You know the saying "think outside the box?"
This is the same, only I'm telling you to think outside your industry.
If I think back to every industry I've ever been in - creative writing, photography, startups, marketing - I've always found annoying things. You too? This doesn't mean we're haters or that someone's going to jump out and expose us. It just means that we have a unique opportunity to transcend the things we don't like in our respective industries.
You may have skills you find hard to promote or monetize. Not that it's a bad thing... you are more than free to have a creative hobby. But if you dream of doing what you love one day and making money from it, that's a whole different story.
Maybe it's writing fiction or painting portraits. Whatever it may be, I know for a fact that there are people out there who have monetized your skill already.
If you think the key to modern success is hidden in the past, think again. Nowadays the traditional is being thwarted by the modern. Every industry is changing at the speed of light to adapt to new practices, demands, and opportunities...
As someone who has been in the growth hacking world for a while, I can honestly say I understand high stakes and the pressure of fast growth. I used to hate having to rush and come up with "hacks" to get more traffic, struggling to make time for actual conversations, connections, and the thing I love the most - creation. Now, I don't have to. Because the ONLY person who determines how fast my business grows is me.
Not just startups suffer from this affliction (Fastis Growthitis). I see everyone rushing for more traffic, more followers, more connections... and yet, each one of us has their own pace. And it seems to me - judging by the blog posts I've read - that not everyone is respecting their pace, which leads to burnout, sickness, and lower productivity.
I don't want this to happen to you...
Patterns. There are bad patterns, good patterns, iffy patterns, healthy patterns, invisible patterns, prevailing patterns... patterns are everywhere. They make our lives what they are in secret and magical ways, which we could understand if we tried.
I've always been the kind of person who was blind to her patterns. As a result, I would get lost, disheartened, and eventually, depressed. At 23, I fell miserably in love because I hadn't noticed my pattern of falling for unavailable guys. At 25, I abandoned a HUGE project because I hadn't confronted my pattern of not finishing things yet. At 27, I fell into my pattern of doing what other people did instead of doing what I wanted to do.
All of these patterns taught me a lot, but they also lasted too long.
Sorry for swearing, but I just believe in this so much!
Look, it's not about me. It's about you and how awesome you are. You have amazing ideas and you can make amazing things happen. If you'd just stop listening to "experts" and comparing yourself to everybody else. I mean, sure, they give good tips and everybody else is amazing, but come on! Nobody else is YOU, therefore their tips and styles don't matter.
What matters is that you're a creative rebel and you're allowed to be one.
Let me show you a few examples of people who do their own thing.
