The people have spoken. Over 60% of subscribers who responded to the last survey said they want to improve their writing and pitching skills. In my book, I claim that writing isn’t a soft skill—it’s a must-skill. So let’s get to work.

I’ll start adding practical tips on writing, pitching, and storytelling. I’m trying to figure out the best way to deliver this information to you—short topics here, a YouTube playlist, or maybe an email sequence? I’d love to hear your thoughts and needs.

In today’s storyletter:

• Heal your ADHD

• Tech stack – Design it

• What do you think? (poll)

• Building in public

• From the web
  

  Let’s go!
  
  

THOUGHTS

You deserve your time back

They lied to us, told us it’s good for us, got us addicted, and now they say we’re all sick—and it’s okay, it’s not our fault. I agree, it’s their fault. But it’s up to us to get better.

Trust me when I say, don’t trust me. I’m a marketer, not a doctor. But I think a lot of people I’ve met who claim they suffer from ADHD don’t really suffer from it—or not in the clinical sense.
They suffer from what I call the WhatsApp Syndrome. A sensory overload caused by giving everyone and everything the right of way, priority over your time. Too much, too fast, coming at us, killing our ability to focus, to decide. We’re always putting out fires or hoping the next thing is the best option, taking away our ability to decide or control the pace of our lives.

And that isn’t your fault because you can’t help yourself. They made you like this.
They got you, me, all of us addicted to giving away our time so they could monetize it at our expense. They’ll tell us it’s good—that we’re always connected, that all the information is at our fingertips. But we need less. This sensory overload is impacting everything we do.

We’re constantly checking our phones, half-listening to conversations, unable to decide because maybe there’s a better option. This sensory overload is causing stress, making us feel we’re not good enough, not making progress, not finding our passion, not making enough money.

And suddenly, everyone’s got an issue with it, and we call it ADHD. And now, they can sell us pills and courses.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are people with ADHD—my ex had a severe case, and I know how it feels to live with someone who suffers from it.

But we can’t keep blaming every inability to deal with reality on this one thing. We need to own it, understand we’ve been fed this matrix concept, and wake up. Knowing this, writing this—it’s all great. But how am I gonna change it?

It’s hard to put the phone aside, to take fewer calls, to have fewer options, to not give up after two minutes. I’m going to try to kick the habit, to change it from an addiction to tools that can improve my life. Like any addict, it’s day one. I know I’ll fall off the wagon, but let’s try.

The things I’m telling myself:

• I need to go from constant overload to focusing. I need to struggle with focusing on not checking things, and hopefully, I’ll get to a clear mind—even if it’s just one or two hours a day.

• Identify my good hours: writing (morning), client calls (after lunch), and editing (evenings or late at night).

External stuff:

Your phone – Silent and aside. Nothing is that important. You can’t live your whole life on standby for one life emergency that might happen. 99% of the time, nothing is urgent except in the way you think. You believe you might be needed.

Your tabs – Close tabs. Lose notifications on social media and WhatsApp. This helped me use my computer more intentionally.

Wi-Fi – Pick tasks like reading or journaling. Disconnect from Wi-Fi and set a timer. If it’s something for work, download what you need. Even if it’s just 20 minutes, it’s been a great change for me. (I’m writing this Medium blog like that.)

Your calendar – Work within your constraints. You’ll get more done, be more present in the moment, and enjoy it all—like quitting cigarettes and realizing flavors are better. It’s a choice. Block time for work, hobbies, and family.
Mornings are for the important things. Everything else comes after lunch.

Prioritize your time.

Put yourself in the driver’s seat. Own it. Understand it. Fix it.
I’m going to try.

What do you think? Will you give it a shot?

P.S.
A funny thing I’m learning on this trip—or maybe relearning—is that freedom comes from constraints. Freedom comes from having less.

Tech Stack

Platforms that can save you time

In short – Leonardo, I love you
What does it do?
AI image creation – my designer best friend.

Why is it interesting?
Over the past year or so, I’ve been using Leonardo as my go-to image designer, helping me bring my design language more into the anime style. It’s allowed me to save time and money, but more than that, it has helped me become self-sufficient with most design needs.

Cool features
Even the free version is fantastic, offering enough daily tokens to last me through the day. You can enhance and improve on top of an existing design (premium feature) and play around with endless tools to craft your desired images. You can create realistic visuals, characters, and even revisit previous designs. The best part? Each request generates four style options as a starting point.

Lacking
If you have something very specific in mind, the prompts need to be super precise. Even a slight change in the order of words can produce very different results. Like most AI tools, patience is key.

Verdict
While I’m also using ChatGPT and Perplexity Premium, I’m really enjoying Leonardo’s style and vibe. It’s my AI designer of choice so far.

Let me know what you think!

Building in public

It feels like it’s been years in the making, but it’s only been a few weeks.
Time is a strange creature, playing mind tricks on us. This week, I’ve had three sessions: one online and two in person. It feels like I’ve been building in public for years, but in reality, I’ve barely even begun to create anything. Here are some quick updates:

YouTube

While it ain’t easy for me and is completely out of my expertise and comfort zone, two new videos went live this week. The latest video, Should I Start a Newsletter?, should be a must-watch for everyone thinking about writing or improving their marketing this year. The key takeaway (from a million mistakes) goes back to time management. Make sure you schedule time for ideation, creation, refining, and publishing. For me, the best hours are in the afternoon, as my mornings are focused on book writing.

The Business Catcher

Writing a book in public isn’t as easy as I thought, but it does push me to get more done. By Monday, I hope to have ‘the big picture’ chapter ready. This chapter explains the concept of the book—how we’re all approaching branding the wrong way, proving why, and showing how to fix it. Once it’s done, I plan to share the draft with a few friends and send it to a couple of publishing companies around the world.

Numbers

It’s great to see numbers going up across the board: 25 new subscribers on YouTube, steady growth on LinkedIn and Medium, and almost 500 people here (share this newsletter with a friend?). All while maintaining a solid open rate.

This newsletter was never meant to scale to tens of thousands, but it will keep evolving as I learn more about creating content at scale and understanding your needs.

A Quick Question for You

One thing I’d love to hear from you: would you be interested in short YouTube playlists on specific topics like writing a newsletter or creating daily content on LinkedIn? If that sounds useful, feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts. Still just an idea, but it could be a great resource to create and share.

Keep replying, be epic, and let me know what you think. As always, here’s my usual spreadsheet.

My top three priorities are always available. Click here for my updates file

My YouTube channel. Subscribe and support.

Just for Fun

Take a break and enjoy these links

Music video: 64 Phones, 64 Videos – by OK Go
Watch here.

A Trailer: History Repeating
A story with no words. Animation that leaves you thinking during and long after.
Watch here.

News: Could MrBeast Buy TikTok?
Speculation rises as the ban looms, and MrBeast, among others, is rumored to be eyeing TikTok ownership.
Read more.

Wear It: Cozy Up This Winter
Not sure how much writing you’ll get done in this, but it’s perfect for binge-watching great stories on a cold day.
Check it out.