Week 40 - Everyone wants to distract you 😲

Author

Yurii Lazaruk
November 23, 2025

In the beginning of the week I received a message from Netflix:

From the business perspective it might seem look like a bargain, because less than 10 bucks for unlimited access to hundreds of movies and series is perfect for someone who spends every evening and weekend in front of their laptop/computer/TV consuming content (and it’s totally good for 90% of people, no judgement).

But just today we’ve been to a bookstore with me wife and we were amazed of how many different things you can learn about if you want (even though it was a rather small bookstore), and I’m not even talking about playing with ChatGPT or speaking with other humans.

Even though all the knowledge on the world is on our fingertips, there are hundreds of businesses trying to steal our attention and time of life, and Netflix is just one example of those, so it’s always up to us to prioritize the long-term self-respect against some short-term never-ending pleasure 😏

And the craziest thing is that they are not paying us for our attention, we need to pay them, so it definitely doesn’t look like a fair play 😲

So, of course, my answer to it, “No, Netflix, not today, I’ve got family to spend quality time with and some amazing books to learn from.” 😎 

On another note, I’ve got another situation: when talking about working with one company around working together on growing the freelance market and them trying to use freelancermap, I’ve got an answer from one of people inside the company that they have no intention in growing such market, and there is an ultra-small chance of our collaboration.

However, I’ve already told here how a few podcast guests connected me with the right people, and one of those folks was a CEO of that same company, and after having a conversation with them, they’ve already connected me with four more people from the same company, and we’ve already started our collaboration - and that’s all in just 3 days!

So a huge lesson for me here is: It’s not about “no” you receive, it’s about talking to the right person.

Also, just a few weeks ago I’ve started a new weekly practice to connect at least 2 people I know if I see they might be beneficial to one another in any ways (not just randomly connecting them, but more kinda matchmaking thing), and the more I started connecting those people, the more I started paying attention to whom connect with whom, and my mind started to give me those ideas whom to introduce to whom and why.

It’s like when I had my first car, I always noticed same cars on the road, and it happens with any car I own, so same is here - the more I focus on what value can people get from each other, the more my brain make those connections in the background and give me ideas whom should I message and why.

The most important thing - I have to act right away - otherwise it’s easy to forget. And even if, for example, I’m not in front of a laptop and can’t message them right away, I will add the message I’d send them to the notes on my phone, and a reminder to send it.

So yeah, a lot of learnings this week, and I even started testing one more thing just today, so next week I’ll have some results, and definitely will share them next week, so stay tuned!

And here is a small video about why there is more than one way to be right 😏👇

Thoughts of the week:

  • You get a much better feedback when you ask for advice, not feedback. - Adam Galinsky, Nudge podcast

  • Insecurity turned people into credit holders, sharing credit seems to be linked with status. - Nudge podcast

  • Success demands that you show up every single day with no guarantees. The one who can tolerate the most uncertainty is the one who will eventually win. - Sahil Bloom’s newsletter

  • 1.  What do you offer? 2.  How will it make my life better?  3.  What do I need to do to buy it?” - Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller

  • By the time you have all the information to make an informed decision, the opportunity will be gone. - Alex Hormozi newsletter

  • “The most important challenge for business leaders is to define something simple and relevant their customers want and to become known for delivering on that promise.” - Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller

  • Your retention metric isn't customer lifetime value - it's seller lifetime value.

    1. List every person/business that could sell your product regularly.

    2. Rank them by potential monthly volume.

    3. Start recruiting the top 10 with exclusive deals they can't refuse. - Alex Hormozi’s newsletter

  • The freemium model assumes people can figure out your product without help. When that’s not true, you’re just burning marketing dollars on users who’ll never convert. - Indie Hackers newsletter

  • Create content answering every objection and use case. When prospects have specific questions, send them the relevant video instead of explaining it again. - Alex Hormozi’s newsletter

Song of the week:

Book and quotes of the week:

“Who is your customer? What is their problem? What is your plan to help them, and what will their life look like after you do?”

“James Taylor sings the same song over and over again because ultimately he’s a servant of the people. He’s a brilliant artist, but he’s also a professional, and professionals do what it takes to please their customers, pay the bills, and grow their brand.”

“You give away the “why”—as in why a potential customer would need to address or be aware of a certain issue—and sell the “how,” which is where you offer a tool or teach customers how to follow through step-by-step.”

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 1 person to give feedback about how I helped them

  • tell 1 person what I’m thankful to them for

  • 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

  • participate in a secret LI support group

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

Weekly actions:

  • transcribe one new episode of the Creator Spotlight and Personal IPO (bi-weekly) podcasts, learn something from them, and connect with guests on LinkedIn

  • transcribe two new DOAC videos, learn one thing from them, and make 1% posts in the DOAC community

  • connect 2 people who I believe need to be connected.

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! 👋