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Cliche and misleading advice I often see on life, business, and writing
3 min readMay 24, 2023
- Go-all-in. Having Plan B is bad because you’re allowing for the possibility of failure. Watch this video by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I disagree. I failed a few times and think you should have plan B. You should assume failure. In fact, in some circumstances, your Plan B should be your most dominant plan while you’re working on Plan A. And this whole Plan A/Plan B/go-all-in is oversimplifying things anyway. Every set of circumstances is different. Arnold’s mindset can work in some situations, but not others.
- Don’t give up. Similar. Sometimes persevering over an obsession is like not sealing your wound and stopping the bleeding. Of course, behind many successes, there is a story of perseverance. However, behind many failures, there is a story of not stopping soon enough.
- Set goals. Goals are overrated. I write a lot about running. I improved dramatically because of my consistency. I achieved marathon results I couldn’t imagine a few years ago or when I was much younger. It was all because of consistency. Great results are outcomes of consistency and sticking to a process, not goal setting. In fact, goal setting can be a distraction and even a barrier.
- Have a niche. To each his own. You can have a niche, or you can be very versatile in your content creation. Both approaches can work.
- Listen to your readers. Absolutely not. Build it they will come. I greatly respect my readers, but I would never create to please someone…
