When old decisions threaten new goals

As I've been turning my strip mall into a skyscraper, I've spent a lot of time questioning the way I currently do things. Maybe you should too...  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Creative Companion]( Hello my friend! As I've been turning my [strip mall into a skyscraper](), I've spent a lot of time questioning the way I currently do things. There's no regret – the decisions I've made over the years that have helped me to build the business that I have today. But those decisions and the commitments associated with them may not be serving me anymore. Let me give you an example. Lately I've been thinking a lot about how I can reach more people – how I can get my podcast and my ideas in front of new creators. And my ideas keep pointing towards putting more effort into writing on Twitter. But where would that time come from? The first thought is just to find new time. To make some sort of weekly (or even daily) commitment to Twitter and add it to my workload. But more and more, I don't just have that type of time lying around waiting to be allocated. It's wrapped up in other projects or thinking through problems! So, realistically, if I'm looking to carve out more time for Twitter, I have to look at where my time is currently being allocated. And each week I find myself using my writing time for to write an original article for THIS newsletter – it's been a non-negotiable for more than five years. But should it be? Publishing an essay every Sunday has been a commitment that I never question and never compromise on. To go even further – I've published it at 7am ET every Sunday because...well, because that's just what I've done. And let me reiterate – those decisions have gotten me to where I am today! I'm glad I made the decision to be consistent with publishing this newsletter every Sunday. But past success doesn't mean I shouldn't now question past assumptions given my new goals. Even within the decision to publish a new essay every week are two decisions worth questioning – the day I send (Sunday) and the time I send (7am ET). Are those both the best answer for maximizing open rates, read rates, and click-through rates? Not to mention the format of the newsletter itself! So if I look critically at those decisions and the way I may change them to better reflect my new goals, there's a world where I publish this newsletter 3x/month and use that fourth week to write Threads. There's a world where I publish this newsletter on Monday instead of Sunday. There's a world where I continue to publish on Sunday, but experiment on send times (like today)! There's even a world where I pause the newsletter for a month to go all-in on Twitter and see what happens. But, in any case, this exercise has made me notice something important: when I have new goals, my tendency is to commit to NEW projects or NEW ideas and add them to my current list of projects. That means, as my goals change over time, I'm just adding more and more to my plate. More things I have to maintain, more things I have to allocate mental energy towards. Instead, new goals should present an invitation to reconsider your current commitments. To question the embedded assumptions within the way you are operating. And instead of creating NEW commitments, how might you alter your current commitments to better reflect your new goals and support your effort in achieving them? --------------------------------------------------------------- #97: Dickie Bush Returns! [Flywheel Effects] – Jumping ship from full-time job to full-time creator [Dickie Bush on Creative Elements](=)​ ​ Dickie Bush is the creator of [Ship 30 for 30](=), a cohort-based course and community of people developing a writing habit in 30 days. He is passionate about providing writers and creators with the tools, resources, processes, and mindsets required to find points of leverage and achieve exponential growth—both personally and professionally. Since our first interview, Dickie has grown [his Twitter]( following from 10,000 to more than 175,000 at the time of publishing. He's also now served 4,000 students through Ship 30 for 30. In this episode, we talk about Dickie’s wild year of growth, the evolution of the Ship 30 for 30 student experience, Dickie’s underrated growth technique, and why adding his new software product Typeshare is adding to their business Flywheel. [Listen to the episode](=) --------------------------------------------------------------- Starting soon & worth considering I have experience with the programs below and vouch for the teams running them. Two of them are run by members of the [Creative Companion Club]()! --------------------------------------------------------------- 🎙 [Podcast Traction Playbook]() – There are few people that really know what they're talking about when it comes to podcast growth, and one of those people is Jeremy Enns. This week, he's hosting a free 3-day workshop from April 12-14 to help you get your podcast unstuck and growing (I'll be there)! --------------------------------------------------------------- 🧭 [Career Camp]() – If you aren't feeling inspired by your job, Nils Root believes you owe it to yourself to consider a change. He built Career Camp as a live, online course to help you uncover the type of work you were made for and make a strategic plan for pursuing it. Cohort 2 starts April 18th. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚢 [Ship 30 for 30](=) – Ship 30 for 30 is a cohort-based course that has taught over 3,000 students the fundamentals of writing on the internet. Publish 30 atomic essays in just 30 days. Cohort begins April 18th. --------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for reading! As I shared and you may have noticed with this newsletter, I'm playing around with the format a little bit! On one hand, I want to explore those send times (that's why you're receiving this later in the day) and on the other hand, I want to use my newsletter to showcase other creators and their projects too. My goal with the [Creative Companion Club]() in particular is to personally help the creators within the community expand their OWN reach, and I realized this newsletter is a perfect place to do that. This week I also rolled out an affiliate program for the CCC, so members can even generate revenue by being a member. I hope you're having a great weekend and feeling some momentum behind YOUR projects. I'd love to hear what you're working on – just hit reply! Cheers, Jay --------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo of Jay Clouse] Jay Clouse [Twitter]() / [Instagram](=) - Thanks for subscribing! You can reply to this email or [contact me]( anytime. - Want to make a change? → [Unsubscribe from all emails]( → [Unsubscribe from Creative Companion](=) → [Update your profile]() - Want to say thank you? [Buy Me A Coffee]() or send a note to P.O. BOX 797, Worthington, OH 43085.