Hey friends, happy Sunday!
After a little hiatus I made another YouTube video this week: If only I knew this about FREELANCING 5 years ago.
Besides working on videos I've had some time to decompress and evaluate what's next and come to the conclusion that this is a season of life for experimentation.
I'm going to be sampling a few different projects, likely switching things up a little until I find a balance that feels right and I'm excited to go all in on.
Alrighty, let's get into the filter!
Using unsolicited advice to get out of your own head
Imagine sitting on a chair in the centre of the room. Your friends start talking about you, they share opinions and advice that would normally be too uncomfortable to say directly to your face.
The kinda things that make your palms sweaty. The type of unsolicited advice that most of us are too afraid to say to each other.
After some initial deflection you realise that some of the things they're saying are true.
Maybe you are limiting yourself in that area. Or that you should just focus on one thing.
These types of realisations are hard to come by.
We spend so much of our time justifying our past decisions that it becomes easy to be blindsided to what we should do next.
Sometimes asking people for unfiltered unsolicited advice can make an unclear situation become obvious.
Now most people won't actually gather a group of friends in an intervention-style format but there are some much more simple ways to get out of your own head and look at yourself objectively.
Asking people close to you to be honest about:
- What they think your strengths and weaknesses are?
- What topics appear to excite you?
- How are you sabotaging yourself?
- What would they do in your shoes?
When asking for unsolicited advice you need a strong filter and thick skin. Not everything people say will be helpful or true, everyone has their own biases and motivations.
While most answers to these questions will not impact you, the ones that do will drastically change your trajectory.
I.
Momentum is more important than perfection.
II.
Something I constantly remind myself:
You're not paid for how hard you work.
You're paid for how hard you are to replace.
Six figures in 6 days: This is a great story about how Traf made $400k from selling icons. The most interesting take aways for me is that ultimately he got a little lucky to catch a wave but that wouldn’t have been possible without constantly putting things out there, building skills and putting himself in a position to capitalise on opportunities.
Ryan Holiday on My First Million: This podcast episode has some interesting pieces on the economics of book publishing and how Ryan is so prolific. But what stands out to me is how well-balanced he is just playing his own game with intense focus.
How the ⌘ symbol was created: I never thought I’d care about the origins of the ⌘ symbol but this short video is a super interesting look into creative decision making.
END NOTE
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Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen
