Category: WorkCategory: Work

Saturday I reflected on our WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET? call (see upcoming calls here), and thought “we need to ask better questions.”

I kept thinking about this during a hike later in the day, then today (Sunday) I typed out a Substack Note from a parking lot:

“Maybe “should I start a newsletter” is the wrong question.

Maybe it’s “should I send a newsletter to the people who like me about the cool stuff I’m doing in hopes that maybe their day will be brighter and maybe they might (GASP) support me with their gracious attention and / or financial means?”

Starting a newsletter, setting up a website, making a YouTube channel – those are just to-do items, grand dreams. But who’s it for? What’s it about? Who does it serve? What’s the intended outcome?

Basic question leads to a vague and cloudy answers, so we must ask better questions to get a better sense of what’s worth starting.

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Join our next “WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET?” call, on Monday, July 13 from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT. Register here, pay what you want starting at $3.

From Seth Godin, on how being a bad boss to ourselves can limit our potential.

When we have the world’s worst boss, it’s no surprise that our work isn’t filling us with anything. The talk inside our head — the story we’re telling ourselves — undermines all of it.

We can find a friend or a group, start a circle, to change the way our boss talks to us. Because if there was a boss like that in the real world, you would never work for them. And you shouldn’t work for yourself if you’re undermining yourself that way.

Echoing Priya Parker, of course, this leans towards group help, instead of “self help.”

You can read all the Seth Godin (or Mel Robins) books in the world, but the breakthroughs and the magic happen in a group, with like minded people, where you can be safe and vulnerable and care for one another.

It’s risky, which is why so many people scoff at the idea. But then again, that’s exactly what a horrible boss would tell you.

In our “WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET?” Escape Pod video call last week, a common thread is the question of “do I want to do this, or is it just thing I SHOULD do?”

“Should I start a newsletter?”
“Should I update my website?”

We need to ask better questions.

Who is this for? Who does it serve?

Asking “would the people who enjoy my work like to know about my art show next month?”
“Would the people who might hire me like to have current online portfolio to look at and a clear way to contact me?”

Start with clarity, then start.

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Join our next “WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET?” call, on Monday, July 13 from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT. Register here, pay what you want starting at $3.

I left NYC on July 31, 2010 on my single speed bike with my laptop and a few belongings in my messenger bag. On that day I rode from Brooklyn, up to the George Washington Bridge, then down to Rutherford, NJ, some 27 miles or so.

There was a time of planning, researching, and asking questions, but then my lease was ending and I had a job I could do remotely, so I just got rid of all my stuff and hit the road. I did this for about two years before heading home when my mom got sick.

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A question came my way via Substack Notes (sorry, I lost the link):

I love the idea of working “personal.” From a songwriting lens it’s always been a rule that too personal then others can’t relate. However, with so much content now and like Mr. Banhazl said “the democratization” makes content, whatever form, music being mine, makes it all seem so generic and muddied together? What’s your take?

Here’s my thoughts:

• Rules are meant to be broken
• Don’t make content
• Don’t make generic music (everyone else can do that)
• Every major artist that you know about started out with one fan, then three, then five… no shortcuts.
• Make the music that rings true for you.
• Don’t force yourself into tiny boxes.
• You can be at least one person’s favorite artist.

The allure is real, the possibility that you can post a song and “everyone” loves it. But this happens very rarely, so don’t stake your career on it. As Seth Godin says,

The goal of reaching the masses is rarely compatible with the math of the long tail. Someone is going to win that lottery, but it probably won’t be us.”

For some people, the mass produced, hyper targeted, synthetically created music is good enough. You’re probably not looking to be in that world, so create for the world you want to inhabit.