Week 42 - Pivot, pivot, pivot! 🚨

Sometimes you’re doing something for a long period of time, and you might have some voice inside you telling you that something is wrong, something is not right, like spidey senses warning you to be aware and prepared for some danger.

That’s exactly what I’ve got this week, because, man, be honest, wtf $1M Freelance Business are you talking about?

Yes, I’m doing a lot of things, and I care about making a ton of money because that’s exactly what gives me the freedom to do whatever I want and deeply care about, but why wouldn’t I switch the table and do what I want and deeply care about, and while doing that, make a ton of money? 🤑😏

As I told here, I’m writing a book, but it was 5 weeks ago, and I haven’t made a single step closer to a final result - a finished book 😲😅

Also, I’ve asked some of the readers of this newsletter about what value they get out of it for themselves and how it influences their life, and the answers were mostly that people are connected with me and curious about what’s happening in my life (which, of course, warms my heart, and thank you so much for being here 🤗).

Still, it’s not helpful for you 🤷‍♂️

So, I’ve asked myself, “What am I doing best?”

And the answer is pretty simple: making friends, empowering and inspiring people, and connecting them!

That’s exactly why I decided to pivot this newsletter and turn it into a guide on frienworking and building strong human relationships that will improve your life and make it so much happier and even longer (as the Harvard Study of Adult Development tells us).

That’s something people tell me I’m good at (even though I still find it hard to believe 😅), and why the fuck would I talk about building a million-dollar business if I’ve never done it yet, instead of sharing real experience about something that I’ve made over a 1000 times, and still practicing every day? 😲

So from now on, I’ll share my reflections on how to build meaningful human connections, and specifically:

• what I’ve done during the week,

• how I’ve done it

• what I’ve learned from personal experience

• what I’ve learned from conversations with other people

• and what I’ve learned from books and podcasts.

And, of course, I’ll still be sharing things I’ve learned about building a business because I’m still a freelance consultant and creator, and I’m still on my way to build the $1M+ business! 😎

And to the point of the new Friendworking newsletter, here is the message I received from a person I recently met for the first time in my life, a little later after we’ve met:

So what did I do? Here is a little bit of a backstory:

I met this person through their profile on freelancermap, and after finding them on LinkedIn, I even discovered that we’re living in the same city.

Since I’m deeply passionate about helping freelancers to thrive, I’ve just said that if there is any way I can help, please, ask me right away. That’s it, I didn’t go through a problem discovery by asking hundreds of questions, or hosting a self-made therapy session, I've only permitted them to ask me questions, and they asked (and trust me, a very-very small number of people really do that😲)!

The first question was about whether they should buy a subscription to a platform, and I told them extremely honestly that they have to search for suitable projects first, and if they see there are some, then yes because it’ll make it easier to apply for those projects and reach out to hiring people.

Next, they asked me about how to legally open a freelance entity, and, since I’m not a lawyer, I gave them information about the governmental organization that deals with such questions, and shared some insights on how they should structure a conversation to get the best results from them, and not leave that place unless they have all the needed information.

Afterwards, I asked them whether they knew about an amazing bi-weekly in-person event that everyone can join absolutely free to get some knowledge from speakers, and also make some friendworking.

So, finally, we met there, had a little conversation at the beginning of the event, mostly about how it works, and also connected them with a few folks I already knew while they were passing near us. And at the end of the event, I also shared my personal approach of having a specific goal to meet 2-3 people during the event, and how I prepared for that while going through the list of potential participants every time before the event.

tl;dr:

• I messaged this person and permitted them to ask me questions.

• When they asked me, I was super honest about what I know and what I don’t, and shared with them all the information I knew that might be helpful for them.

• I went an extra vulnerable mile inviting this person to an event that I personally like, and kinda took the responsibility of whether they would like it, too (but, in reality, I didn’t care about what they would think because I know how immense value it brings to me, and I was just genuinely sharing what works for me).

• Finally, I was very happy to make a new connection and help this person as much as I can, and give value first without any expectations of what I could get in return.

So yeah, the whole experience felt like nothing special, and still, it was special to someone else, which leads to another finding I learned some time ago from Oliver during the Humans of Business podcast conversation:

“Your 80% is already someone’s 150%”,

meaning that you don’t have to worry about what others will think of your experience, just be vulnerable and share it with them 😉

On another note, I’ve decided to turn the podcasting I’m doing into the PaaS solution - Podcast As A Service - and propose it to leaders and companies that want to build their brand through stories and valuable experience, so I’m currently discovering this niche, and will share my findings very soon!

💡 What influenced me this week 💡

Thoughts of the week:

• “Not everything that is faced can’t be changed; but nothing can be changed until it’s faced.” - James Baldwin, The Economist newsletter

• “Give first, give something valuable, and customers will return the favor, often with asymmetric benefits.” - Nudge podcast

• “You need to find your unfair advantage paired with what the market needs.” - Codie Sanchez, StoryBrand podcast

• “Adults don't ask friends to help them move. Save a friendship, hire a mover.” - Codie Sanchez, StoryBrand podcast

• “When you look at people who are really successful for a long period of time, the thing that they have in common is that they created a massive library of content in a niche for 10-20 years. And every new platform is just an opportunity to take your library and put it out there.” - Nicolas Cole, Creator Spotlight podcast

• “The sum of consistent, ordinary performances adds up to something extraordinary.” - Sahil Bloom’s newsletter

• “Money is a lagging indicator of value created, impact, and service. The people who do the best financially are usually the ones who obsess over solving real problems, creating real impact, or genuinely helping others.” - Sahil Bloom’s newsletter

• “Creators are ‘full-stack solopreneurs’ — they've built high-leverage lifestyle businesses, but they still have a job.” - Nicolas Cole, Creator Spotlight podcast

Song of the week:

Book and quotes of the week:

The Good Life by Robert Waldinger (by the way, I’ve invited Robert to a podcast, so let’s see what he’ll answer 😁)

• “Scientific studies have told us again and again: human beings need nutrition, we need exercise, we need purpose, and we need each other.”

• “It’s not just that we are seeking solitude; it’s that we want to avoid the potential mess of connecting with others.”

• “We are resilient, industrious, and creative creatures who can survive incredible hardship, laugh our way through tough times, and come out stronger on the other end.”

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

• ask 30 people about what they want to learn about Community ROI.

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! 👋