Louie and I will be running our Newsletter Launchpad course starting on September 13.  Next week, on September 6 and 8, we're having free webinars to give a taste of the course.  The content will be the same in both webinars.

I see newsletters as the easiest way to start creating.  There's a huge difference between creating and consuming.  I didn't realize until less than two years ago that the reason I felt stifled in life was that I only consumed.  Creating has renewed my curiosity and given me an outlet for my compulsion to problem solve.

I wrote last week that courses are not a cure all.  Application of the skill is necessary.  Newsletter Launchpad is built around experimentation and applying the skills in real life.  Louie and I are 100% committed to giving support, feedback, and one-on-one contact so that every student takes action on the ideas of the course.

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Sign up for the Free Webinars.
Tuesday, 8-9PM ET
Thursday, 8-9PM ET

Discoveries:

My thinking on taking action and creating are from over ten years of passively consuming while wishing there was something better than my job.  I've come across quite a few essays on job dissatisfaction, here are three:

1️⃣
The first one is the first public essay that I've ever written.  The realization that I have a choice in my life is obvious, but hard to see when you're surrounded by everyone else's beliefs.  It's the main idea of why I decided to call this newsletter Unknown Unknowns - often what you don't even know is there or possible is the most life-changing.

=> Essay Here

2️⃣
Jack Raines writes about why people have stopped asking themselves why they took their job:

For any gamers out there, one of the oldest tricks in the book is giving your younger sibling an unplugged/disconnected controller, so they feel like they are "playing", while you are in control the whole time.

Many "jobs" today are simply unplugged controllers. The work would get done, whether or not we take part in the process. We are simply moving numbers, smashing buttons, and staying busy, with no regard for actual productivity.

We never stop to ask "is this job necessary?"

=> Essay Here

3️⃣

The young kids call it "quiet quitting", but us Gen-Xers have always called it slacking off.  Also known as sandbagging, it's putting just enough work in not to get fired.  Or sprinting for a couple months when a promotion is in sight.
It's a response to the realization that your boss doesn't care about you, and then your job turns into maximizing the salary/hours-in-the-office ratio.

Khe Hy (as always) gets down to the root causes:

If you’re disenchanted with your job or burnt-out to a post-pandemic crisp, Quiet Quitting is missing the point.

It might make you feel better in the moment. But it’s like taking sleeping pills to cure insomnia. It addresses the symptoms, but not the root cause.

=> Essay Here

Questions, suggestions, complaints?  Email me me at chris@iswong.com.  Feedback welcome.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with a friend or two.  And feel free to send anything you find interesting to me!

Leaving you in peace,

Chris