It’s OK to Say I Can’t, or Won’t Do This Anymore
This week I closed down my Patreon account.
Patreon is the online version of old school artist patronage.
For years I supported other creatives on the platform. I created my account, offering free exclusive content.
The theory is you can earn a good income, and yes some do. And some don’t.
We are all overwhelmed with opportunity online right now.
There are seemingly new social media platforms and enhancements hitting us every week.
Tik Tok, Clubhouse, Instagram reels, Twitter Fleets, you get the idea, it’s a constant barrage of fantastic opportunity. It’s also massively distracting and time-consuming.
If you have a team, that’s great.
If you don’t you need to constantly refocus back to your strategy to keep on track.
I admit it, I’m a squirrel and I love the shiny objects in my path.
Luckily I’ve discovered my business mind again and am streamlining to get back to what truly matters.
Not just to my audience, and clients, but to me.
I’m a coach, it’s important to me to give back, to share my ‘lessons learned’ along the path from Corporate Risk Manager and Team Player through redundancy and restructuring to independent author, podcaster, book-tuber and of course writer.
I’m on a mission to get people writing and to help mid-lifers pursue their potential as they move forwards into the next stage of their lives.
Patreon wasn’t working for me in that mission.
How did I decide what to cut?
I sat down with my business plan, my project map and my ‘WHY’ (Thank you to Simon Sinek) and replanned the rest of 2021.
It’s easy to feel guilty.
Fans have supported me, but they will understand my work develops, my path changes and my aims get higher. They can come to my other platforms and help me grow my business in other ways.
I have hammered out my new strategy am now more writing books, as before, but will be able to finish all those hanging around in my ‘WIP’ (work in progress) folder.
My characters won’t entertain, enthral or even reach my readers if they are confined in a Scrivener folder waiting for release.
Procrastination and fear are relegated to the back of the room. They haven’t quite left, but I’m making sure they stay quiet, sort of.
This streamlining and move from one platform has gone alongside a website clean up, after all, my travel theme is on the back burner for a while, thanks COVID.
In the scheme of things, it’s a tiny step, but we can easily get trapped in the routine of the smaller tasks rather than focus on the overall outcome we want.
I’m still shifting other things, slowly it’s bringing my mission into sharp focus once more. It’s nothing against Patreon, I love their platform and ethos, but for me, right now, it isn’t what I, or my audience, needs.
What’s Next?
I’ve already created another new pen name, written over 50 short stories and got a book / collection out in the world.
At the beginning of 2021, I printed off my work goals, and have them pinned above my desk.
The constant strive to be everywhere is not productive. Closing my Patreon account has helped my mindset to step up another gear.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed it might be because you are.
Take a breath.
Take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
It’s not always easy, we are passionate about our work, we want to please everyone, but ‘spoiler alert’ we can’t.
Be authentic. Be focused and be honest, to yourself as well as others.
Are you truly serving your fans / clients / readers by doing it all?
I doubt it.
Give yourself a break and allow yourself to sever some connections.
I am still reviewing the work I do, and how, entrepreneurship is like that.
I challenge you to take one small step towards a more effective, more streamlined, simpler life by cutting one thing from the diary. Just one.
I can (almost) guarantee there’s something you’re doing that doesn’t bring you joy. So why are you doing it?
If you’re not enjoying it, it’s a bit insulting to your fans / readers to think they’ll love it, isn’t it?
You owe them, and yourself, your best.
By closing an unproductive, often time-consuming, small income stream I’m allowing myself time and focus to put my energy where it counts.
Are you?
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Are you a mid-lifer or newbie writer who’s feeling a bit stuck?
Let’s reboot your creative confidence, create your path to that healthier and happier life-work balance you’re craving, oh and finally, at last, write that book!