Putting money on the line to stay accountable
Howdy folks,
Do you ever find yourself putting off doing the thing you want to do most?
Because recently I've been procrastinating, A LOT.
But only in one area. Making videos.
See, I spend most of my free time learning and obsessing over creating videos... but for some reason, I just don't do it consistently.
This kinda bummed me out, so I tried to figure out the problem.
In isolation, I enjoy every piece of the process, the ideation, writing, planning the production, filming, and editing.
But I don't enjoy 2 things:
- The gap between what I want to create and what I am currently capable of creating.
- The amount of time it takes to edit.
These 2 ingredients happen to be the only things you need for a big ol' bowl of half-finished YouTube video soup.
The irony here is that both of these problems would be solved by shipping more work.
- I'd close the gap by improving my skills.
- I'd reduce the editing time by a) getting better at editing and b) hiring an editor.
So now it's clear how stupid this is I need something to keep me accountable and that's where you come in.
For the next 4 weeks, I will upload 1 video per week (by the time the Sunday Filter is sent out) if I fail I will give one of the subscribers to this newsletter £100 (every week I miss).
The only thing you have to do is reply to this email with "Ship more work" and if I fail (I won't) then I'll use a random generator to pick someone.
Anyway, besides procrastinating I’ve had my metal detector out this week searching all over the internet for precious metals, you can find my haul below.
1. On the Value of Not Reaching Your Goals (article): Interesting post on what the author learned by failing to hit their goal of becoming a New York Times best-selling author.
"One of the best things that can happen to you is to achieve professional success when you’re young. That way you can learn that it does little to change your happiness.”
2. 17 Questions that changed my life (pdf): This PDF/ eBook has some great questions to help you solve problems in your life. I found this one very useful: What if I could only subtract to solve problems?
3. Everyone on the internet is a barber telling you you need a haircut (article): To a person with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. This is a cognitive bias known as The law of the instrument but with the internet this is amplified even further. Everyone has something to sell courses, products, content (even this newsletter). This short post shares some interesting points about selling without being sleazy.
4. Tim Ferriss on Colin and Samir Show (podcast): This is the best podcast I've listened to in a long time. Tim spends 2 hours dropping knowledge bombs. Must listen if you're a creator.
5. Steve Jobs predicting the potential of AI: This is from a speech given in 1983 where Steve Jobs talks about the potential power of personal computers.
6. Turning email into a multiplayer game (podcast): ConvertKit recently bought Sparkloop and now they're launching Creator Network which has the potential to turn building a newsletter into a multiplayer game. This is super exciting but there's also a lot of potential risks to blindly following strategies like this.
7. On the importance of having contrast in your life:
End Note
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Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen