💌What does a successful creator look like?
On working like a lion vs. a cow, lettings others judge your work, simple habits that changed my life
Hi friends & new subscribers,
Bonjour from Montreal!
I decided to travel to Montreal for two weeks before going back to work for one more week before heading back to Toronto.
I'm realizing how much I love these 1 - 4 weeks bursts of work, two weeks off, and then do it all over again. It suits my personality and my desired lifestyle.
And because of that, I've been looking for travel contracts that let me work for a minimum of 2 - 4 weeks and then come home to recalibrate.
This lifestyle reminds me of Naval Ravikant's take on working like a lion and not like a cow.
"The way people tend to work most effectively, especially in knowledge work, is to sprint as hard as they can while they feel inspired to work, and then rest. They take long breaks.
It's more like a lion hunting and less like a marathoner running. You sprint, and then you rest. You reassess, and then you try again. You end up building a marathon of sprints."
And speaking of work, I've been thinking about what makes a successful creator.
What a Successful Creator Looks Like
With two weeks of rest here in Montreal, I’ve been thinking about how to be a “successful creator”.
As I'm learning to slow down as a creator, I've paused many of my side projects like:
Launching digital products
Being on Instagram
Being on Twitter
I've narrowed my focus on this newsletter and YouTube. So far, it's the only two projects that bring me the most joy.
Personally, it feels like I'm successful in doing so because I have the freedom to do and talk about what I want, and once in a while, people tell me how it helped them in some way.
I got this reply from the last newsletter:
And from my YouTube videos, I sometimes get these replies.
So to me, even though I don’t have my desired financial goals through my creative projects, it still feels really good to make some sort of impact through my content.
Furthermore, I believe that the creators I look up to have the following beliefs/philosophies/POVs that makes them successful:
1. They don't care about metrics. Rather, they define their success with their input.
Ok, maybe they do care but only up to a certain point. In one video by Ali Abdaal (a doctor-turned-millionaire creator), he talks about how it feels to reach a million subs on YouTube.
He said that it was never his goal to reach a certain number of subscribers. His main goal was always to produce one good video a week. With that principle, he achieved the current financial and fame he has.
But even if he didn't, he would've been successful by his definition by simply one video a week per year.
I needed to hire a video editor to reach that simple one-video-a-week-goal.
2. They're intentional about what they're working on.
I came across a new YouTuber I've been obsessed with.
His name is Nathaniel Drew, and he makes travel/personal development type of videos. It's the vibe I'm hoping to recreate. In one of his videos, he talks about saying 'no' to many good opportunities because it doesn't resonate with him so that he can create the time and space for things he truly enjoys.
Enjoying what you’re doing is one of the key to make this whole process sustainable.
3. They would do the things they're doing even if it didn't make a dollar.
In my opinion, this is the actual test of persistence in the creator economy.
The creators I admire have been in the game for at least two years. A year or two ago, not many people knew Ali Abdaal, Dickie Bush, or Nicolas Cole. At least I didn't. But they've all been teaching and sharing what they know on the Internet.
And in many instances, they say that the key is to become good at what you do, and the money will eventually follow. And they obviously walk their talk.
There are more things I think I believe are what makes a successful creator, but this is supposed to be a short newsletter, so I'll leave it here.
What do you think makes a successful creator?
🧚 2 Fairy Tips for Multipassionate Creators
On writing: Let others decide what to do with your creations.
As creators, we're bad at judging our work. We think they're bad when others think they're good. We think they're "common knowledge" until you talk to someone and they tell you how amazing your idea is.
Derek Sivers says, "obvious to you, amazing to others."
And because we're terrible judges of our work, it's easier to let others do it. This idea comes from Derek Siver's collection of short essays, Hell Yeah or No. He tells us that as creators, our only duty is to produce the work because we feel the need and desire to. But the rest is up to the world. They can like it, hate it, share it, or thank you for it. Either way, your job is done.
On life: Manifesting 101: be clear and ask for what you genuinely want.
On this podcast episode, Jay Shetty interviews Vanessa Hudgens about her spiritual journey and how she makes sense of the world as an actress, entrepreneur, creative, etc. (A definite listen for multipassionate creators btw)
Vanessa openly talks about becoming clear about what you want, whether you're trying to manifest love or wealth. The key thing is being clear. I've manifested money and work before. And I can tell you, being specific up to the dollar amount that you want genuinely works.
But you also have to believe that you deserve that thing you're asking for. It's a tricky subject, but it's a lot of fun when you start to believe in what you can manifest.
✨ Latest Work On The Internet
In case you're curious, here is my most recent work in the last two weeks.
✍️ 3 Surprising Reasons to Embrace Uncertainty if You're Feeling Lost in Your 20s
🎥 3 Simple Habits that Massively Changed My Life
🤔 A question for you this week:
What is your definition of success and how will you know that you’re successful?
With online love 💌 ,
Jerine