My brain hurts.
It's the time of year to reflect on everything that's happened over the previous twelve months and to look forward to new adventures. Although, for now, my rapidly diminishing cognitive ability seems to be telling me something: "Switch off!"
It's been an interesting year, that's for sure.
In 2022, I've invested more time than ever in exploring and sharing new ideas, the results of which will bear fruit in 2023 and beyond. As I start taking a step to consider why I've obsessed so much about the various rabbit holes I've headed down, it's clear there's one unifying theme. And it's one of the things that started me writing in the first place a little under three years ago.
As life has become increasingly busy and it feels like I'm pulled in a hundred different directions, how can I design my time to achieve my ambitions while staying healthy (and sane)?
Because this is the fundamental question at the heart of my book, I've become accustomed to looking out for people who have done this successfully. In particular, those who manage to pull off a specific trick - combining different activities and behaviours in their work and life that create something greater than the sum of their parts. Whether you call it synergy, complementarity, a virtuous circle or a flywheel effect, it's the secret to a fulfilling and successful work/life.
Austin Belcak
After chatting with Austin Belcak this week, I was reminded of how this shows up in our careers.
Five years ago, Austin began writing about how to build a successful career, drawing on lessons from his own experience. Having written a LinkedIn post (almost) every single weekday since then, he's refined his thinking to develop a playbook for "winning amazing jobs". In the process, he's become an authority on how to differentiate yourself in a competitive job market and accumulated 1.35 million followers as a by-product. I phrase it like that because gaining followers wasn't Austin's objective but rather the result of consistently creating high-quality content on a platform built to cultivate your network.
High-quality content + networking = continual learning and new opportunities
Me
I can relate (to some of the benefits, if not the scale of Austin's audience!)
As I wrote last week, since I launched my newsletter and podcast, I've developed some incredible new relationships, fundamentally shifting my perspective on networking. My learning has accelerated, and I've become knowledgeable about topics I'm passionate about. I've connected with hundreds of fascinating people who have continued to feed my learning and who, along the way, have provided new work opportunities. I've created a community of supporters and collaborators who have given me a new perspective on my work/life.
While researching my book, I spotted this trend again and again.
Elizabeth Ogabi
In Elizabeth Ogabi's case, after beginning to sharing insights about her experience of business culture in Nigeria on social media, she found people responding most positively to content she was obsessed with - female entrepreneurship, career development and wellbeing. Emboldening her to explore the ideas further, she contacted writers on LinkedIn who agreed to produce articles on these themes for a website she launched called, For Working Ladies. As traffic to the site grew and readers became more engaged, a community of like-minded people emerged, leading Liz to launch a podcast and get a publishing deal.
She developed a content flywheel by acting on signals she spotted in the social media noise - her friends and followers resonating with musings about start-up culture - to monetise her insights and community, which eventually allowed her the freedom to quit her day job and start her own company.
Justin Welsh
The most profoundly positive changes Justin Welsh has made over the past three years are the habits he’s established in his personal life.
After persistent burnout culminated in a severe panic attack, Justin eventually pivoted his career, leading him from the relentless treadmill of software scale-ups to solopreneurship. He's now well known for building systems to help unlock his incredible content output. Idea-generation process, writing habits, and a systematised approach to templating and experimentation are undoubtedly crucial to Justin's success. But what takes his productivity to another level is what he does when he's not working - the downtime he enjoys with his partner and friends. Whether going on long walks or unwinding over a nice meal, the benefits he reaps from a disciplined approach to recovery and reflection feed directly back into his work. Taking advantage of the heightened creativity and efficiency this unlocks allows him even more time to switch off and recover.
That's the work/life flywheel in action.
You
So, as I round off another year of sharing my thoughts on all things work and life, I'll leave you with a couple of questions to mull over.
Which parts of your work and personal life complement one another and how can you design your time to do more of them?
As you look ahead to 2023, can you use a creative outlet – e.g. writing or podcasting – to help build new relationships?
Thanks as ever for your support this year and I'll see you again in January.
Ollie