This is my 26th newsletter edition! That means I’ve been writing these once a week for six months! For this one, I just wanted to reflect on starting this newsletter and writing it each week. I think my two main takeaways are:
- Sometimes you just need to start doing something, and momentum will keep you going.
- Using your friends/audience is a great way to keep yourself accountable.
When I first decided to start the newsletter, it actually took me a few weeks before I sent out the first email. I think I was being a bit of a perfectionist and wanted to make sure the website I created was fully populated, that the social network links were working, and that it would format well on a phone as well as a laptop… Looking back, I realize I just needed to start, and all of those small details would eventually get figured out. Those details are important, but they shouldn’t have stopped me from starting. Sending that first letter was all I needed to get going. Since then, I haven’t missed a single week! Maybe I’ve sent them out late at night while driving back home from LA, but I still haven’t missed one!
One thing I’ve been thinking about is building a second form of income. I have some ideas, but I think I’m falling into the same pitfall of trying to figure everything out beforehand when all I need to do is try. I might not have everything figured out, but I’m bound to run into problems I couldn’t have anticipated until I actually started. For example, when I set up the newsletter, I didn’t realize I needed to wait for a certain amount of time before emails from my domain stopped going into people’s spam folders. I’m sure I’ll run into similar issues, so it really doesn’t make sense to try to figure everything out before getting started. Sometimes, it’s just better to start.
This newsletter has become a mandatory part of my week because many of you tell me that you read it and find it interesting. Maybe you’re being nice, but I’ve found that telling people you respect about your goals or habits is a great way to force yourself to follow through. Social media can be a good way to do this, but I understand sharing on social media can be scary for some since it includes people you’re not super close to. I like this audience because everyone here has taken the time to click on my website, enter their email, and confirm it. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re willing to do that, I feel like you’re genuinely interested in what I share. Again, maybe some people signed up to be nice, but I like to think most of you are truly interested!
Anyways, this one is also getting sent out pretty late, but that’s okay. I plan to continue this for at least another six months. After that, I’m thinking of organizing all the letters by theme and putting them into a single document. I guess that would kind of be a book, so maybe I’ll print one out. I just got a new camera and hope to take more photos, so maybe I can include some pictures in these newsletters and in the book at the end. That would be cool—it could be like a yearly scrapbook but also have my weekly thoughts.