It’s not about what happens; it’s about how we react to it.

When I was younger everything at work was important, big, urgent. Two weeks ago I got some bad news. I had nothing I could do about it, only listen, understand, and decide how to react.

My reaction was, if it already happened, what can I do to fix it, how long would it take, and who might be able to help me?

Something happens. It’s about how we react that matters. And it’s a constant thing I need to remind myself.

In today’s Storyletter:
• It takes two to focus
• My pilot episode is up
• Fun stuff: weekend music and trailers

Key learning

It Takes Two to Focus

There is always something to do, sometimes too much. Day-to-day marketing meets sales demands or product-led growth over brand building. With so many things on the list, we tend to focus on what feels urgent.

And when things are going well, we get so excited that we try to bite off more than we can chew. A project becomes a million small tasks until we lose sight of the plan. I see this in every project I work on.

We either operate in panic mode, the “nobody really cares” mode, or the “we are growing like crazy and it’s all immediate” mode.

Working with one client who told me they needed to get their marketing going, we made a list, and they loved it. But instead of knocking things off one by one, they tried five big things at once. The result? They panicked, slowed down, and almost stopped all efforts.

Another client came in with a long list that included marketing, sales, website, messaging, PR, and events. Guess what? They kept focusing on the same things and repeating the same process.

Success happens when we can stay excited over a long period of time, when we can keep pushing the problem one level higher.

That’s why I implemented the “two to focus” concept with my clients. We improve two things in whatever we do, and we work on the current step and the next one in parallel.

An example I love using is newsletters. We improve two small things in each newsletter. When a client doubled their number of clicks, we immediately knew the next step in the funnel needed fixing. We launched the updated newsletter while already identifying one step users might follow next. This became step two, and within that, we fixed one thing.

Like a dance, we keep improving and pushing the next step. Once it’s added, we can measure, so we can improve again. It’s that simple.

Here’s how you can try it:

1.     Look at your customer journey or weekly newsletter (I highly suggest you have a weekly one).

2. Choose one step and improve one or two things.

3. Choose the next step in that journey and improve one thing.

4. Repeat every week.

If you need any help, please let me know.

And for my clients? We double clicks, leads, and revenue. We use this system to outperform any old habits the brand had, usually by helping the CEO understand that we can sell more.

Building in public

Welcome to the next step, enjoy the show.

Starting is always hard, and I love starting things. It’s the habit I struggle with. Not sure why running stuck with me for so long, but now that I’m injured, I need a new focus.

Here is the first show, the pilot episode. My rants, my thoughts, but hey, it’s a great start.

I want to keep going, and while thinking about the next episode, I started thinking about habits. The best habits were formed because I did them for myself, just like this newsletter that goes out every Saturday because I enjoy it.

About two months ago, I decided to start writing these newsletters midweek so I could free myself from writing over the weekend. What I noticed was that it wasn’t fun anymore. It became work, not a hobby. I love writing every Saturday morning, at a nice coffee place, listening to music. It’s my thing.

Which leads me to YouTube, or videos as my next “thing,” kind of like what I did in Thailand. Back then, I was able to post twice a week. It was hard work, but it was a great habit. What’s really interesting is that I find everything about video creation hard. Finding topics, recording, making it look and sound good. Don’t even get me started on editing and posting.

So this week was about getting the sound just right. Now it’s live, that’s a win. The next step will be to find an editor or an agency to help me.

Thought I’d give a quick client update. I’m hard at work scaling my consultancy portfolio while also working on a new website for myself. The plan is to open two or three more slots for medium or large brands. If you know anyone looking to scale faster, please connect me.

Writing is the core of my work, and I’m happy to say I’ve been pulled back into it, and I love it. This week has been all about client content, some book notes, and seeing the count pass 10,000 words; it’s just pure joy.

Write more, my friends. It’s liberating.

Just for Fun

3 CLicks for fun

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to some soul funk.
Listen here

🎬 From Raw to Family Man
A new documentary about Eddie Murphy.
Watch here

🍿 When AI Becomes the Police – French Movie
A futuristic look at law enforcement using AI.
Watch here

Resources

📺 How to win the SEO game and AI search in 2025 - Full episode here

💡 The Business Storytelling Guide - A complete guide on how to implement storytelling to improve your business quickly. Available here 

📕 My Amazon best-selling book F*ck The Slides - How to Create a Winning Pitch. Available here: Kindle/Print/Audio

📺 My YOUTUBE Channel: Interviews, tips and some fun content Available here