Ever want to burn your business down?

...because I do. Here's what I do when I get that feeling.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Creator Science]( Presented by [What's Our Problem?]() Hello my friend! Do you ever fall out of love with your business? Do you ever get so frustrated that you just want to rage quit and start over? If I'm honest, I feel this impulse all the time. And judging by the response to this tweet, it's clear i'm not alone! ​ [twitter profile avatar] Jay Clouse [Twitter Logo] @jayclouse [I don’t know who needs to hear this but sometimes I want to burn my entire business to the ground and start over.]() February 22nd 2023 2 Retweets 262 Likes ​ Now, don't worry – I have no ACTUAL plans to give into that impulse and burn Creator Science to the ground. I'm more optimistic and excited about the future than ever! But that doesn't mean that I don't feel that impulse. I think it's a very common thing to feel. So what should you do when that happens? In my experience, this impulse is a sign of cognitive dissonance – an mental conflict from your beliefs not lining up with your actions. In my case, the disconnect usually happens between what I've told myself is a priority vs. where I'm actually putting my time. This week out on the boat, it became crystal clear to me that I have a big missing piece in my customer journey. And yet, when you look at where I'm spending my time, it's in new audience acquisition. I have a leaky bucket. I'm aware that I have a leaky bucket. And instead of fixing the bucket, I've just been pouring more and more water through it. That realization started creating some painful cognitive dissonance. And to make matters worse, I'm susceptible to falling into comparison traps. I'll look at someone else who is having greater success than me, see how well their customer journey is crafted and functioning, aaaaand here comes the spin out... What am I doing? This is so stupid. I'm an idiot. I can't believe I didn't figure this out earlier...I'm just gonna quit this and start over with something else. Wouldn't that be more fun? I could do this SO much better now... Stop. The first step is to realize that you're spinning. When you recognize that you're in a pattern of spinning out, you can remind yourself that this is your ol' friend cognitive dissonance. What is that cognitive dissonance telling you? It's not telling you to quit and start over – it's telling you that your actions are out of alignment with your priorities. Don't burn everything down! Just identify your true priorities and make a new plan that's aligned to them. And if you're struggling to do that, take a break. Step away from the keyboard. Get some exercise. Get outside. Drink some water. Maybe take a lil nap. That impulse to blow everything up isn't the solution – it's just a signal. It's a signal that it's time to dig in a little deeper and make a new plan. ​ ​ [Sponsor Image]() PRESENTED BY WHAT'S OUR PROBLEM? A brand new framework for thinking about today’s complex world Get to the bottom of modern society with a groundbreaking new book from Tim Urban, writer of the wildly popular blog Wait But Why. Dive deep into history, evolutionary psychology, political theory, neuroscience and more as you explore an entirely new framework for understanding our complex world. Packed with original concepts, sticky metaphors, and hundreds of drawings, What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies is sure to change the way you see your world. I ordered my copy – I recommend you do too! [Get your copy]() ​ ​ [Featured Image]() FROM THE ARCHIVES Your business as a machine I'm in the middle of my biggest month of revenue ever. And even though I did take a full week off to go on a fishing trip with my dad, my business was still quite dependent on ME. I have a lot of friends who are more "traditional" entrepreneurs – agency owners, product companies, and service businesses. For most of them, it's very clear how they can build the business to remove their own involvement. They simply need to hire, train, and build processes to deliver the product or service they're known to provide at a consistent standard of quality. Most businesses are designed as machines to be improved upon. But as creators, we often think of our businesses differently. We focus on constantly creating new things – new content, new products, and new sales campaigns. What if we thought of our businesses as machines? How would that change the way you operate your creator business? [Keep reading (8 min) ↗]() ​ ​ CLICK WORTHY 🔥 Check these out 🧰 [New in my toolbox: Senja]( – This week I moved my testimonials from Shoutout.so to Senja and I'm very happy about it. It's a beautiful, beautiful tool and accepts a wide range of testimonial types. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🎧 [How Dan Koe is scaling to $2.5M]( – One creator I've seen blow up over the past year is Dan Koe. And in this episode of Noah Kagan's podcast, he walks through his journey (and how quickly it has accelerated). --------------------------------------------------------------- 🐦 [How Thomas Frank increased revenue 33% per day]( – This is a great thread from Thomas Frank about a simple tweak that increased his sales ~33% per day. Highly applicable! ​ LISTEN ON CREATIVE ELEMENTS 138 Chris Williamson How his podcast exploded to 70 million downloads and 125 million views [Creative Elements Cover Art](=) Chris Williamson is a former club promoter turned podcaster with his show Modern Wisdom. In just a few years, Modern Wisdom has generated more than 70 MILLION downloads with interviews of guests like Jocko Willink, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Ryan Holiday. Not only that, but Chris has more than 700,000 subscribers on YouTube too. And while Chris started podcasting in 2018, things really accelerated for him in 2020. [Play episode](=) [Apple Podcasts]() [Spotify]( [Stitcher]() [YouTube](=) New to the show? Start with a [curated playlist](). ​ ​ LAST WORD 👋 Results from my newsletter growth experiment coming next week! With another strong week of subscriber growth (750+ subscribers) Creator Science sits at 20,579 subscribers as of this writing. That's nearly 3,500 new subscribers this month and easily hitting my goal of 20,000! Throughout this month, I've run a few experiments: - Paid tweet promotion - Paid newsletter cross-promotion - Organic social media posts - Hosting a free workshop - Utilizing Upscribe by Sparkloop All of this together has proven to be quite successful! With a couple final experiments set to run this week, I'll pull together the data and share it with you next Sunday. Should be very insightful! Cheers, Jay --------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo of Jay Clouse]( Jay Clouse [Say hi 👋 on Twitter]() or [Instagram]( ☎️ [Book a 1:1 call with me]( Thanks for reading! Reply any time. [Edit your profile]( or [unsubscribe here](. This email was sent with [ConvertKit]() and designed using [Palladio](=). Want to work together? - [Work with me 1:1]( – book a coaching or strategy session. - [Sponsor this newsletter](=) – get in front of 20K+ creators (booking into March). - [Join The Lab](=) – my membership community for creators (Waitlist). - [Courses & Workshops](=) – learn the essential skills to become a professional creator. Send mail to P.O. BOX 797, Worthington, OH 43085