“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” — Henry David Thoreau
When was the last time you asked someone with less experience or expertise than you their opinion about how to do something?
No matter how much more qualified you are to solve a problem, they have something you don’t — a different perspective.
And that can be incredibly valuable.
They may not have the solution, but an observation of theirs might help you find one.
Ask them.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. Eight Ways To Spot The Lessons Life Tries To Teach You Today
“The questions you’re asked reveal the knowledge, experience, empathy, or assets you have that others most value.”
There are signals all around that can help you figure out where to go with your life or work, but unfortunately they’re easy to miss.
In this post I share eight ways to spot the lessons life tries to teach you today including to pay attention to what questions you’re asked, your instincts, what you fear and how you handle it.
Related: The five most valuable skills you can develop for free.
2. How To Grow Your Instagram Following
“They want to know, ‘Why should I follow you? What’s in it for me?’”
So much social media advice these days is vague and generic — this is the opposite of that.
Kaila Ruan appeared on a recent episode of the Do You Even Blog? podcast to break down how to grow your Instagram following and shared step-by-step instructions on how to approach your bio, content, hashtags, engagement, and more.
Related: Nine surprising things you can do on social media platforms.
3. 10 Valuable Lessons You Can Learn From Seth Godin
“Art is a gift that changes the recipient.”
Let me start with this: You should read all of Seth Godin’s books.
In the meantime, Sergey Faldin has compiled this collection of 10 valuable lessons from Seth Godin that can give you a nice introduction into his wisdom and how to apply it.
The lessons include to quantify as little as possible in your life, that authenticity is overrated, and that rather than search for your passion you should learn how to become passionate about whatever you do.
Related: A Seth Godin Q&A about creative work.
4. Five Tips To Help You Create Things When You’re Too Busy To Create Things
“Depending on how you look at it, I either wrote this thing in five days or five years.”
This five-minute video is the story of how Yuvi Zalkow wrote and sold a novel despite being too busy with his family, work, and migraines to do so.
He shares five tips to help you create things when you’re too busy to create things including to work on more than one thing at a time, plan getaways, and find a trusted community to keep you on track.
Btw, I found this video from Iain Broome.
Related: Structure your work day like a football coach to get more out of it.
5. Six Steps To Creating A Content Brand
“You have to find a content tilt. You have to find an area of differentiation that you can break through all that content clutter out there and actually be different.”
This one will help you whether you create content as an individual creator or for a massive organization.
In a 25-minute video, Joe Pulizzi breaks down six steps to creating a content brand including how to find your sweet spot, build your base, harvest your audience, and monetize your work.
Related: The two secrets to creating content people love.
Three Quick Things Before You Go…
Want me to help you with your project? Check out my Creator Accelerator.
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