Time Out; Love is complicated; Storytelling (again)


👋 Hey there, Mike here.

I hope your weekend has been great. This weekend we took a time out and I hope you had a relaxing time too.

Enjoy 1 short story, 2 incredible examples, 1 great video.

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1 short story that makes you think.

Time out. I was ready to give up. I felt like I was failing. I wasn't sleeping well last week because the 3-year old kept coming into our room at 2am, 4am and various other times, which was making matters worse.

In turn, my 5-year old was rebelling with crazy tantrums, pulling on every stressor in my brain while I was tired, meaning I'd overreact and snap at him.

In my mind I thought - Am I no good? Am I a bad father? Could I have done something differently? All the metrics of parenting were telling me I can't do this and maybe he'd be better with a different family.

Little things were creeping in at work too. A rushed reply to a tweet, difficulty concentrating and the feeling of not getting enough done.

So we (my wife and I) took some time out - I took an AFK day from work on Friday and then spent Saturday night staying at a hotel without the kids (my mother-in-law looked after them).

We very, very rarely get support with childcare, but this weekend we really needed it. Otherwise we'd have probably had a mental breakdown. Now I'm back, refreshed and raring to go again - this morning (Monday) was great with both the boys. Much happier, no tantrums and just a nice vibe.

The same principle applies to your business - take those time outs and your business will be better for it - trust me.

P.S. both kids slept through for Grandma... until 7am. Go figure.

Think: What is the most important metric for your business? Is it the number of new customers? Or is it how much good quality sleep you're getting?

2 examples of incredible content.

1/ Love is complicated

I love creatives like this. How does your product make life easier?

2/ Copyright Infringement

How do you make an attention-grabbing advert for copyright infringement? Here's how:

1 great video I know you’ll enjoy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - storytelling is the future. This video is gold.

video preview

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1 short story that makes you think. 2 examples of incredible content. 1 great video I know you’ll enjoy.

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