“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” – Steve Jobs
What are you willing to do again? And again? And again?
It’s worth thinking about because consistency is a prerequisite of success.
All the talent in the world won’t do you any good until you commit to employ that talent on a consistent basis regardless of the results.
It’s important to gather the courage to try something, but it’s not enough.
You have to also be willing to try it again. And again.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. HOW TO GET ANY CAREER OPPORTUNITY YOU WANT IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS
“The quickest way to become known within your industry is to shine a spotlight on others who are where you want to be.”
If you follow the steps I outline in this post for six months, you will get the thing you most want in your career.
My six-month plan to get the career opportunity of your dreams is based on the concept of moving yourself to the center of your industry by conducting and sharing a series of interviews with people who do the work you hope to do, or work at the companies you hope to work for.
If you follow it, you’ll strengthen your network, improve your skills, and secure opportunities you otherwise might not know exist.
2. WHAT IT TAKES TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL OPINION
“Only then, when you can argue better against yourself than others can, have you done the work to hold an opinion. That is the time you can say, ‘Hey, I can hold this view, because I can’t find anyone else who can argue better against my view.’”
It’s easy to have an opinion, but it’s hard to have a meaningful opinion.
Shane Parrish breaks down the work required to have an opinion and suggests it’s important to put in the work to understand all sides of an issue before rendering your opinion.
If you don’t do the work, you’re just reciting somebody else’s opinion. But if you do the work, you’re then not only able to form an opinion, but also able to answer the next question.
3. THE MOST OVERLOOKED PART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS
“Creative people naturally produce false-positives. Ideas that they think are good but aren’t. Ideas that other people have already had. Mediocre ideas that contain buried within them the seeds of much better ideas.”
While people obsess over the importance of inspiration and execution within the creative process, they often overlook another element that’s every bit as crucial.
Ryan Holiday explains why a draw-down period is an important part of the creative process and points to examples of how it’s influenced his work.
He points out the value in a pause after you find inspiration but before you start creating in order to reflect, think, and prepare for the work ahead of you. Doing so can improve your work and save you from pursuing the wrong projects.
4. YOUR STORY IS YOUR POWER
“Whether we realize it or not, we define ourselves through stories. Understanding your own story is the key to understanding yourself, your world, and your capacity to act within that world.”
This post is about women, the stories they’ve been told, and the stories they tell themselves — but it’s relevant and important to all of us.
In an excerpt from the upcoming book Your Story Is Your Power, elle luna and Susie Herrick break down how our stories define us and how the stories women have been told could use some improvement.
They explain how we got here, how to find the center of your story, and how to create a new one for yourself and others.
5. I DID WHAT EVERY INSTAGRAM EXPERT SAYS IS STUPID AND IT’S WORKING GREAT
“When you stop using hashtags, you’re left with only one way to improve your Instagram traction — you have to actually produce great content.”
Stop. Using. Hashtags.
That’s what I did on the For The Interested Instagram account a couple months ago and the results have been great.
In this post I explain why I stopped using hashtags on Instagram and how it’s helped grow my account and improve my content.
6. MARKETING IS JUST BEING CONSIDERATE
“Marketing means making it easy for people to notice you, relate to you, remember you, and tell their friends about you.”
Once again, Derek Sivers doesn’t need a lot of words to make a powerful point.
He explains why marketing is just being considerate and suggests good marketing is about listening for what people need and creating something surprisingly special for them.
7. WHAT MAKES A COMMUNITY?
“We find ourselves working under a false definition of community — accepting any connection, any conversation, any link as qualification — and we end up with something that looks like a mob or a mass: singular, thin, and gross.”
For all the talk about the importance of building communities around brands or media entities, there’s been little conversation about what it actually means to build a community.
Jeff Jarvis pulls apart the concept and explains, “Community means connecting people intimately and over time to share interests, worldviews, concerns, needs, values, empathy, and action.”
And how do you do that? He’s got some interesting suggestions.
8. 20 NEW SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS TO TRY IN 2018
“There are now more than 5,000 tools in the marketing technology landscape. So where do you start?”
As somebody who works in social media, I’m pretty up-to-date on the available tools and tactics but this list surprised me.
Because Buffer’s suggestion of 20 new social media tools to try is not only packed with new stuff, but also full of tools that seem like they could actually be helpful.
The suggestions include tools to help with graphic design, videos, infographics, and even a way to send newsletters via Facebook messenger.
Speaking of which, if you haven’t joined the thousands of readers in our For The Interested Facebook group, you’re missing out on some great conversations.
9. TEN CAREER MISTAKES YOU CAN EASILY AVOID
“Hopping from industry to industry has huge costs. You have to learn the industry, market, people, unwritten rules, you name it.”
Building a career you enjoy isn’t easy, but it will be a lot easier if you take this post to heart.
Darius Foroux shares 10 career mistakes you can easily avoid based on his own experience including to assume your career is linear, choose a job over an industry, and not ask for things.
10. WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE THE PARENT OF A SOCIAL MEDIA STAR
“Though parents are often inclined to see their kids as talented and exceptional, most would still be startled to learn that hundreds, or thousands, of other teens suddenly worship their son or daughter.”
Trying to wrap your head around your kid’s social media use is likely a challenge for most parents, but it’s even more of a head-scratcher for the parents of a social media star.
The Atlantic looks at what it’s like to be the parent of a social media star and finds it’s a confusing — and sometimes dangerous — job trying to protect kids from their fans, fame and sometimes even themselves.
This week’s header image comes from Alexander Yakovlev.