Week 29 - When it feels like not progressing at all 🤷‍♂️

Author

Yurii Lazaruk
September 07, 2025

This week, I’ve had like literally hundreds of conversations with HR experts about the freelance market in Poland, recorded two episodes of the upcoming podcast “The Independent Workforce”, and met dozens of community builders on LinkedIn because of the new tactics I’ve tried to meet more folks from the industry:

  • I check someone’s post with many likes and comments

  • check the 2nd connections contacts, and see if we have at least 20+ mutual connections

  • send them a connection request, describe my approach, and ask them what one challenge they’re dealing with in their professional journey.

By the way, a great surprise was hearing that many people already know me, listened to podcasts, heard me on some webinars, so those new connections were like just officially sealing the deal of our previous intersections in the online world 🤗

Despite all these conversations and upcoming speeches, webinars, and meetups next week and later this month, I had a deep-seated feeling of staying in one place. It felt like I was drowning in quicksand, and every other conversation got me deeper and deeper, and further from my goal.

On Saturday, I analyzed why I felt that way, and I also thought that when something good comes unexpectedly, I tend to take it for granted, forgetting all the steps, conversations, actions, and other small details that preceded those good things 😲

So it’s a reminder that not everything you do always feels like immediate progress, still, it’s always more like growing the roots that allow you to be stronger and grow faster in the future 💪

Continuing with small motivational videos, so here is another one 🤩😎

Thoughts of the week:

  • “People like you because of who you are, so find who you are.” - Creator Spotlight podcast

  • “I use this podcast as an excuse to hang out with you.” - A Bit Of Optimism podcast

  • “The universe conspires for people that are on a mission.” - Isaac French, Personal IPO podcast

  • “Give away free tools that solve real problems, then watch them become your best marketing channel.” - Indie Hackers newsletter

  • “People who think how horrible the world is usually escape ot pretty soon.” - Roman Yampolski, DOAC podcast

  • “If someone is showing you who they are, believe them from the first time.” - Alex Hormozi

Song of the week:

Book and quotes of the week:

“We have to give our partners space to engage with us on the issues we bring to them instead of narrowing their options to one response only: defend yourself.”

“The basic formula for a successful start to a fight: I feel x. The problem is y. I need z.”

“It’s not your job to improve your partner. That’s solely your partner’s job. Your job is to be the best version of yourself that you can be.”

Tools that I use with referrals:

  • Descript - for anything around podcasting and video editing

  • Manus - for building complex systems and projects

  • Beehiiv - for a newsletter (that’s what you receive 😅)

  • Text Blaze - to access message templates with shortcuts (like “/ty”)

  • Exali - promo “FROMYURII” - indemnity insurance for independent experts in Europe

Daily actions:

  • invite 5 people to give feedback about how I helped them

  • invite 5 people to check my website and ask them for advice

  • participate in a secret LI support group

  • read a self-development book/listen to a professional podcast for 15 minutes

  • make a valuable post/comment on LinkedIn

  • tag 30 people in my database

  • work 30 minutes solely on my business 😎

Weekly actions:

  • transcribe one new episode of the Creator Spotlight podcast and learn something from it

  • transcribe one new DOAC video and learn one thing from it

If you have any thoughts, ideas, or questions, please 👇

And if you’d like to walk The Road To $1M+ Freelance Business with me 👇

See you next week! 👋