Each week, on Sunday, I spend time planning for the week ahead.

As creatives and creators, we’ve always got a lot on the go, and as I continue to engage in these planning sessions, I’ve become even more present to the fact that it’s best to be on top of everything that’s coming up in your week.

Here’s what I went over this week and what came out of it.

Minutes

I call this “minutes,” but it’s just a list of items covered during the planning session. …

Hey, creative and/or creator! How was your week?

Here’s what I got up to:

David Andrew Wiebe

I write to inspire creatives and creators just like you. And I’m always open to suggestions.

Here are the posts that went live this week:

• #StrategySunday — January 10, 2021
• You Are in the Business of Marketing
• Always be Watching for What Could Benefit Others
• The Myth of the 8-Hour Workday
• How to Write a Non-Fiction Book
• Choose Your Association Wisely

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Music Entrepreneur HQ

I have been giving modern music makers the tools and mental models they need to create the life they love through music since 2009. …

In life, there are few influences as dominant as your association.

We could look at your top five friends and guess correctly that you are about the average of all of them.

We could look at your top five friends and guess correctly that you are about the average of all of them. (Click To Tweet)

You make about the same amount of money as them. And your attitudes towards politics, marriage, spirituality, and other important life matters are also the average of those around you.

Maybe you aren’t unlimited. But you also don’t know just how far you can go unless you’re surrounding yourself with people who consistently challenge you to be more. …

Per Meg Dowell, 81% of people want to write a book someday.

But writing a book requires persistence and tenacity. You must have the dogged determination to keep going, even when you don’t feel like editing 300 pages of content you just finished writing.

And even if you do finish a manuscript, there’s no guarantee that it will be anything revolutionary. Putting the finishing touches on your manuscript isn’t the end, either — then comes cover design, book description, author bio, getting reviews, marketing, and more.

There are many ways to write a book. …

Unless we’re working at least eight hours per day, many of us don’t even feel entitled to our monthly paycheck.

Yet, I know more than a few writers and entrepreneurs who’ve improved their income and lifestyle by drastically reducing their work hours (I have experimented with this myself with some success).

So, how does that work? Why would you want to deviate from the proven standard? Isn’t eight hours the ideal amount of time to work in a day?

Here are some thoughts worth considering.

Rethinking the Hustle

The 12- to 16-hour hustle has been held as the golden standard by the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk or Grant Cardone. You can even find Entrepreneur and Forbes articles that in essence say while you can’t control much else, you can control your work ethic, and working 80 hours per week will virtually guarantees your eventual success. …

Whenever I’m reading a book or listening to a podcast, I’m not just thinking about what’s in it for me. I’m thinking about what’s in it for my social circle too. Because most of them are creatives and creators, and they’re often looking for solutions to their pressing concerns, just as I am.

I may read a book and think to myself, “I think ABC ought to read this.”

Or I may listen to a podcast and think to myself, “XYZ would really benefit from this!”

This may seem somewhat unusual but it’s classic networking advice. After meeting someone, following up with an article or resource that would be of interest to them can build rapport. …

“I’m bored of it because I’ve been doing it for so long now — when think about having to work on another client’s skin, I get anxious” she said.

Many creatives and creators dream of one day being able to pursue their passion full-time, asking themselves what that might look like.

And this is answered by comments like the above. At some point, passion becomes work. Ironically, we got into our chosen field because we thought if we just did something we loved, we’d never work another day in our life.

The Height of the Glass Ceiling

As I thought about what she said, I turned to her and…

It’s time for another #StrategySunday session.

Each week, I spend time planning for my week on a Sunday. Right now, it’s a decision I don’t make. In the future, it could change, but it has been working for me for over a month at this point.

Here’s what my planning session looked like today (you’ll notice it looks a little different than last week’s, but I share more about that at the end).

Minutes

I call this “minutes,” but it’s just a list of items covered during the planning session. …