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Hi 👋🏻 it's Michael. Welcome to this week's useletter.
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It's the newsletter that's useful. Focussing on your future not my past.
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A good friend of mine, who’s an expert in brand strategy amongst other things, suggested I evaluate and research unmeasured’s market fit.
She had questions. For me, but mostly for the architecture profession.
Questions testing the market fit of my product. They were good questions.
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For some reason they threw into question my whole approach to what I was doing, in a way I still don’t really understand. It became a crisis of confidence.
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Entirely inexplicable to me at the time,
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Whenever we test, evaluate and put our work into the world there’s fear. And if there isn’t, maybe you’re not going far enough.
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There’s fear of failure. And fear of starting all over again. Again.
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(That second ‘Again’, has been the big fear for me.)
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But the only way out is through.
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Dancing with the fear. 💃🏻
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I was in what Seth Godin describes as The Dip. And it might be useful to understand what The Dip is, as well as how to get out of it. I’m going to write about what I’ve done, but also some ways to think about it that might work for you.
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PS: I'm looking for help and advice about unmeasured's market fit. If you're up for it and got time to jump on Zoom for 45-60 minutes, please drop me a line. I'll send details.
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PPS: You want to save time? or get better at saying no? I got you too. Details below.
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The Dip
The Dip is that point in a project, or work on a goal, when shit get’s real. You’ve reached a plateau, a point where the work feels hard, or you might feel stuck. If it’s work worth doing, it’s likely there’ll be a Dip. It might be a big project such as establishing an architecture practice and the enquiries have slowed after the initial burst of work. It might be a new exercise regime and your initial motivation and enthusiasm is waning. All you know is that giving up feels like a good option right now.
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To quit or not
To be clear, quitting is a real option. But ask first, is this a cul-de-sac with no place to go, or is it just hard? If it’s a cul-de-sac quit early. If it’s not - and you’ll have to test it to find out if it is - you’ll need to push through and find a way out of The Dip.
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Lot’s of people quit at this point, regardless of whether it's a cul-de-sac or not.
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And that’s to your benefit. If this is worth doing. If others quit and you don’t. You’ll be way ahead of them.
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How to get out of The Dip
You need to embrace The Dip. You should know it’s coming, it’s a worthwhile project after all, so it’s inevitable. Remind yourself of that. It’s OK to be in The Dip, in fact it's a good indicator this is an important goal or project.
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Think of all the reasons you’re doing this project in the first place. They motivated you at the start, they can motivate you now.
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Remind yourself, The Dip separates substantial achievements from the humdrum. It’s not a cul-de-sac but a test of your persistence and creativity. Celebrate your persistence. It’s a necessary path to success.
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Addressing the fear
Fear is a strong motivator, for good and bad. In my case it had me stuck. So I sat down and did Tim Ferriss’s Fear Setting exercise. In doing so the fears seldom seem so great on the page as in the mind. It also helps me to plan a way through the stuck, and usually throws up some good ideas that wouldn’t have come to me if I hadn’t gone through it. It not only becomes a map out, but it’s regularly a way to better.
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Before you start
We might start with the end in mind, but we might also start knowing there’ll be a Dip.
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Write a letter to your future self, for when you hit the Dip, to help you through. I know, we all feel optimistic at the start. Thinking there’ll be no Dip, but there almost always is. We won’t think a letter is necessary. It will be.
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(That's a reminder to my future self.)
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PS: Whenever you’re ready,
there's 3 ways I can help.
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How to Save Time
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5 key strategies for finding more time in your practice day
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When speaking to countless architects about the challenges of practice, the singular and universal obstacle they all face is not having enough time.
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Saying No
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5 key concepts and strategies on saying no
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How many things have you said yes to in the last week or two and immediately regretted? Saying no is a skill. It requires emotional intelligence. And it can be learnt.
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Workshops to elevate your leadership
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Master a more creative model of leadership.
Build a more adaptable and efficient practice.
Unleash the collective energy, passion, and capabilities of your people
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Free 45 minute leadership clarity consultation
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recent useful blog posts...
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It might be time for the architecture profession’s leaders to starting learning form the ground up.
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There’s two main ways to stand out. Be different. or Be better. Copying is the route to unexceptional.
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Or…
do architects do too many of the wrong things?
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“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
Dale Carnegie
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