FTI #393: Let's make it great

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Happy new year!

I hope you have a great one.

​Maybe this can help make that happen.

Now, on to this week's ideas...

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The Starting Five

1. A 5-Question Survey Every Podcaster Needs To Try​

This excerpt is just one of a bunch of smart podcast growth tactics shared in my new podcast episode including how to get featured on Apple podcasts and get more ratings from listeners.

2. 18 Attention-Grabbing Topics To Write About​

This simple list will ensure you never run out of things to share.

3. How To Use The Day-By-Day Content Strategy​

A clever way to hook people into your content and get them to keep coming back for more.

4. What To Say To Get Newsletter Sponsors (And Who To Say It To)​

You're overthinking it. Just try this one-sentence approach.

5. The Easiest Way To Write A Book​

When Seth Godin serves up a plan, you'd be wise to listen to it.

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Sources and Sponsors

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• Get 2024 started with a clear plan for community-driven business growth. Join a free, annual planning workshop for membership leaders, course creators, and coaches.

• Claim your Connection Superpower: Learn to write personal or professional heartspoken notes that connect, comfort, encourage, inspire.

• Creators are marketers, marketers are creators. Jack Appleby worked as both for big tech - now he teaches best-in-class social strategies in his newsletter, Future Social.

• Each Sunday, the No Budget Marketing newsletter highlights ways to market when you don't have the cash.

• The ​​​​Creatorboom newsletter​​​​ features resources to help you start and grow a content-focused business.

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My Final Words Of The Week

I've noticed a shift happening among super successful creators.

They're realizing scale - and what it takes to achieve it - isn't necessarily what they want.

​Here's the latest example.

Have an interesting week!

Josh

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2023 Deaths Playlist

Spotify: tinyurl.com/26fpjnja

Gary Wright

"Love Is Alive"

Jeff Beck

"Brush with the Blues"

Sinead O'Connor

"I Am Stretched on Your Grave"

David Crosby

"Long Time Gone"

Robbie Robertson

"Broken Arrow"

Jimmy Buffett

"A Pirate Looks at Forty"

Gordon Lightfoot

"Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Tina Turner

"What's Love Got to Do with It"

Randy Meisner

"Certain Kind of Fool"

Jim Gordon

"Rock 'N' Roll Stew"

Gary Rossington

"Don't Misunderstand Me"

David Lindley

"For a Dancer"

Steve Harwell

"Walkin' on the Sun"

George Winston

"Prelude"

Keith Reid

"Shine On Brightly"

Tom Verlaine

"Ain't That Nothin'"

Terry Kirkman

"Cherish"

John Gosling

"Money Talks"

Burt Bacharach

"Walk on By"

Cynthia Weil

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place"

Rudolph Isley

"It's Your Thing"

Wayne Shorter

"Tears"

Tony Bennett

"I Left My Heart in San Francisco"

Jane Birkin

"Je t'aime... moi non plus"

Jean Knight

"Mr. Big Stuff"

Bernie Marsden

"Here I Go Again"

Bob Feldman

"My Boyfriend's Back"

Harry Belafonte

"Banana Boat (Day-O)"

Barrett Strong

"Money (That's What I Want)"

Astrud Gilberto

"The Girl from Ipanema"

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Berlin

Not the city, not "Babylon Berlin," but the prequel to "Money Heist."

Did you know about it?

I didn't even hear they were making it, but earlier in the week I saw a listing in the "New York Times" saying it was premiering on Friday and made a mental note to check it out.

Last time we left "Money Heist" it was done, over, history, there was nowhere to go. This is the story of Berlin, you remember that each character had a city name, and a whole new cast of criminals.

So on some level it's a formula, but as the formula plays out you become more comfortable with it. Yes, you miss Tokyo and Nairobi, but their replacements are becoming more 3-D. As for Raquel, the cop who switches sides, that appears to be Camille, at least for the two episodes we've watched already.

Not that I can rave. Then again, there was a lot of set-up, and now it's getting juicy.

Anyway, when I went to pull up the show on Netflix yesterday I was worried about getting the right "Berlin." There's no copyright in titles, this is not the only vehicle that has employed that name. But I was stunned that Netflix served up "Berlin" when the app launched. Does it do this for everybody or just for me? I don't know. But if I hadn't seen that listing in the "Times," Netflix itself would have made me aware of the series.

That's how strong Netflix is, it doesn't need advertising.

You can't get the message across to anybody these days. People are impossible to reach. In the Style section of the aforementioned "Times" on Thursday, they had a two page spread on social media peaks, trends, highlights:

"Top Social Media Trends of 2023: Roman Empire, Grimace Shake, Keith Lee and More - You may have forgotten—or wanted to forget—what happened on the internet in 2023. We're here to refresh your memory."

tinyurl.com/4wbnkvya

That's a free link, and I implore you to click through, because I believe, like me, you will have never heard of most of these memes and trends.

That was another story this week, how what is perceived to be big is not so big on social media. The news covers a story about outrageous behavior and it turns out it happened in an echo chamber, very few were aware of it. So people get the wrong impression. Even worse, there are bad actors, like the retail giants who cried about organized shoplifting in San Francisco, you know, you have to keep everything behind a locked door, the Bay Area is a hellhole. Only that turned out to be untrue, it was blown up by Walgreens because they wanted to close stores: tinyurl.com/2n3564n7 You probably missed this, it made a good story, but it was a lie.

And then there's the canard that we live in a lawless society where people are being murdered left and right. But the truth is just the opposite:

"Homicides See Historic Decline In 2023 Despite Perceptions That Crime Is On The Rise": tinyurl.com/yyjd3xbw

Even in Chicago, the right wing punching bag, that's right, homicides in the Windy City fell by 12.7%.

Now your head is spinning, mine certainly is. Everything we were told was wrong. Or something like that. But even worse is today's news about Brexit:

"Brexit has completely failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons — poll - Only one in 10 feel leaving the EU has helped their finances, while just 9% say it has benefited the NHS, despite £350m a week pledge according to new poll": tinyurl.com/2p9ykrve

That's right, a bunch of dirty, lying scumbag politicians ruined, or at least negatively impacted, an entire country. As for keeping immigrants out, immigration is up!

The public suffers.

Anyway, we all live in our own verticals. Oftentimes manipulated by others. And we're averse to input contrary to our beliefs, outside our silos, if for no other reason than we're overwhelmed!

Did you see that subscriptions to MAX have dropped? They removed the halo of HBO and now they've got a second-rate service that people don't want to pay for. Maybe it will be merged with the third rate Paramount service. As for Disney, other than "The Mandalorian," what has it got?

So Netflix was hiding in plain sight and everybody tried to compete and failed.

First and foremost there was a first mover advantage. But Netflix was all about a plethora of product appealing to a wide variety of people. There just isn't enough new product on the other services, not enough to keep people paying month after month.

And isn't it funny that only Netflix drops all the product at once. Because Netflix is trying to satiate the customer, and knows that most shows get no word of mouth at all! "The Morning Show" on Apple got negative reviews at first, supposedly it has gotten better, but who has stayed with the series? If it's not good enough to drop all at once, it's just not good enough. The product must speak for itself, don't rely on the public to do your work in a world where fewer go to the office and if you do you bring your own Stanley water bottle as opposed to hanging at the water cooler.

So Netflix is just for you. Not that I trust the algorithm, but I am happy it serves up Scandinavian dramas, it knows I'm into them, most are not worth watching, but some are, and I wouldn't have known about them otherwise. And I don't care if anybody else is watching, it's a one to one experience. And in a world where everybody is trying to be broad, appealing to everybody and offending no one, I'm glad I've got my own little bubble sans b.s.

And you might like the "Berlin" bubble. One thing is for sure, there's a lot of riffing on love, and a lot of it is true. It's not like an American show, and production wasn't hurt by the strike, you can pull it up right now.

I'm excited. I might ultimately be disappointed after I finish the eight episodes, but for eight hours I won't have to deal with the crap of the outside world. That was the magic of movies before the industry was ruined by the studios. Yes, a dark room, where you can watch something uninterrupted, marinate in it.

Seemingly everybody blowing their horn loudly is full of it.

So we gravitate to the niches.

But how do we find out about the niches?

Well, the most powerful real estate in the world of television is the Netflix homepage. It's a captive audience. You're being served, made aware of stuff you might like. This is so different from the smorgasbord of messages we're inundated with every day that we do not care about.

The world has changed, but too many want to tell us it hasn't.

What we've learned over the last few years is no one is in control. Other than you. You're an individual with a limited amount of time. You want to be directed, you want help. And there are very few outlets you can count on. Sometimes, it's the Netflix homepage. And that's very powerful.

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Re-Kennedy Center Honors

You're completely correct about the changing paradigm of what people watch on television. At least as far as my own kids are concerned. 

My daughter and her husband are 33. When I visited them this past September I was surprised that they did not have cable. Their subscriptions were Disney, Hulu, and Netflix. That was it. They don't miss all of the cable channels showing mostly nothing along with the monthly fee those channels cost. 

But it gets better. My son and his wife are 26. When I visited them last month I was even more surprised that they subscribe to NOTHING!!  They watch what they want on YouTube (not YouTube TV). They're completely happy and don't feel like they're missing anything. (In fact my son just purchased a Toyota based mostly on watching several different YouTube clips of mechanics discussing which cars they see most and least in their shops. He also watched several clips on how to negotiate at a dealer and what to look out for in terms of dealer add-ons)

Jim Blaney 
Nashville

_____________________________________

I think you should draw the line at bashing the Kennedy Center Honors. Honoring our older artists is important. Most of them have been to hell and back over the years and honoring their work is something every civilized culture should do. Please show some respect and a little more class. It's a better look for you. 
Happy new year, 
Chris Frantz

_____________________________________

I usually agree with you but today we differ. 
I really enjoyed the "variety show" last night. It gave me hope that the government can still support the arts. Biden was there ( unlike Trump who never bothered to attend). 
The fact that you skipped Queen Latifah and Renee Fleming just shows how deep into your silo you are. I can't speak about rap/hip hop but there were 4-5 of the greatest living opera sopranos on stage giving tribute to a truly genre-bending artist. You should go back and get a lesson in singing technique and expertise. 
We turned it off after Renee Fleming. The BeeGees could only be a let down after that. 
George Kahn. 

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Couldn't agree more with your sentiment!!

All the best, Susan Slamer

_____________________________________

By skipping Renee Fleming, you missed my favorite new singer: Ailyn Perez.
Too bad for you. ;)

Regards, Steve Schermherhorn

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Thanks for saying what I was thinking. However you were a more gentle about it than I would have been. 

Roger Humphrey

_____________________________________

AMEN TO ALL OF THIS

Kurt Osenlund

_____________________________________

I love reading you when you are on the rag. Dionne's voice was very special. She sold B/D songs like no one else could. 

Respect your elders and the elderly. IOW: respect yourself. 

The border not his frailty will sink Biden AKA RBG in drag. 

Michael Fremer

_____________________________________

Man, I used to adore variety shows.

Standing ovation for you. Thanks for saying this.

Natalie Davis
NYC

_____________________________________

You really nailed it with this one. 

We want bold, brave and true.
Not old, lame and blue(haired) 

Delia Rae
Burbank, Ca

_____________________________________

Oh, Bob…your review was much more entertaining than the show was. And as depressing as your message was, I laughed all the way through it. Good stuff.

Tom Gribbin

_____________________________________

Spot on, Bob

Happy New Year...

Cob Carlson

_____________________________________

They missed an opportunity to have two older, black performers, who can REALLY sing, honor the man, and at the same time present them to a new audience. Al Green is still working and he recorded How Can You Mend A Broken Heart in 1972. 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9YIq0oNiSM

Also, Candi Staton, who is also still working, did a great version of Nights On Broadway in 1977.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghjxSlfLJYs

Kevin Kiley

_____________________________________

As a lifelong Democrat and sometime left-wing radical, I agree with you. Biden makes me wince, although who else is there to vote for? I choke on my oatmeal everytime I hear about all the "other" candidates. Nikky Haley is toast. 
She'll never get past that quote about slavery, no matter how hard they spin it. Someone has to whisper in Joe's ear "Time to step aside Joe".  And I like Biden, but his "Speak softly and carry a big stick" approach is a tough sell in 2024.There are plenty of Democratic warriors on our side. But it may be too late for them to jump in. I'm secretly hoping Obama can sit with Joe and tell him the truth, but that's not gonna happen. Biden is like the Raiders quarterback.

He'll have to do. I think we can win with him.

Tom Cartwright 

_____________________________________

I can respect some of your comments, Bob, but you don't know what you're talking about with Queen Latifah. She's definitely not B level to the hip hop community and beyond. Any artist would love her career accomplishments. 

Stacy Turner 

_____________________________________

The singers of "Alfie" and "Walk On By" were not good. Nothing but vocal histrionics from the first. The "Walk On By" singer had a weird, nasally voice. It was awful.

Thomas Quinn

_____________________________________

Agree 100% Bob about Biden and I'm a diehard Democrat.

Robert Pisaneschi

_____________________________________

I hate when you fall into, " angry old man" complaining.
Some of what you say is true but not enough…not every endeavor in the arts or farces has only you in mind.
DeNiro's remark wasn't a dig…it was an endorsement!
You're all wrong on Biden you know.
So what if his body is old, his experience and expertise saved this country and trashing him could give us Trump again.
Big fan of most of what you write but not this one.
Lighten up Bob, enjoy!
Alan Crane

_____________________________________

Biden is basically unelectable and I am having a meltdown about it. Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy have/had charisma and charm and smarts. Biden has smarts. You need more. Ugh. 

Alan Stewart

_____________________________________

Well said Bob!  To me the last truly great and surprising performance/tribute the Kennedy Center Honors had to be in my opinion, Heart doing Stairway to Heaven when the surviving members of Led Zeppelin were inducted. How long ago was that now? (Just googled it and holy crap that was 11 years ago!). That was a truly stunning and complete unexpected performance. Hell even Robert Plant who had long since tired of the song, was moved by it!  Sadly even when Jon Stewart was inducted a few years back, you expected some bite and John Oliver did oblige but overall it was still a pretty meh tribute, it being a "polite DC society" and all event. 

Some things are just best to let go of gracefully and lament their passing than watch it die a slow agonizing death while trying to pretend there is nothing wrong. Seems the KCH and Biden/DNC are ignoring this fact. 

Michael Moniz

P.S. Biden is our 1/6 is an all time bad take.   

But your point is salient about our own eyes.  

My question would be where are these acolytes ?  Do you know people in your life that say its not true?  Or are you just referring to media. 

I don't know anyone in my life who is a fan or defends him.  Just the typical "he can beat trump" arguments , but always whole holding their nose.  

Theres a clip somewhere of a comedian where someone yelled "f*ck joe biden!" And hes like "is that supposed to offend me?  You're making fun of my 17th choice for president?"   

Seems to be the consensus to me

_____________________________________

Biden should do what FDR did, he knew his health was bad- also knew that Wallace was too progressive, and the country had turned more center. He decided to let the convention pick the VP and they picked Truman. We all knew what happened then. I think that may be the thing that will help Biden. Confidence in who may have to take his place. 

Peter O'Fallon

_____________________________________

Man, this was like watching television in the '70's. Love the audience shots of old white people trying to groove… Sad to say the "Honors" jumped the shark. 

Doug Pomerantz

_____________________________________

Gimme some truth
Thank you for the truth it is SO rare that I hear it now, it just stands out and stands up
Thanks for telling it
Peter Stema

_____________________________________

Wow, Bob, I didn't expect to see Florence Greenberg get well-deserved credit in this one. You don't often navigate towards classic soul.

She earned it. Not only with Dionne, but with the Shirelles, Maxine Brown, Chuck Jackson, Tommy Hunt and more. Hey, even the Kingsmen and B.J. Thomas. You know those artists' hits, if not their names (let's not discuss the British covers).

Hooray.

Adam White

_____________________________________

The reason kids love/watch YouTube is that teenagers are always more interested in each other than any celebrity nonsense the media manufactures. If you pay attention to young people you will learn that this has always been true.

Liz Dean

_____________________________________

Absolutely fabulous piece Bob. As someone that has produced, a live broadcast of an award show celebrating the arts for the last eight years, it is discouraging that most broadcasters and streamers don't have an appetite for award shows or variety style shows such as the Kennedy Center Honors .  
Broadcasters will tell you that in the face of declining ratings there is not much an appetite from the public for this genre of entertainment but what they failed to understand is that it's way beyond ratings it's about supporting artist, discovering new artists, celebrating extraordinary talent and Ensuring that the arts continue to thrive. I do applaud Netflix for picking up some of the award shows that have been abandoned by Traditional broadcasters, and I do hope other streamers will find a home for variety and award shows in the future.

Barry Avrich
Producer/Director
Melbar Entertainment Group

_____________________________________

Hear, hear Bob.  I agree with every word of this letter.

R. Scott Furtney

_____________________________________

Bob  I enjoy your writing  please keep piushing for new leadership w Dem,s  Michigan governors Adam kinnzinger if not Newsom   Scared of Trump return and Winn by default  please keep pushing

Dave Prutting

_____________________________________

You may be correct that award shows are losing their relevance and audience, but last night's performance of Alfie by Cynthia Erivo was riveting and worth tuning in If for nothing else. I was also there in the audience during the filming and felt transported to another world by her voice and presence. I was unaware of her prior to that moment and I've been obsessing ever since!

I have a 10 year old who watches mostly tik tok and YouTube and last night I had her watch just that song on the honors and her reaction to Cynthia reminded me of how I reacted when I saw Streisand in the movie Funny Girl as a child. Together we went down the YouTube rabbit hole finding Cynthia videos but few compared to what we just watched on KCH which was a brilliant matching of voice, song and production elements. Stunning.

Jennifer Cooke
Artist Manager

_____________________________________

This show, along with Tony's are the only things left that come close to a classic Variety Show.  

Who the hell chose those songs to honor Dionne?! The Spinners' duet? A horrific arrangement of Walk On By.  I Say A Little YAWN! Cynthia killed Alfie - thankfully.  Where was Manilow? He doesn't have a KC Honor yet, shockingly. But it was he who produced Dionne's comeback album for Clive (winning her two Grammys). And while it may be a cheesy moment, the right 4some belting That's What Friend Are For, which Dionne personally made sure made millions of dollars for AIDS, could have been a "moment."   Either the bookers don't bother or don't realize that some talented youngsters like Jonas Bros, Olivia, Ariana, Miley, Shawn Mendez, Puth, Demi, Normandie would likely jump to salute their - or their parent's - idols.  

Interestingly, it seems this show only gets it right when they honor Broadway star or creator.  

Latifah?! Really? Janet Jackson isn't in there! Why? Because it's CBS? Still? C'mon now. Taking nothing away from Queen and her career accomplishments (I actually am a huge fan of her singing voice) - but the tribute - leaning on her hip/hop contributions seems interesting.  She spent 9 years releasing 4 albums which maybe in all had 3 bonafide R&B/Rap hits.  So - a KC Honor? Was something inside CBS at work here - where's she's one of their stars? Hmmmmm? 

Of note: in addition to Manilow, Johnny Mathis and Liza have YET to be honored.  As much of a shame as Cher not in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame.  

As for Barry Gibb… that tribute was questionable at best.  Almost thrown together haphazardly.  "Lonely Days"? - they penned hundreds of hits.  And this was a hit.  But a memorable one?  Compared to the catalogue?! No.  

I mostly yelled at the TV.  Maybe they'll ask us for help next time, Bob.  

Jerry J. Sharell

_____________________________________

Longtime reader & songwriter down in Tennessee. I couldn't agree with you more. On EVERYTHING in this email. 

People are so afraid of everything that is happening and it seems like all anyone can do is just stick to the things that make them feel incredibly safe. Which is incredibly lame. And gets you absolutely no where fast. 

Yes the world is a dumpster fire but it doesn't mean we quit innovation. It means we gotta f*cking hustle before the great big ball in the sky burns out! 

Shows like the Kennedy Center Honors are sailing right along down the river of safety for all these liberal folks who think they are so open-minded but refuse to admit when they are wrong and when cornered they start screaming. And listen, I'm a liberal but I can see the writing on the wall. Both sides of the political spectrum are equally f*cked and divided within their own parties so why on earth would anyone be persuaded to be part of either side?! The narrow-minded point of view will do us all in because those at the top, with the most power and the narrowest view are steering us into what looks to be the same kind of shipwreck you'd find down in the waters of Cape Horn. 

But either way, I look forward to more of your writing and emails. They bring me comfort and I appreciate your willingness to speak the truth at a time when people choose not to hear it. 

Happy New Year, 
Lolo Pritchard

_____________________________________

Re:  Youtube (and smaller screen)

Ironically Bob I'm 50 and I watch more youtube than anything else.  And, aside from watching shows / movies with my wife on our big screen, I watch almost everything on my 14 inch Samsung S8 Ultra, which is basically a mini TV with a much better / brighter screen and portable. 

This isn't a commercial for Samsung, however when I bought one of their phones a couple years ago it included a six month trial for Youtube Premium which is basically no commercials, and I was hooked.  I pay $14 a month now for zero commercials.  

There's an endless treasure trove of documentaries, how-tos, MSNBC clips, political analysis by really fresh creators, I even sometimes watch OAN and Fox News when I want to get what the RepuliQans are spewing.  

The only thing I / you / we have to be careful with is the recommendation engine.  Watch the wrong video that has a little bit of a rightward bent, and suddenly that algorithm will go nuts showing you click bait Jewish space lasers, illuminati, stock market crashes, Andrew Tate stuff, and other right wing conspiracy nonsense or hate-filled garbage. 

The algorithm clearly WANTS you to go down that rabbit hole.  Obviously more money in it for google. 

Ironically some of that comes from watching more right-tilted redneck country stuff that I have to check out for work, and also enjoy a bit of, some of it is great music, and I need to pay attention to the genre.  

Also, Joe Rogan is a biggie.  Watch a couple Joe Rogan clips, even of him just telling jokes and talking about supplements, and Youtube will start recommending the craziest sh!t. 

Watch military or WWII documentaries, movie clips from more violent films, it doesn't take much for that engine to start blasting you with nonsense. 

So I ignore the algorithm and watch what I like, but I can see why people with lower critical thinking skills can get pilled pretty quickly just by casually watching Youtube's recommended videos. 

Were I a parent, I'd be more concerned with my kids accidentally watching a couple of mostly harmless things that are tangentially connected by the algorithm, and winding up redpilled incels or end of the world doomsday preppers.  

Anyway, I guess that's the price of unfiltered free content. 

Dan Millen

_____________________________________

?I was scrolling through channels when I stumbled onto it.  I saw Queen Latifah and just kept scrolling. Don't they know that people would rather watch it an hour later on YouTube with no commercials, anyway? Even boomers!  And in whatever order they want ignoring what they don't want Chrissakes!  But you covered that in your piece.  

But there was nobody present with the capacity to raise the dead.  And speaking of hagiography does anyone still wanna watch the Saints adoring the Saints? Welcoming them into heaven? The Elite adoring the Elite? Seriously?  (and all the accompanying close up very emotional 
"audiencefulloSTARS"camera shots)

I don't.  I didn't.

And what a lame lineup!  No apologies.  Just lame.  But I'm old and who cares what I think?  If any of them devoted 10,000 of Gladwell's hours to practice it was Renèe.  So good for her!  But  the only lineup that would please me would have to include British Rocker Saints and perhaps some others…..even born in the USA.  Heroes for longer than 15 minutes.    And I'd wait for youtube. F*ckabuncha commercials!  Maybe I'll check out The Bee Gees minute.  But right now I'm listening to Foxtrot.  A record I bought over 50 years ago.  And it's all I need at the moment.   (Hackett, thankfully, is keeping it alive) Am I digressing?  Am I the old paradigm? Still listening to actual albums on a turntable and not   Spotify playlists?  I want the whole experience.  Even on Spotify.   I know, there's a  vinyl "movement." Vinyl is "cool."  Great.  But it was what we had.  What we did. What we lived.  And there was no tech except mebbe stereo gear, home and car, and that was analog and all about good sound and how do you explain the ethos of those times to the newlyfounds? Vinyl wasn't cool.  It was everything.  And more.  It still is if you were there.  You can still plug in.  

 Anyway I'm allowed to digress.  I'm f*cking old. Colin Hay said in a song "I was invincible now I'm invisible" or something similar.  He wasn't singing about me but he was…. Nobody sees or hears me except cashiers when I'm tapping or swiping a credit card or my kids when they want money.  

Anyway Happy New Year to ya

Bill Nelson

_____________________________________

You're way too angry man. Take a walk outside. The sun is out. You'll
live longer and maybe be happier. Really.

Mitch Tenzer

_____________________________________

You are the last cool one of our generation.  Love your writing!
PS yes, I know it's "uncool" to say "cool"!!

Terry Savage
Nationally Syndicated Financial Columnist
www.TerrySavage.com

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You can't do it alone 🙅‍♀️ 🔑 💡

On choosing not to "go it alone," exploring what it means to be "satisfiable," when the grief feels too big, and elephants, elephants, elephants  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

​ Artwork by David Drbal. Hi Friends- Happy almost new year! I thought that I was going to have my upcoming "year of offerings" all mapped out to share with you today, but it turns out Mercury retrograde had different ideas! 🙃 What I do know is this: If you are making any resolutions related to working in a more life-affirming way in the new year, I am running a limited-time, $60-off coupon for my RESET course. Rejecting the draining ethos of grind culture, RESET teaches a nourishing, "heart-centered" approach to productivity. It is also my most popular self-guided course! If you're interested in the discount and/or learning more about what RESET offers, click here to opt into a sweet educational email and podcast series about the course. (And don't worry: You'll get the discount code in the first message, and you can opt out anytime. ; ) ​ ​If you're making any resolutions related to stepping into fuller self-expression, speaking your truth, or coming out from "behind-the-scenes," registration for my new Finding Your Voice course is open through January 2nd. I'll be guiding participants into a new spaciousness around self-expression with talks, guided energy meditations, journaling, rituals, and more. I love delving into the mystery of connecting with our gifts, and I have no doubt this is going to be a deep, transformative journey. You can learn more and book your spot here.​ Below, I share an essay inviting you to meditate on the idea of "not going it alone" in 2024, revisit one of my all-time favorite Hurry Slowly interviews with adrienne maree brown, and share a handful of links that meditate on being in community with other humans and our more-than-human kin. Sending you much love, Jocelyn Artwork by David Drbal. You can't do it alone. This past spring, I wrote in this newsletter about how, when I tuned into my higher self during meditation, I would regularly get the message: Remember who you are. A comforting piece of guidance to receive when so much of our cultural conditioning encourages us to focus on who we are not, what we haven't achieved, how we could always be better — as I discussed in a podcast a few weeks ago. More recently, when I tune in, I've been getting the message: You can't do it alone, anymore. To provide some context: I love doing things alone. I am a Capricorn rising born under the sign of American individualism, which means that I love being self-sufficient, and I am more-than-willing to work hard to achieve my goal. What's more, I'm a generalist, and I pride myself on having a wide range of skills that allow me to complete complex tasks — like, say, designing and building a website — without relying on outside help. I also love going fast, and doing things solo means I don't have to wait for anyone. You might be inclined to guess that I would prefer going slow, given the title of my podcast, but it turns out "hurry slowly" is a message that I need to hear as much as anyone. (You teach what you need to learn as they say.) To be clear: I'm not saying that the way of operating in the world that I have just described is particularly good or desirable. There are aspects of it that I am fond of, and aspects that are quite problematic — that I am actively re-examining and/or shedding. I'm simply sharing this little bit of backstory to illustrate how focused on individualism and self-sufficiency I have been for most of my life. So when I get the message, "you can't do it alone, anymore," it's butting up against some deeply embedded mental and emotional scaffolding that I have erected about how I show up in the world. The other day, a good friend and I were talking about this idea of "going it alone" in terms of healing. She was describing how she had long believed that if she did all the things — went to therapy, did yoga, worked on her mental patterns, etc — she could heal herself on her own. And how she was now unwinding from that belief. We agreed that the true practice ground of healing only arrives in connection, in relationship, in community. It's nice to fantasize about being in this individualistic bubble and having 100% control over your healing process, but that's not the way it works. Particularly because all of the wounds that we are trying to heal from — literally, all of them — come from being in relationship. When I first started working with plant medicine in 2014, it felt very important to me to do it in a 1-1 setting — to not be a part of a group. At that time, and for many years after, I had negative ideas about what might happen if I did healing work in a group setting. My most primary belief was that other people's energy would interfere with my own healing experience. It wasn't until earlier this year that I had what felt like the "right" opportunity to do healing work in a group setting. What I found, much to my surprise, was that a key part of the healing I needed to do could only be done in community — because there were deep personal and ancestral patterns about how I showed up in community that needed to be addressed. So I was in this very, individualistic, Western mindset like, Oh, I'm going to keep my healing to myself. I'll just be doing it over here in this neat, tidy, controlled way and then I'll come back into community and I'll be good. But because all of our loves and our hurts and our challenges unfold in relationship, it doesn't really work that way. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are all connected, and that means we are all connected in our healing as well. I thought that being in community would interfere with my healing process, but it was actually the missing ingredient in the process. You can't do it alone, anymore. I recorded a podcast a few months ago that was about unravelling my own limiting beliefs around making things hard. And I think part of how I, and probably many of us, make things hard for ourselves is by "going it alone" when we don't need to. Or by thinking that going it alone is superior to accepting help. Our individualism runs so deep. As I continue this unravelling, my focus for 2024 is about taking things that were previously hard and learning how to do them with joy. And my vision for how I want to do that is in community — with you all. So that we can all learn how to invite in more joy and lightness together. : ) So stay tuned… I have a new idea percolating for a brand-new, 6-month-long creative incubator that creates a joyous, fun, and generative space for birthing big creative projects, career reinventions, and new business incarnations into the world — together! I'm looking forward to sharing more details with you in early 2024 as the pieces fall into place. In the meantime... As you reflect on the year ahead, I would like to invite you to think about where you might be holding energy or limiting beliefs around the necessity of "going it alone." Are there ways that you could open up to more community and support in 2024? Who are the allies you can call upon? What are the ways you can enlist more help and lighten your load? Where could inviting others into your process create more joy? ✨ Share this newsletter ​ Artwork by David Drbal. LINK ABOUT IT ​Are you in touch with what it is to have enough? For end-of-year reflection, I'm resurfacing one of my all-time favorite Hurry Slowly interviews with writer and activist adrienne maree brown about her book Pleasure Activism: "So for me, I was like, I want to get a felt sense of it, what does it mean to be satisfiable? I'll ask people, When was the last time you were satisfied? Can you imagine being satisfied? What are the things that satisfy you in a given day? How do you know that you have done enough in a given day? Do you understand that you don't have to produce anything to deserve satisfaction?" ​Do elephants have souls? I have continued to think about this wondrous, awe-inspiring, and heart-breaking longread about elephants and how they communicate and commune and mourn since I read it years ago. So good! ​The futurist vision of actor and and filmmaker Brit Marling. I enjoyed this conversation on the Talk Easy podcast with Brit Marling, who you may know from The OA or A Murder at the End of the World. I particularly liked her perspective on the idea of "choral authorship" and creating as a community. ​The grief of the world feels too big to hold alone. I was thinking about this essay by Lisa Olivera about "going it alone" in grief as I was writing this week's newsletter: "I can't help but wonder what would be different if none of us were tasked with navigating this grief, these questions, or this witnessing alone." ​Basic goodness and awe, a conversation with Dacher Keltner and Tara Brach. A lovely conversation about finding wonder, love, creativity and beauty in our daily lives, and how awe is a central part of the human (and more-than-human) experience. As with the elephants article above, this conversation, too, touches on the contemplative and awe-some nature of animals. ​Orienting to your destiny through stone medicine healing. It won't be for everyone, but I very much enjoyed this conversation about how crystals are the "bones of the earth" and, as such, can offer very deep healing. Of particular note, is Sarah Thomas' explanation around the 8-minute mark of how the term "woo-woo" comes from the Chinese term "wu," and what it originally meant. ​ Offerings: How you can work with me ​ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ​ Registration for Finding Your Voice closes in just a few days — on January 2nd! This four-week course will help you build the trust and self-confidence you need to step fully into your voice and let your unique ideas and offerings flow freely. If you are being called to more expansive expression in 2024, this course is for you! Learn more and register here. ​ Save $60 off registration for RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday. If you're dealing with burnout or just coming into awareness that the way you are working is not sustainable, RESET is the reboot you need. It will show you how to let go of the soul-sucking productivity mindset of grind culture and move into what I call a "heart-centered approach to productivity." Click here to opt into an educational newsletter and podcast series about the course and get the discount code. ​ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ​ SHOUT-OUTS:​ ​ ​The illustrations are from: David Drbal, who is based in Prague in the Czech Republic. Link ideas from: Roxane Gay and Sebene Selassie. ​ ​You can support me & my work by: Participating in one of the many offerings listed above! : ) ​ Subscribe to this newsletter Hi, I'm Jocelyn, the human behind this newsletter. I host the Hurry Slowly podcast, teach online courses, and practice energy work through the Light Heart Project. You can learn more about me at jkg.co. If you have a question, you can always feel free to hit reply. 🤓 Website: jkg.co​ ​Twitter/X: @jkglei​ Copyright © 2023 Hurry Slowly LLC, All rights reserved. Mailing Address: ​PO Box 832, Woodstock, NY 12498 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your profile or unsubscribe from this list.