01.1 4_lessons_learned

I learned a lot whilst making dare_to_suck.

I made a list.

It was quite long.

So, I made it shorter.

TLDR:

1. Nobody died.
2. Be on point
3. Start conversations
4. Repeat

It didn't kill me

Let’s be clear here, I didn’t climb Everest, swim with sharks, or perform surgery on myself. I published a newsletter. The fear and anxiety I imagined around this never amounted to anything real. It was all inside my head.

I dared to suck and lived to tell the tale. But,

I wasn't on point (enough)

Overall, I gave myself a C+, 60%, 6/10. IMO the biggest failing of dare_to_suck is how it hit the target. I'm for someone, I'm about something but that signal didn't come through clearly. The overall narrative simply wasn’t tight (a bit squirrelly) the point wasn’t sharp enough. Ultimately I feel this one was a bit too much style (the technical details of how) and not enough substance.

• Who is it for?
• What is it for?
• Why will they care?

Too much me, not enough you.

I'll do better next time.

But, it wasn't all bad.

I did hit the target.

It started conversations

A lot of conversations.

People wrote to me. Sympathy. Empathy. “I feel the same”, “so glad it’s not just me”, “thank you for this”, “I’m going to start today”. I had a client I hadn't heard from in over a year reach out for work. I even got a voicemail from an incredible human being to congratulate and support my work. And isn't that the point of all of this? Not to broadcast noise into the unfathomable void but to share something that connects people, connects me 'with' people and starts a conversation.

And emboldened by this,

I'm ready to go again.

Purpose. Progress. People.

Joy.

These make work easier.

And with these found I can go again.

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fyi_02-06 started ↓

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ps_dare_to_suck digital available here and physical here (although hopefully this one is sold out;-)).

pps_i'm also daring to suck, but in a different way, here.

fyi_maybe my last reference was too subtle? Read stuff from me carefully. If you don't you might miss something.