So many of our @stackingbricks@twitter.com students are fearful of repeation. I think it has a lot to do with the fetishization of "efficiency" in tech.
In reality, most success is just finding a thing that works and doing/saying it over and over with the same enthusiasm as the first time.
I've built my entire career on a handful of things that I know work when I do them, and I do them over and over and over.
Repetition creates opportunities for:
- practice and improvement
- repeat and new impressions
- reinforcement of good ideas
- practice and improvement
Yes I know exactly what I did in that last tweet 😄
When it comes to creating things for people, and sharing those things, you NEED to remember one thing:
You are the only person who experiences the creation/sharing every time.
For most people, it's their first time.
For everyone else, it's reinforcement.
Write a great newsletter? Put it on your blog, too.
What happens if someone sees it twice?
HINT: Literally nothing bad!
And if it's good, you've either reminded them of writing they liked the first time AND made it easier form them to share it.
Great question here.
My answer: why does it need to be exciting for you to do it?
Boring things that reliably work are awesome for business. Literally the holy grail.
Find your excitement in new ways! https://twitter.com/bhavaniravi_/status/1522944100215189504
Get excited about the people you help!
Get excited about THEIR successes!
Get excited about learning something new with the energy you save by not constantly reinventing!
Get excited about learning to do things that achieve your goals, even when you're not excited about them!
The idea that you need to be "excited" by something to work on it is a broken, bad idea.
It's one of the MOST common failure modes of many talented indie hackers and creators I see.
The antidote is simple: professionalism. More here:
Am I saying you shouldn't be excited about your work? OF COURSE NOT.
But the idea that it ALWAYS needs to be exciting for you to show up and do it...is both entitled and delusional.
That's not a judgement. It doesn't make you a bad person.
It's just not reality!
I've been working on two businesses in tandem for 13 and 16 years respectively.
Sometimes they are exciting.
Most of the time they are boring.
That is HOW I've worked on them for so long. If they were exciting all the time, I would be exhausted!
Honestly - the hardest periods of both businesses have been the longest stretches of excitement.
Every build of @30x500@twitter.com we've done nearly killed us.
@indyhall@twitter.com's most "exciting" times were our most painful and risky transitions.
I'm business, exciting is an awful thing to be addicted to.
Save your "excitement" for adventures in life outside of your business.
Save your "excitement" for the energy you put into other people you care about, and celebrating their successes.
Another framing that might be helpful:
If you recognize that you rely on your work for excitement, make a list of the other places you can get excitement when work is boring.
Side projects. Hobbies. Travel. Reading. Friendships.
Then prioritize them appropriately.
Hobbies and side projects are great for excitement because you can put them down with little to no consequences when you get bored.
If you find yourself instinctively putting down your BUSINESS when you're bored it might not be a businesses. It might be a hobby.
I've wandered a bit from my original point about repetition, but the main lesson is this:
If you're afraid of repeating yourself - because it's boring or because you think people will call you out on it or something else - interrogate that.
And see if your fear matches reality.
Practice repetition as a tool for improvement, and reclaiming your time and energy, and directing that energy with intention.
Trust me. It's worth it.