the SPARK ~ #135 What’s Your 80/20?
spent the second half of last week down at my sister’s for my niece’s high school graduation and party (I think I lost hearing in one ear from the air horns 
…#obnoxious).
I went down early to help my niece decorate her graduation cap (she found a ‘Friends’ theme she wanted to make).
I’m pretty crafty and can usually whip that stuff out pretty quickly.
My daughter came up from LA, so it was a lovely few days. Her graduation was Thursday eve., and the party was Saturday (there were three high schools in the area graduating… i.e., lots of people. Everywhere).
As wonderful as it was to see family, when I realized the party was only from 5:30-7:30 (it was at a local restaurant), I decided I was going to drive home after the party.
So I could have my Sunday at home.
There’s something about Sundays that feel both easy and inspiring. I love the quiet, I put no expectations on myself, and I enjoy getting ready for my week.
How I spend my Sunday tends to set the tone for my week.
A combination of work, rest and some sort of pleasure tend to be ideal (I watched the new Avatar movie this past Sunday. LOVED it).
Because I’m in a “head down” and building phase, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I spend my time and who I spend it with.
I’m deep into the book and concepts “10X is Easier than 2X” by Dr. Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan (which, btw, isn’t about working 10X. You can watch the video series here).
The idea is that it’s easier to reach our goals/dreams/desires when they’re 10X where we are as opposed to 2X.
They have a great model of the 80/20 rule, which basically states that the 80% of what you’ve done that got you where you are won’t get you to where you want to be.
You have to take the 20% (which gets you the highest ROI) and make that your 80%.
The example he gives is that he (Benjamin Hardy) spent three years writing and blogging on Medium because he wanted to write books.
He grew his audience on Medium, and once he got a 6-figure book deal, he knew that blogging, which was 80% of his effort up to that point, wasn’t the task that would get him to his goal of publishing multiple books.
What I love about this entire concept is that it allows for growth and change. Actually… it requires it.
If you’ve been creating a certain type of content online for a while, there’s this notion that we have to continue doing that thing… because you have to be consistent.
Is consistency important?
Absolutely!
But doing the same thing… forever?
Obviously, I’m being a little dramatic here, but how much more motivating is it to create a BIG goal, put your head down for a few years, reap the rewards and be able to pivot?
That feels like a “HELL YES” to me.
I have a tendency to go into massive resistance when I’m told there’s only one way to do something or I “have to” do X.
At the same time, it’s pretty easy to use that resistance as an excuse (ouch, right?).
How many times have you heard people say things like:
- I’m not a good writer
- I don’t want to be on video
- I don’t like the sound of my voice
- I don’t know how to…
The only way to change those beliefs is to do the things you’re not good at until you’re good at them.
Here’s the thing…
None of this is right or wrong, good or bad.
It really comes down to how badly you want to reach your goals or make your dreams a reality.
Do it as fast or slow as works for you, just don’t quit.
Spark Spotlight 🔥
I came across this free tool this morning, dropped in my latest podcast episode, and it created a pretty good Twitter thread of 8 tweets (it needs a little editing, but a great start).
Featured Articles 📝
✔ Storytelling is probably one of the most powerful skills you can learn. Read “This storytelling formula might be the most powerful marketing tool on Earth.”
✔ This is an incredible breakdown of newsletter monetization ideas and examples of product offerings. Read “The Million Dollar Newsletter.”
✔ Not sure how to get your social followers to become email subscribers? Read “How To Turn Followers Into Subscribers: 13 Examples.”
Tool Time 🛠
It’s getting harder to find non-AI tools as most tools are finding ways to integrate AI into their platforms.
- AI Website Builder: This is pretty wild… generate a new website with AI in minutes. Check out Framer here.
- Video: If you’re creating shorts, then this generates captions, descriptions, hashtags & more. Check out Submagic here.
- Voice: This blew me away! Listen to some of the sample voices they’ve cloned… 🤯. Try Play HT free here.
- Video: This isn’t AI! Easily create, edit, and repurpose videos for social. Try Keyframes studio free here.
UPDATE 📣
I’ve decided to eliminate the “AI Insider” segment from this newsletter.
If you want to keep up with my ‘Build in Public’ AI experiment (I’m sharing exactly what I’m doing with full ChatGPT threads), click below to subscribe to “The AI Marketing Chronicles.”
I share AI tools, news, and resources weekly.
I created this for myself… part of my 10X vision
(house & retreat center in Costa Rica!). I used Playbook (AI art) to create it (free).
That’s about it for this week!
We are halfway through June today, and it’s kind of tripping me out. I still feel like I’m playing catch-up from being gone half of last week, but that’s OK. Everything always gets done.
I’ll be sharing my first post & videos on redoing my site with KadenceWP (I LOVE this tool so much) tomorrow. At the most, this will be a 3-part series (all wrapped up by the end of the month).
