The Great Reset
This year has been what is turning out to be a transformative year. The election last year was a complete shock to my system, and to be honest, at times, I haven’t taken it well. Since then, I’ve thrown myself headfirst into my day job and various side projects, which have taken me on a journey of self-discovery. I neglected my writing, leaving a Work in Progress that I liked a lot hanging while I tried new things.
In the last six months, I’ve started and ended a t-shirt company that didn’t work out. It’s a pity. My entire life, I’ve loved designing custom shirts. When I began the project, I had high hopes for it. But unfortunately, a variety of factors converged, and the business never really took off. It’s a pity; I had a lot of fun working on it.
In an attempt to boost the t-shirt business, I started a podcast. Then, I enjoyed doing it, so I created a second podcast, this time about my author’s journey. What I found out was that shooting several episodes and shorts to promote, edit, and post them was a significant time suck. During this time, I became comfortable filming myself because I shot more videos than I had ever shot in my life. I also followed the advice of all the online marketers. Video is king, they say. So, I ditched writing blogs and continued making videos. Much like when I tried all organic social media marketing, I found that creating a ton of videos does expand your reach, and in some cases, it gets you followers. But, just like the organic social media strategy, it didn’t sell books or t-shirts. Eventually, I found myself burnt out.
Then, a couple of things happened. First, my wife began pushing me to do art for fun. We actually painted a project together, and I had a really good time. Second, my wife and I worked through some long-standing issues and found a way to refresh and improve our relationship, despite being together for over 20 years. To say that was miraculous is an understatement.
It’s also a positive feedback loop. The positivity in the relationship bled over into every aspect of my life. It renewed my creativity, it helped me feel comfortable in my own skin, and I began to take a hard look at things to see what fit and what didn’t. It all stemmed from an article I read that simply stated that the best way to sell books is to write books. I thought about it and decided they weren’t wrong. Not that writing books will somehow magically sell books. But, the more books you write, the more you put out there, the better the chance that something will stick. Instead of agonizing over each book and hoping it was the one, write and keep writing. It’s an artist mindset, which I’ve never had. I blame my wife for her influence. I enjoyed making the videos, but I realized that between the podcasts and the shorts, I was spending most of my time writing scripts, filming, editing, uploading, and scheduling videos. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but I eventually reached the point where I needed to decide what I wanted to be. Did I want to be a YouTube Creator, or did I want to be an author? Without hesitation, I knew the answer. I’m a writer. I’m an author.
After that, I decided the path forward would require me to turn my back on both podcasts and refocus on the right path for me. I thought I couldn’t write because of all the chaos in the world, but now I realize I have to write because of it. It’s how I process things and grow. Going forward, I plan to continue using tools such as YouTube and Facebook, but my primary focus will be on writing. I still have many stories to tell, and I want you all to read them. Thanks for following me on this journey so far. I’m excited to show you what’s next!
– Ryan
