🎯 Work Smart Wednesday - October 25, 2023
Why I am changing these emails, why I am committing to reading LESS, and a businessy quote from Ernest Hemingway
Work Smart Wednesday
👋 Hey there!
Here is your weekly dose of Work Smart Wednesday
In these emails I will share with you 3 things to help you work smarter in 3 minutes or less. That leaves you with 10,077 more minutes to conquer your goals this week
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1. 💡 Why I am changing these emails
Since I began writing these emails I always make sure to read them when they go live just as though I was a subscriber, not the writer. I believe there are two main advantages to this - it helps me see my output with fresh eyes so I can better evaluate what is good and what needs work, and I get to be reminded of the lessons I share to stay sharp for my own (and my client’s) businesses. The second is particularly useful as I often ‘batch’ the writing of these emails, which saves time.
Recently, I started to find that the tone of my emails felt a little “preachy” to me. I also found that content seems to be expanding past my initial target of a 3 minute read and drifting away from the focus on being actionable.
I write this email for two main reasons:
To provide useful, actionable, advice in a bitesized chunk. I want you to actually implement the things I talk about, not just read about it and write it down as something to do “later”.
I want you to see the value I provide and get a feel for what it is like to work with me.
This email is relatively new and I am still finding the right tone and the right topics. I don’t believe I am a preachy coach or consultant, I aim to be pragmatic - realistic, data-driven, and action focused. In my view, this email hasn’t quite hit that mark just yet.
While my weekly open rate is steady at 60%+, which I am very happy with, I feel that my referral rate isn’t as high as predicted - it doesn’t get near my coaching referral rates. I believe this is due to the potential for quality improvements in this email to bring it up to the same standard as my core services.
I decided on making a change a few weeks ago but as I have been in Kazakhstan on holiday with my friends for the last 4 weeks I haven’t been able to make the adjustments to the email that I wanted, all emails have been on autopilot. However, now I am back and ready to make the updates.
So, what is going to change?
I am going to write these emails from a more personal perspective. I plan to write about my own experiences, and those of my clients, and to talk about what I see and understand to be the best practices. I will back this up with evidence, as always, but it will be more anecdotally driven. Expect me to switch from "how to" to “how I" and from "this is the best way" to "this is my favourite way" etc.
I am also considering reducing the number of points in the email and making it more action focused.
I currently have 2 information/action points + a quote in order to appeal to a broader audience, by including more I hope there is always something that is useful for you the reader. But as I often share with my clients, you don’t need a broad audience, you need an engaged audience.
As I mentioned earlier, I want you to implement the things I talk about. With my clients, we tend to focus on WOT - What One Thing can you do which will drive you forward most/make everything else easier/unnecessary. Some of my client’s jokingly refer to this a WWJD, What Would John Do. Potential blasphemy aside, I see them benefit from having such a clear question to help with decisions. Sometimes we queue tasks, but broadly we focus on one key thing at a time as it increases likelihood of successful implementation.
It doesn’t feel right to focus on one thing at a time with clients but to share two things at a time with you. I want you to implement and succeed, that is easier with focused effort.
I am considering to dropping to one action point, One Thing, you can do right now to improve your business in order to help you take real action. It might not always be applicable to everybody, but I would bet that the loss of breadth is more than accounted for by the extra value people will see by actually implementing the advice.
With all that in mind, what do you need to do?
A simple action point - let me know what you think right now. Not later, right now. This is a potential crossroads for Work Smart Wednesday, I would really appreciate your input. Work Smart Wednesday is made for you, help me make it better for you.
Do you prefer this more personal and first-person tone or how it was before?
Do you think I should stick to 3 points per email or reduce down to 1 focused point?
Reply to this email, answer the below poll, or leave a comment below.
2. 🛠️ Why I am committing to reading less
While reading Alex Hormozi’s new book “$100m leads”, an insight which has been bubbling away for a while, rattling around in my brain somewhere, came to the fore. The final trigger was a client proudly telling me they read 50+ business books per year, yet we were working together primarily on growth as they had made limited progress with their business on their own.
The insight?
Knowledge is useless without utility.
What is the point in knowing something if you cannot use it in some way? That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t learn things that you are currently unsure why or how they may be useful, or learning things that are tangentially useful (as utility can be provided through entertainment or sparking new questions).
How does this relate to Hormozi or my client? I believe most people read business books because they want to get better at business. But what is the point of ‘learning’ those business lessons if you never implement them? Or if you never truly contemplate how the knowledge can be used in other areas of your life?
How can you implement this insight?
By slowing down. I now firmly believe it is better to read one book and actually implement the knowledge (or ruminate on the questions it brings up!) rather than read 50 books for the sake of it.
I am now committing to read business books twice, once through to get an overview and then once through to work on the action points from each chapter before moving onto the next. I may end up reading half as many books as I do now, but I believe I will get at least double the value.
This is a new core belief for me, and as such it goes into my “strong opinions held loosely” category. I invite and encourage counter-arguments. Please do reply to this email or leave a comment below if you have a contrary opinion.
P.s. Hormozi’s $100m leads is a great read, I highly recommend it. He does sell the book, but a PDF version is available online for free through ‘disreputable’ sources. I have an unfounded suspicion that he seeded those free sources himself as he uses the book as a lead magnet, but I have reached out to him personally to ask whether I can share the free version of the book with you all. In the meantime, feel free to buy or find a copy - it is full of actionable insights.
3. 💡 Quote I'm pondering
“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”—Ernest Hemingway, "The Old Man and the Sea"
Click here to share this quote on Twitter
A great quote that I believe compliments the theme of taking action on the knowledge you have right now. Do not try to add knowledge for the sake of it or find solutions for future problems, focus on what you can do right now to address things in the present. There are plenty of things in the present to be addressed without worrying about the future.
Also, you may have noticed this email came at a different time to normal. I play modern board games at a local board game cafe every Wednesday, so this email is usually scheduled to be sent while I am there playing games with my friends (as it sends at the time that I believe works best for my audience which is spread across many countries). However, I wanted to make the change to the email immediately. Via SubStack I cannot schedule the email with less than 24 hours in advance, so I have sent it immediately after writing. Enjoy!
That's it! I can't wait to hear what you think. What did you find most useful? What do you want more or less of? Reply to this email now and let me know
Also, if you have anything interesting to share, I want to know about it😊
Have a great week,
John
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P.P.S. Thank you for trusting me with your time. If these emails ever turn into a burden, I encourage you to unsubscribe. I strive to provide real value and I am here to help you to make the most of your time
👋 Want to work together?
When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
🔍 Clarity Call - we will discuss your situation and create a step-by-step action plan together so you know exactly what you need to do next for maximum impact
👓 StartSmart - Achieve a 6 figure income within 6 months, whether you only have an idea or you have already started your business
🧘 Overload to Optimal - reduce your workweek to 20 hours or less within 90 days while running your 6-8 figure business
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