other things in future but you need to commit to doing less but better and being okay with it.
One Priority
It's certainly possible to work on multiple projects at once, in fact, I think it's healthy to diversify your skills + income. But you have to prioritise one at a time.
The term "priorities" plural only became popular post WW II, largely down to the post war economic boom. Prior to this people would only use the noun "Priority".
That's because "priorities" don't exist. By it's nature one thing has to take priority over another. Having multiple prioritise at any given time is a sure-fire way to make little progress and burn yourself out.
"But I'm different, I can make it work".
93% of drivers think they are safer than average.
94% of college professors say they are better than average.
And 92% of people said they were less bias than average.
Illusory superiority bias is common, especially among high-achievers, but chances are, you're average.
That's not a bad thing, it just means you need to stack the odds in your favour. You need to spend an above-average amount of time and attention on something to ensure it's a success, something you can't do without setting yourself a priority.
Finding Attention
When figuring out what to work on finding time is the easy part, finding attention is difficult.
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. You can always find extra time to work on things. Some people wake up earlier, some work into the night.
Just because you can find the time to work on something doesn't mean you can find the attention.
Your workday might be 8 hours, it might be 14 hours but your attention will only be 4-6 hours.
Your attention will be absorbed by a few key things everyday, once it's gone you might be working but you're not able to perform at the level you need to.
Attention and time are different things. Sure you might have the time to do everything at once but you don't have the attention to do them all well.
Getting the Flywheel to Spin
Creative ventures are like Flywheels. At first they take a lot of energy to get moving, but once they pick up speed they efficiently store energy making future progress much easier.
No matter what you're doing getting your flywheel to move will be the most difficult part.
- Making your 1st sale will be harder than your 100th
- Your 1st video will require more attention than your 1000th
- Writing your 1st Essay will take much longer than your 50th
In that initial phase you need to devote your attention to gaining traction, you need to make it your priority.
Some things will take longer than others to gain traction. A micro startup might take a few months, a business will likely take years.
Gaining traction requires you to put in the work, you need to put in your reps before the flywheel starts to spin. But once you gain momentum things will become easier.
You become more efficient. You have more money to re-invest in team members or freelancers.
Then and only then should you divert attention to what else you want to achieve.
Finding the Sweetspot
An issue I constantly see creators and makers make [that I'm also guilty of too] is trying to start everything at once.
Instead of getting the flywheel spinning in one area then moving onto the next, they try to pursue many things all at once.
By dividing your attention and setting multiple "prioritise" at once you diminish your ability to produce great work.
The good news is, you can have everything you want. The bad news, you can't have it all at once.
Focus on building one thing at a time, get the flywheel spinning then you can move onto the next thing.
What I'm focusing on
As Charlie Munger says "It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent. "
Trying to be consistently not stupid is my focus. That really includes two parts.
First is to continue working on the design studio. I've been working on this for 3 years now and the flywheel is starting to spin nicely. The business allows me to earn a decent living doing things I enjoy - constantly building new skills.
Second is my priority. Writing, making videos, talking to people & sharing things. I'm fascinated by the creative process and love the struggle of creating. Writing and making videos is the best platform for me to learn and share consistently.
Over time I want to build this into a business but with the design studio I have no pressure to monetise. Instead I can focus on creating the best shit I possibly can.
The next phase for me is to build skills, build an audience and create valuable things. By completely shutting off the avenues to other businesses I will free up time to spend reading, writing and thinking as well as building useful tools + resources.
Final Notes
If you enjoyed this edition of the Sunday Filter then I'd love it if you share it with a few friends. You can send them over here to sign up.
Have a great Sunday,
- Stephen