Good advice, wrong time
Edition #077
Hey friends, I hope you're having a great Sunday!
This week I published a video called The May Filter, it's a new video series I'm starting rounding up the best things from this newsletter every month.
I've also uploaded a bunch of blog posts to my personal site as I want to take this content creation thing more seriously and transition into being a full-time creator over the next few years... the first step is to be more consistent 😅
Alrighty, let's get into the Filter!
One Lesson
Good advice, wrong time
There's a surplus of good advice out there.
But most of that good advice is hitting the wrong people.
See every time someone gives you advice it's riddled with their own experiences, biases and knowledge. Everything they say is projecting themselves into another situation.
The issues with this surplus of good advice is that when you follow good advice at the wrong time it turns into bad advice.
"Don't sell your time for money" sounds great in theory but being in a position to not sell your time for money requires you to have a lot of pieces in place.
Ironically the best way to get in a position to not sell your time for money is by selling your time for money.
But if you were to blindly follow that 'good' advice you'd jump into some ponzi scheme like dropshipping because, heyyy it's not selling your time for money right? 😬
For someone to give good advice they need to remember what it's like to be you. If you're looking to get your net -worth up to $100k it's pointless asking a billionaire for advice because they are so far removed from your situation.
The only people who can give you good advice are the people 2-3 steps ahead of you in something you want to achieve.
Get business advice from the friend who's already building the type of business you want to build.
Get workout advice from the friend who's in shape but not so far away from your current situation that they have forgotten what it's like to be at your level.
Good advice at the wrong time will always be more harmful than helpful.
Two Ideas
I.
​Don't chase money to live a good life and forget to live a good life along the way.
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​Share this idea on Twitter​
II.
Most distractions don't come from your environment but from your own mind.
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​Share this idea on Twitter​
Three Favourite Finds
​Don't Find A Niche, Find A Mode: Every creator struggles with finding their 'niche'. It feels like you need to have it locked in and ready to go from day one but Paul Millerd shares how with a subtle shift you can free yourself from the mental burden of finding a niche by finding a mode.
Find a mode where you can continue to be excited about what you are doing. Find a mode where the friction to getting started declines over time. Find a mode where you are excited to keep going despite being ignored. Find a mode where you want to do something despite not having anything to show for it or in the worst case, despite criticism.
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​The argument against eating raw vegetables: Are raw vegetables good for you? Maybe not 🤯
This is an interesting case against eating raw vegetables with some good counterarguments in the comments as well - discussions like this are what make using Twitter interesting!
​Surviving a recession as a maker: For everyone running a creative business it’s probably a good time to lock down your systems and make sure you’re running a tight ship. Economic downturns provide a great opportunity for the best businesses to thrive but crucially your business needs to survive first.
End note
The Sunday Filter relies on word of mouth to reach more people, if you’re enjoying the newsletter I’d really appreciate you sending it to a friend or sharing on Twitter.
Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen