#FtheHustle ~ 016 – When You Feel Whingey

I don’t know if this is a good thing or not, but sometimes I’m my own best audience (needless to say I’m easily amused). 

In this case, I was amused with my own whingey boredom (pronounced win-gee… one of my new favorite words).

Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) when you have plenty to do (that needs to be done), but you’re literally just not in the mood? Or your body is achey from shoveling snow? (at least I got a good workout in, right?)

When I get in those moods I can usually manage tasks or physical activity (provided I’m not sleepy on top of my whiney mood), but creative work?

Not so much.

So, what do you do?

The first thing you need to do is get really honest with yourself… start by asking yourself if you even want to shift your mood.

Sometimes I end up in more resistance when I try to force a mood shift. When I relax and remove judgment? The mood passes much faster.

If you do want to shift your mood, there are a few things you can do. I like having a handful of “go to” things that help. My first is usually meditation, but sometimes I’m too pissy to sit still, even though I know it helps. (Literally my own worst enemy).

Here’s the other thing I do ( and have been having a ball with).

I dig into something I’m excited about.

I give myself permission to read, do research, play with something, watch a course module, whatever… as long as it’s in alignment with what I’m working on, I give myself carte blanche to have some fun.

With my recent decision to go all in with email marketing and newsletters under my personal brand I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Everything feels new again, only this time, I’m bringing a solid skill set and foundation to what I do.

I’m much less distracted by shiny objects.

I’d recommend finding some sites (Medium is great) to find new people to follow or searching on social via hashtags or search.

Or simply Google your topic with a term such as: “best copywriters to follow in 2021” (obviously swapping copywriting for your search term).

Then we have Facebook groups…

We’ll be doing a “reboot” of Content Creators (stay tuned for more on that later), and are going to really encourage connection and engagement with one another.

Ask and answer questions in Facebook groups and post ways you can support other group members.

Think beyond the same people you’ve always done business with or the common networks (i.e., guru circles… there are literally millions of people to do business with).

Whatever you do, make it fun!

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A Little Brainpower 🧠

There was no way I wasn’t going to share this (thanks for the link Jodi). Austin Kleon shared a video that was created based on a conversation he had with Chris Do… “Nobody should have to hustle.” It’s all of a minute and 20 seconds. Watch it here.

Get ready to take some notes with this one. Watch the video embedded from Twitter (1:50). A new favorite phrase for marketing “return on attention.” Brilliant. I just found David Perell & love his work. Read “Writer David Perrell’s Approach to Getting Thousands of New Email Subscribers” here.

Tool Time  🛠

Just when I think I won’t be able to find new tools… (who am I kidding… there’s simply not enough time to play with them all).

• Meeting notes: I may have to jump into this one. Jodi and I meet weekly and could use ONE spot that integrates with Asana and Zoom to record meeting notes. Try Hugo for Meetings, Notes, and Tasks for free.
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• Whimsical: Now with documents! I’ve used Whimsical for mapping things, but now they’ve recently added documents to their suite of tools, which makes it easy to keep planning all in one place. Try Whimsical for free.

• Text your customers: I haven’t done any type of marketing or reminders with SMS (yet), and would probably use ManyChat, but here’s another alternative if you want to try text marketing. Checkout BlueReceipt here.
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• Need icons? This is my go-to resource when I need an icon, for anything. They have a ton of free icons or you can get the premium account and edit and export whatever you need. Checkout FlatIcon for all your icon needs.

Worth Listening to 🎧

I meant to get this out last week… but here we are.

I had a fantastic conversation with Bridget Willard a few weeks back. She’s the reason I’ve decided to get back into Twitter. We had a blast talking about marketing, writing books (hers), and her brand new plugin. Bridget has jumped full force into 2021 and it’s truly inspiring.

Listen to Books, Twitter, & A New Plugin with Bridget Willard here​
​Related: Get Bridget’s book “The Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing” here

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I’ve been pretty transparent about my “failures” in business. As much as I believe failure is simply part of how we learn, it can still sting a bit. In this recent episode of the Capitalism podcast Ryan Daniel Moran talks about failure (his own) and how to get through it.

Listen to “Failure” here (and realize it’s simply part of the process).​
​Related: Ryan’s book: 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a 7-Figure Entrepreneur

Nothing like a dose of reality to remind you that your youth is behind you… 🤣

Last week I teased you a bit about something NEW I’ve been working on.

I’m going to have to leave you with one more little tease this week before the official announcement next week… here it is. I LOVE IT! (again, easily amused. What can I say, #simplepleasures).

And because I’m in a quotey kinda mood…. let’s end this issue with one of my favorite quotes by Henry David Thoreau:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

Until next time,

Kim