It's Time I Finally Did The Hard Thing

Building a brand without losing your spirit.

When I first decided to create The Launchpad, the only way I had to promote it was through my Substack, which is what you’re reading right now.

I was surprised by how well my daily newsletter converted into sales, because the purpose of this Substack has never been to directly sell products or services. It’s always acted as a brand builder and a way for me to promote my ideas, and then through the emotional connection I create with my readers, I have indirectly monetized or have made steps to grow my companies.

But I’m not proud to say that I feel into the trap. I saw the success I was having with my newsletter and I got caught up in the short term thinking.

I saw the sales come in and thought, “oh shit, I’ve been sitting on a little gold mine and didn’t even know it.”

But everything is a tradeoff. There’s no free lunch.

In exchange for the extra $100k I’ve made promoting The Launchpad, I sacrificed the freedom to create.

Lately, my daily blog hasn’t even been that enjoyable. Every morning, when I sit down to write, I think, “what can I write that will make some sales today?”

That’s the exact opposite of why I do this. I should be thinking, “what can I create today that will improve the world?”

The Two Are Not Mutually Exclusive

Of course, there’s room for both. I love to write about business and share what I’ve learned. But I also love to write about my family, about going on hikes, about fitness, and about the wild journey that is being human.

I went on the most beautiful hike this weekend with my family, and instead of sharing that experience, I wrote a bullshit piece about how I’m going to 10X my business again.

As soon as I published yesterday’s article, I knew I had veered too far off track.

(P.S. here’s a picture of the hike)

So, What Am I Going To Do About It?

Writing and self awareness is great, but nothing matter if I don’t change my behavior.

1. I’m going to stop thinking so much: My Substack thrives when I share my authentic self. I know this because so many people have told me they appreciate the realness and honesty in my writing. Why would I sacrifice the most valuable part of this newsletter?

You can even see the exact moment I started to turn my Substack into a marketing channel, as opposed to a fun writing platform.

2. I’m going to turn Agency Clarity into a real brand: This way, I can keep building a company that excites me, without losing what matters most.

3. I’m going to stop directly selling The Launchpad: To be clear, I totally plan on sharing my journey in building the company, linking out to the product, and promoting the brand. The difference is intention. Recently, my intention in writing has been to make sales. I need to shift my intention back to being my authentic self.

4. I’m getting back to being me: This means writing about Muay Thai, books I’ve read, movies I’ve watched. It means sharing cool articles about science, art, or history. It means expressing myself freely, without worrying about the monetary benefit.

The Right Thing Is Always The Hard Thing

The funniest part is I can already see the future. Now that I’ve made the emotional commitment to build Agency Clarity the right way (which is another way of saying the hard way), I already know the brand will explode as a result.

Life is funny like that. It takes what it takes to learn what you need to learn. But what matters most is actually changing your behavior. Most people don’t. They keep doing the same things, afraid of change and afraid of losing what they have.

The reason for this is because doing the right thing is almost always the hard thing. It would be a lot easier for me to keep whoring out my personal writing as a means to make a few extra bucks. But if I want what’s best for everyone (my customers included) then I need to do the hard work and the emotional labor of starting from scratch and doing this right.

I’m not afraid of losing what I have in exchange for something better. I’ve gone through this rebirthing process many times.

I can already see the outcome.