Author: Dan Blank

This year, in all of the presentations at conferences and events, I have ended with a slide that says this:

“Forgive yourself.”

This past week, I shared that with a group of writers in a talk I gave for Writer’s Digest, and I received a note back from an author saying this:

“Thanks for a fantastic seminar. Everything was succinct and very powerful. My favorite thing was at the end, where you tell me to forgive myself for the screw ups, and stuck in the mud feeling occasionally. I will now use all the techniques you described today to get out of this rut.”

It was a reminder to me that sometimes all of the advice and tips in the world can’t help you if you feel you are in a rut. If the narrative in your head — if the feeling in your heart — is that you can’t make progress.

What I mean by “forgive yourself” is this: if you are someone pushing yourself in a new direction creatively, I encourage you to forgive yourself — to let yourself off the hook — if, in the process, you:

Have messed up.
Tried and failed.
Couldn’t find the time to “do it all.”
Feel confused.
Did something new in the messiest and most embarrassing way possible.
Are not being a bestseller, even if all your friends are.
Can’t get a single review for your book.
Didn’t win the award.
Can’t find an agent.

Because each of these things, and others, can create a mindset that holds you back. That stops you in your tracks.

The truth is, that if you scratch the surface of those who have found success, you find that their life was FILLED with everything above. What was the difference that made them successful? This:

They forgave themselves for what didn’t work. Then persisted anyway.

Many authors are overwhelmed with all the tasks they are told they have to do. The longer that list is, the easier it is to feel that they are failing in some way. This can cloud their motivation.

They look around and find 1,000 cues in our world that say, “Just give up. Go back to focusing the ways others already define you, not on how you are hoping to grow creatively, or as an individual.”

Every single day, I work in the trenches with writers to help them develop their voice, share their message, and reach an audience. The biggest barriers I find are not in the surface level stuff — such as which social media channels to use and how — but in the deeper stuff. The ways we hold ourselves back because of how we manage our thoughts, emotions, and expectations.

Maybe none of this describes your experience. Perhaps you are reading this and the term “forgive yourself” doesn’t resonate. If that is the case, then I would encourage you to take a single action: find someone in your life who is pushing themselves in a fresh direction to create something new, and offer them words of support. That’s it.

A nice email. A nice letter. Tell them how inspiring they are to you.

That alone may be the fuel that they need to keep moving forward, or to pull themselves out of the mud when they get stuck.

Thanks.
-Dan

Don’t try to go viral.
Instead, focus on narrowcasting.

Let me explain…

By viral, I mean doing something that creates “buzz” really quickly, often via social media. Too often, writers and creative professionals feel overwhelmed by all the things they are told to do (blog! newsletter! podcast! Twitter! Pinterest!) because the goal seems to be to gain as big of an audience as possible.

For each, “results” are measured in numbers. Number of followers. Of subscribers. Of retweets. Of pins. Of clicks. Of sales as a direct result of these things.

Too often, we think that success with our work is about informing the largest number of people about our stuff, in the hopes that it increases the potential for more sales and more word of mouth marketing.

This is why I see too many authors racing to try to get 1,000 subscribers to their newsletters. Or 10,000. Or 100,000.

And it’s why they are miserable doing so.

Instead, what I tend to see work in my own experience, and that of many successful people I have worked with is this:

Focus on the right people, not the biggest audience.

Engage with them in ways feel more individual, that exudes a sense of meaning and caring.
 

Ask them to take meaningful actions to support your creative work.

When I use the term “narrowcasting,” I mean it as the opposite of broadcasting. It means to reach out to a very specific audience. You can define them in many ways, such as interest, region, etc. In other words: focus on a small audience, not a large one. Doing so allows so much more value:

• You focus on learning about the right people, those whose interests align with yours. This kind of research is enormously valuable, and the kind of thing that most people skip, instead going for the largest audience possible.
• You develop your voice, instead of constantly trying to censor yourself to appeal to a bigger audience.
• You learn the big secret of business (and yes, publishing is a business): targeting matters. We tend to see Coke ads everywhere, so we assume that “go big or go home” is the only game in town. Do you know what is more effective and easier? Narrowcasting. Define your niche audience and double down on them.

Think about it this way: too many companies invest way more money to get a new customer than they do in taking care of their existing customers. Have you ever noticed the amazing deals that cable providers or mobile phone companies keep offering you to become a customer? Then compare that to your last experience when you called customer service.

Whenever I call into a company for support, I know that I will get a person on the phone faster if I click “1 for sales” than I will if I click “2 for support.”

These companies are playing for scale; a new customer matters more than pleasing an existing customer. They constantly offer lightning deals to new customers to get them to act fast. Then, they are constantly asking for “your patience” once you become a customer.

In developing your life as a creative professional, you get to choose how develop an audience around your work. I would encourage you to focus less on the biggest audience, and more on the right audience.

I researching this post, I found a similar essay I wrote back in 2010 called “The Fallacy of Going Viral.” What I realize now is that this topic has become even more relevant today than it was back then.

So much of this is about honoring ourselves. Honoring those we hope to reach. Using empathy, not publicity, to learn how to better reach them. To consider how to share your work, while also making others smile.

The more I do this work, the more I realize that it is human work. It is about the deep stuff in better expressing ourselves, more effectively reaching others, and creating the magic when those two things connect.

I just released a new guide that talks about some of this stuff, it’s a PDF that you get just by clicking here. No, there isn’t any additional opt-in, you won’t get spammed with anything. You click, you get it. It’s called “How to overcome 6 of your biggest creative challenges.” Within it, I talk about:

1. Finding ambition
2. Self-sabotage
3. Feeling stuck
4. Social media perplexity
5. Creating momentum
6. Feeling like a fraud

I find that addressing these types of topics matter dramatically more in helping someone grow their audience and find success than tips such as “8 ways to use Instagram hashtags to go bonkers viral!”

I would love to know: has their been a moment in your creative work where you felt a deep sense of fulfillment and success because it reached a single person? If so, I’d love to hear that story.

Thanks.
-Dan

I’m offering a rare opportunity to engage with me personally through a 12-week mastermind program that will focus your creative business for success in 2017.

Every year I go through a system of analysis that serves as the backbone for my company, WeGrowMedia. This is now a six-year-old venture, and each year it has been a six-figure business. I do not say that to gloat or show off, because the truth is, it is a huge responsibility. I work my butt off to make this business a success, to ensure I am doing work that meaningfully helps others, and that supports my wife and son. And let’s face it, luck is a huge factor here as well.

This year, I am opening up my planning phase and sharing it with others through a public mastermind program. To show you the process I go through, and give you advice on how to grow your revenue as a creative professional.

This is only the second time I have offered access to my planning system before, and I only open it up to 20 people. This process is, without a doubt, the foundation for planning my revenue growth each year. I invite you to join me so that you can lay the foundation for growth in your work in 2017.

WHAT WE FOCUS ON

I’ll start by saying that I only work with creative professionals. These are writers, crafters, designers, artists, entrepreneurs, and others whose work is not just about earning money, but about creating something special that will enrich the lives of others.

It is about craft, art, and an almost magical connection that happens when their vision sparks something in the hearts and minds of those who receive it. If you are reading this, that’s probably you.

But let’s face it, the money part is a big deal for you as well. And it’s difficult to figure out that part of it.

You have the “creative” part of “creative professional” down, but feel like you need more growth in the “professional” part.

The Creative Action Mastermind focuses on the following:

• The products and services you offer.
• The business and money parts of your creative career.
• Developing momentum with your work.
• Honing your vision to focus intensely on a few key things that will lead to growth and make your vision a reality. So much of this process is about saying “yes” to a few key things, and “no” to hundreds of others.

We will move through four phases outlined below, each of which are meant to help you focus your products and your business on what will resonate with your vision, and what will resonate with your customers.

HOW THIS WORKS

This is not a course — it is a collaboration. A mastermind group is traditionally a group of like-minded people who come together to help one another brainstorm and focus. That is what this is, with an added layer, which is that I will be guiding you through my planning system.

The Creative Action Mastermind program runs from October 1st to December 31st, 2016. We will move through four phases in that time:

1. Collect (October 1 – 23): Here we collect all of the insights about what is working for you already, what isn’t, what people love, and what fell flat. We collect data, do research, and look all of the elephants in the room right in the eye. This is about putting it all on the table and getting practical.
2. Organize (Oct 24 – Nov 6): Here we make order from chaos. At this phase, you likely have a big mess of ideas, a bunch of gaps between what you know and insights you hope to have. So we begin moving pieces around. We brainstorm. We establish a point of clarity that will give focus to your entire 2017.
3. Analyze (Nov 7 – Dec 4): Now we connect the dots. We take little ideas and make them big. We take 20 seemingly must-have tasks and cut them down to three. We hack through all of the stuff that feels overwhelming, and make a commitment. We double down on the ideas and the vision that makes your heart sing. This is about saying “no” to 100 things so that you can say “yes” to the one part of your creative work that matters most.
4. Plan (Dec 5 – 31): Here we put dates on the calendar. You identify clear steps you need to take, when they will be taken, and develop backup plan after backup plan to ensure you don’t fail.

In each phase, I talk about the goal, how I do it, and clear ACTIONS you need to take. That’s right, none of this is reading course material or doing homework — it is all about taking action.

My goal? Not to begin January 1, 2017 with vague resolutions, but to begin it with a clear focus and ready to take action. Through this mastermind, you will identify specific products and services you will be rolling out, when you will launch them, and how. This would equally apply to what you already offer (books, art, consulting, workshops, digital products), or crafting new ones that you come up with in the mastermind.

This bears repeating: You do not get loads of course material — you get prompts and actions to take. You are given a structure by which to collaborate with me and others in the mastermind. Nothing else. This is about action. Period.

You don’t have to show up anywhere on any particular day or time (I understand you are too busy to add another meeting to your calendar), but you will have constant access to the group (and myself) via these powerful collaboration tools.

1. A private Slack chat group. This is basically a 24/7 instant messaging system for small teams. This is where you can brainstorm ideas, share insights, cry for help, and feel a sense of collaboration in what can be an otherwise lonely process.
   
2. (Mostly) daily video updates from me. This is where I talk you through key steps to be taking, and expand upon conversations we are having in Slack. These videos are only for the Mastermind group, are recorded (nearly) every day, and give you an inside look into how to truly make progress. I will not talk in theory, but in terms of practical steps, sharing with you how I am doing this myself.
   
3. A virtual co-working space. There is a separate channel in Slack that I have created that is meant to be a virtual co-working space. Beyond the tips, the advice, the strategies that we share in Slack, the co-working channel is where we say hello each day and get the benefits of being collaborators.

   Imagine this as a real-world co-working space. Every day you show up to our huge loft, with big rustic wooden tables filled with iMacs. There is good music playing, amazing coffee, huge windows, and each of us shows up at our desks to work on our projects, while getting to know each other. You are a part of a community that is special — and this is where we say hello and motivate each other every day.
   

Are you worried about how to use these tools? Don’t. These are things my team and I use every single day, and are a core way that collaborative groups work. They are easy to get the hang of, and after all, we are here to help you out along the way!

That is the real value here: collaboration. You will have me and others in the mastermind providing feedback on your goals, helping provide direction, giving feedback, and pulling you out of the hole when you feel stuck and lost.

Each month, I will provide feedback on your tasks, your progress, and your direction. And I will also tell you when you are losing focus or biting off more than you can chew. So much of this process is about clarity and focus. Taking simple actions consistently, not getting bogged down.

My role is to be a coach in this process. You get to watch what I do, I give you direction, observe and suggest corrections. But I’ll be clear: it is YOU on the playing field. I’m not out there to do the work for you, or hold your hand when you are stalling. My feedback will be short and to the point. This is about taking action when it matters.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE MASTERMIND

The Creative Action Mastermind is one of the most powerful things I have ever offered — the feedback from folks who joined me have been off the charts amazing. They have found renewed clarity in their creative work, and a solid roadmap for moving forward.

“This group has lit a fire under me. It has created energy and momentum with my writing. Plus: I’m having so much fun!”
–– Teri Case

“I’m telling you, these Masterminders are a generous and creative and supportive group. And that Dan Blank is generous and helpful beyond the beyond.”
–– Judy Reeves

“There are so many layers of emotional and creative spirit in this group. I can feel positive momentum building.”
— Mary McFarland

“Dan promised me collaboration when I signed up for this group. I had my doubts, but not anymore. Being a part of the the Mastermind group has brought so much clarity (and simplicity) to my creative work.”
–– Jack Schaeffer

“Dan’s Mastermind group is a safe haven for creators and writers. Dan and my fellow Mastermind participants helped me define the direction for my writing and reach more readers through my website, blog and social media. I recommend this group to anyone looking for support and direction in their creative projects.”
-— Rupert Davies-Cooke

“WOW. I’m really blown away (seriously, not exaggerating) by the kind, helpful responses in this group. When I signed up, I had wondered if I was doing the right thing by joining this Mastermind –– I was afraid I wasn’t really ready for the step. But now I see that this is exactly what I needed.”
—- Maya Rushing Walker

“I believe that Dan Blank has created MAGIC here. This group has held me accountable to making a positive change in my creative work — I have never been a part of something this powerful before!”
—- Cathey Nickell

“This Mastermind has given me a sense of direction with the business side of my writing that I’ve never had before.”
—- Dawn Downey

“This Mastermind is building camaraderie with like-minded people for the first time in my life. I have never felt so alive. I can’t even explain it. Even with all my past successes nothing has brought me as much fulfillment as this group and each individual in it.”
— Cari Flory

 

WHO THIS IS FOR

This is for the creative professional who wants to take the audience side of their craft more seriously. Who wants to have a clearer plan for 2017 in terms of engaging others, and growing the impact of your work.

I work with writers, artists, designers, crafters, entrepreneurs and anyone who is doing creative work that is deeply meaningful to their audience.

And I will absolutely say, this is about living up to your creative vision. A big part of my process is indeed about getting clearer about the meaning and experiences I am creating for others. The business side is meant to honor that, not derail it.

WHY THIS PROGRAM MATTERS

Let me share a few ways that this program is different from anything else I have offered before (and from what most others offer):

• Very often, people sell you “content,” such as course material, when a key ingredient to success is collaboration. This mastermind is about that collaboration: relationships with others that keep us focused and accountable. Consider why it costs $75 to join a gym for an entire month, but $75 to hire a personal trainer for a single hour. Just joining a gym gives you access to tools, but hiring a personal trainer gives you access to insights and a personalized system. Most people don’t show up to the gym on an average day, but they nearly always show up to an appointment with a personal trainer. It is a commitment, and assurance to get the job done.This mastermind is that commitment. I am waiting at the gym for you to show up. Don’t leave me — and your creative vision — hanging.
• There is no refund policy on this program. When you sign up, you are making a commitment not only to me, but to yourself. Take action, or else lose your investment. This is a no excuses program. If you don’t do the work, you will hear it from me. One term you will hear a lot in this program is the following: “No half-assing it.” (Sorry for the language.) Why do I use this term? Because most creative ventures fail not because they aren’t engaging ideas, but because the person half-asses it. They do it part way. They give up at the drop of a hat.
   
  This program is a half-ass free zone. There is no “dropping” the mastermind part of the way through. When you sign up, you are making a 3-month commitment. If you don’t show up, that’s on you. Because I am there every day, waiting for you.

  If you have creative work that is deeply meaningful to you, whether it is full-time or part-time, I’m challenging you to stop treating your profession like a hobby. If you have a day job, I would bet that you would never consider showing up late for work. Or show up only three days per week to a job where you’re expected to be there five days per week. Or you wouldn’t just leave mid-day from the job because you didn’t feel inspired to do it.

  Yet, this is how people “show up” for their creative vision. For their creative career.

This program isn’t for everyone.

I’m accepting a really limited number of participants because I want to ensure we have a solid group of people ready to take action. And I’ll be honest — I want it to be fun, not just productive.

Want in? Register below. There is a $750 total fee for the three-month program, payable in three monthly installments. So you pay $250 in October, $250, in November and $250 in December. Yes, I am always flexible to creating a specific payment plan that fits your needs.

The deadline to register is Friday September 23, 2016. But please keep in mind, there are limited spaces available — only 20 — and they go on a first come, first served basis.

Register now:

Every day I work with people who are actively pursuing their creative vision. They are writing books, making art, launching businesses and crafting ideas.

I’ll bet that’s you.

But if you are like many people I speak with, you struggle to find the time and energy to make it happen. You are juggling so many things that matter deeply to you, including family, a job, health, home, and so much else.

So today, as far as it comes to you pursuing your creative goals, I want to encourage you to do one of two things:

1. Commit.
2. Give up.

This is a choice. Make it. No, you are not making that commitment to me, but to yourself. To those you hope to reach. The rest of this post are a few ways to parse through that decision.

If it matters to you, take action

In a mastermind group I run, I recently mentioned that so many people recite the phrase “If you don’t have your health, you don’t really have anything.” Yet, there are plenty of people who say this who eat garbage every day, can’t stick to an exercise routine, and leave any aspect of mental health completely unaddressed. They are stressed, and they are not giving their body or minds what it needs to be healthy.

They say one thing. They do another.

Too often we say we value things that we do nothing to uphold.

I would encourage you to be clear about what matters most to you. Write down the five things that you care about more than anything, across your entire life. This can be family or finance or writing or healthy or supporting a cause or so much else.

Done? Okay, did your creative work make it into the top five? If not, maybe you should let it go, and refocus your energy on the things that do make it into your top five.

Does that offend you? That I suggested you give up on your creative work? I don’t mean for it to. I simply want to honor the limited resources of energy, focus, and time that you have.

Commit one way or another. If you do commit, write it down. In big letters. In permanent marker. On the wall next to where you write or create.

Worried about ruining the wall? You can always paint over it. You cannot get back the years where you left your dream to rot, unattended to because you were busy attending to other priorities.

This is a commitment to yourself. To those you hope to reach with your work.

If you can’t commit, that’s fine. But make the choice. Don’t half-ass the choice. Feel the thrill of commitment one way or another.

Focus like you are drowning

If there is an audience you want to reach, forgo “best practices.” Stop updating social media with the same retweets as 1,000 other people, the same vague hashtags that no one follows, and the same resharing of quotes that everyone else is resharing.

Instead, focus intently on what they love, what they need, what they hear, how they hear, who they hear it from.

Let me frame it this way:

If you were drowning, would you put a flyer on a bulletin board at the laundromat, asking for help? Something that said: “Wanted. Part-time assistance with my drowning. Must have own car and life preserver. CPR preferred.”

No. You would cry out at the top of your lungs. You would flail. You would make the biggest ruckus you could possibly make.

In other words: if there is something you DESPERATELY want, don’t take the most boring, safe, least-effective means to try to get it.

Who you know matters

I understand that we all want to believe that success comes purely from crafting work of the highest quality. The reality is often that much of success is also about who you know, and how well you develop those relationships. I don’t mean that in a smarmy “exploit influencers” kind of way.

For example: I am volunteering for the third year in a row at a local literary festival: the Morristown Festival of Books. Each year, the event has grown dramatically in terms of authors, moderators, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and so much else.

Did it happen just because it was a great idea? From what I have observed, relationships — who you know — has been key in founding and growing this event.

Much of this Festival was put together based on someone knowing someone else. For instance, I’m on the marketing team, focused on social media. I forget exactly how my involvement came about, but it was something like this:

1. Linda started the festival and knew Karen, who said she would help out with publicity.
2. Karen knew Deanna, who decided to help out with marketing too.
3. Deanna knew me, and I decided to help out with social media.
4. And this goes further. I knew Barb who owned a local bookstore which needed a manager, and my connection with Deanna lead her to Barb, and now she is the manager.

Can you see how much of this is built based on knowing people?

Now, you may be reading this and feeling a sense of anxiety, thinking, “But Dan, I’m an introvert. It is difficult for me to interact socially and make new friends.”

I get that. But I would encourage you to take action anyway. In many ways, I’m an introvert. When I first talked to Karen and Deanna about volunteering at the Festival, I said I would do so, but with one caveat: I don’t attend meetings. Meaning: I wouldn’t be attending any of those big meetings with dozens of volunteers and a long agenda.

I explained how I’m uncomfortable with aspects of big group meetings, that I do better with smaller, more personal conversations.

In other words, even though I’m an introvert, I was able to help out with the Festival by setting up some boundaries that made me comfortable.

I would encourage you to connect with more people who are passionate about the same creative work that you are. Because these people will become instrumental in helping you get your work made; to connecting it with others; to ensure it has an effect in people’s lives.

Yes, I know this process of connecting can feel uncomfortable. We all want an audience to magically find our work and spread the word on their own. And I suppose that does happen, but not usually. Usually you have to get to know people. So, do that.

No, don’t spam “influencers.” Just be a human being connecting with another human being in a way that feels meaningful.

3-4 creative hours per day

From what I can tell, most people have 3-4 solid creative hours per day in them.

For instance, if you are a full-time writer, whose kids leave for school at 7am, that means if you sit down to write at 8am, you will be done with writing by 11am or Noon. Sure, many people do more, but a lot of full-time authors I know instead fill in the rest of the day with other tasks. Marketing, business, non-creative aspects of their writing.

They have 3-4 hours in them of pure creative work, and after that, their well runs dry. This is 100% okay. I talk to so many writers who are trying to go full-time, and feel horrible that they can’t write for 8 hours straight. Which is a shame, because for many people, that is a completely unrealistic expectation.

If you have a day job, or any other major responsibility, it all pulls from the same 3-4 hour bucket of creative energy. Do you have two kids under four at home? They will definitely pull from that bucket of creative energy.

I never encourage people to seek more hours in the day, because I am such a strong believe in the value of sleep. Instead of trying to find 30 more minutes in a day, instead focus on how you allocate that bucket of creative energy.

It is a finite resource, but one that you have control over. If you are like most people, the idea of being able to spend 3 hours per day on creative work sounds like hitting the lottery. Instead, begin with 15 minute increments per day.

Establish that habit — find 15 minutes per day to take action with your creative work.

You will have to work harder or get luckier than the next person

I’m a fan of YouTuber Casey Neistat’s who explains this really well. He says that he knows people are smarter with him, better connected, have more money, get luckier, and are more talented. But where he can compete in the marketplace to find success is that he will work harder than everyone else. That is his competitive advantage.

In a crowded marketplace where it can be easy to feel envious of others who find success more quickly than you, I would encourage you to keep Casey’s worldview in mind. He summarizes it as “work harder.”

If that isn’t the lifestyle you want, that is fine! Seriously. Stop doing your creative work. Stop worry about how to publish it. Stop worrying about how to share it. Just make it a hobby, not a profession.

Instead, use that creative energy to things that matter deeply to you. Spend time with family. Spend time meditating in your garden. Spend time volunteering. Spend time doing your day job so much better. Spend time with your spouse or lover. Spend time with your parents, because they won’t always be there. Spend time with your kids because I don’t ever remember hearing anyone say, “My one regret is that I spent way too much time with my kids when they were growing up.”

I don’t say this as a challenge, but as a viable option: maybe you should give up on your creative dreams. All I ask is this: if you do, give up with VIGOR. Put that love, that vision, that passion into something else. Into someone else. Into brightening someone’s day or creating experiences for yourself or others that you will one day look back on and smile.

But if you won’t give up on your creative vision. Then double down on it. Stop waiting to learn all the “best practices.” Take action.

What is the first action you can take to double down with vigor one way or another?

Thanks.
-Dan

So many writers I have spoken to recently have mentioned something like, “I bought three courses I haven’t even had time to take yet.”

Most creative professionals I know feel inundated with webinars, with tips from blog posts, with podcasts, and yes, courses that promise that you can “achieve your goals twice as fast with half the effort.”

Can these things be incredibly helpful — even transforming — to a writer? Yes.

But buying a course can, oddly enough, be a form of procrastination. We take a course as a way of staving off taking action until we feel we are 100% prepared. We think we need to have a rock solid plan in place in order to be the most efficient, achieve the highest return on investment, and avoid pitfalls.

Buying a course represents an intention. The decision to purchase it feels like progress.

But it isn’t, unless you commit to action. To taking actions that are public, that shares your work, that creates habits, that learns via experience.

I began teaching courses online in 2010. Today, the online course industry has grown so much, there is even an avalanche of “courses on courses,” promising you that if you launch your own course, you can achieve a huge passive revenue stream.

It isn’t. I wrote about this recently in a post titled “3 Common Marketing Fallacies that Writers Need to Be Wary Of.”

The solution? Collaboration.

Today I want to share two simple — free — actions you can take to ensure momentum in your work, and then one opportunity at the end:

1. The tactic I am using to ensure progress with the things that matter most to me.
2. A weird — and effective — solution to finding collaborators when you have no time or money.

If It Matters To You: Find a Collaborator For It

Over the past couple years, I have come to realize two things. First: there are 1,000 things I could give my attention to at any given moment. All of them are important and somehow attend to my family, my work, my health, or other interests or responsibilities.

If I want to focus on what truly matters, I have to ignore that which only kinda-sorta matters. Everything I cut away allows more time, attention, energy, and love for that which matters most.

I think about this all of the time: what matters most to me? What would I fight for if it was at risk? Then, I double down on investing in those things.

My personal answers for what matters to me are rather obvious, but the actions I take to invest in them are not. For example, spending time with my family matters deeply to me. Because of that, I work from home full-time, and I say “no” to nearly every social obligation that doesn’t include them.

Is that a little extreme? Yep. But I never lay awake at night worried that I’m not spending enough time with my family. My reason for this? Because again and again, I’ve heard older generations express that one of their big regrets in life was not spending enough time with family. I am listening to their wisdom, and I am taking action on it.

This applies to areas of your life such as your writing and creative work, your career and revenue streams, your health, and so much else. Lots of folks say “if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything,” yet many people struggle to find time to eat anything healthy during the day, and can’t stick to a workout routine.

Which leads me to the second thing I have realized in the past couple of years: if it matters to me, I find a collaborator for it.

I have stuck to a specific workout routine for a solid year now for a single reason: I joined a small group personal training program. Basically, it’s a personal trainer with a group of 2-4 people per session. I book three workouts each week, and then I show up 100% of the time for a single reason: my trainer is waiting for me.

Because if she wasn’t, I would skip it. 1,000 other important tasks would prevent me from making time to work out. But my trainer is there waiting. So I show up.

I’m 43 years old, and I am in the best shape of my life. All because my trainer — my collaborator — is at the gym, waiting for me.

For each area of my life that I want to invest in, I am identifying a collaborator for it. Sometimes these are folks I pay, like my trainer, but others times they are friends or colleagues. Humans are social creatures — you want to use that to your advantage when it comes to the things that matter most to you. Finding a collaborator creates a social trigger within you to live up to their expectations, and to prioritize that relationship.

If you are struggling to write, to publish, to find an audience, to launch a business — I urge you to find a collaborator.

Hire an Imaginary Assistant

Recently I’ve encouraged you to hire your own interns. But what if you don’t have the time or money for that? Well, then hire your own imaginary assistant. Yes, imaginary.

A writer I know Lisa Manterfield, did exactly that. She calls him Kevin. She even created a little avatar for Kevin, see the image to the right.

Her philosophy was that if she created a job description for an assistant, that would help her focus on the tasks that she could use help with. If she pretended that she hired someone, she would establish a process by which to attend to the tasks and make progress. When she told me this, I immediately thought of the genius of The Checklist Manifesto — that simply identifying the steps to take can dramatically improve results.

Her takeaways from working with her imaginary assistant so far:

1. “Conveying what you need to someone else creates clarity.”
2. “A little silliness makes it fun, instead of another chore. I still have to put in the work, but it’s easier somehow.”

What was amazing to me about her takeaways was how much they aligned to my experience of hiring actual people. She received some of the same benefits simply by shifting her mindset.

If, for any reason, you don’t have the ability to engage with a collaborator right now, perhaps begin by creating an imaginary one. Use that to focus your goals, create a process, and turn intention into action.

Getting It Done

There are many ways you can collaborate with others, and in doing so, make true progress with your creative work and career goals. Above are a bunch of ideas I have tried again and again, and have worked not just for me, but so many people I have spoken to.

If anything I mentioned in this post resonates with you, I’d love to know: what is one area of your life that you want to invest in to move things forward?

Thanks!
-Dan