- Floating Thoughts
- Posts
- The things we avoid
Hey 1,160+ friends, it’s Hannah here from Quoted Visually!
Welcome to another issue of Floating Thoughts where I share an insight, image and personal update. Lot’s to share today 🥰
When things feel completely overwhelming and there seem to be more questions than answers, where do you turn?
It can be easy to assume that we have to go on some elaborate quest to find the answers to life’s biggest questions.
But the solutions are not at the ends of the Earth, they are in plain sight.
In fact, they are right under your nose.
They are in the unread books on your shelf, the courses you’ve bought but not yet indulged and in the people you are waiting to speak to.
We can tie ourselves in knots, and go round and round in circles in our minds, trying to look for the solutions for the things we are battling.
But ruminating is not taking action.
In the moments where taking action seems so difficult, remind yourself that you don’t even have to take big action to make drastic changes.
Our so-called big problems can be solved through small repeated actions, like taking the time to read those books on your shelf for 10 minutes a day.
Or running through that course for 30 minutes a day.
Or making the effort to speak with a mentor. Maybe an elderly grandparent?
Because the people who have come before us have dealt with the same struggles that we have.
Yes, there is nuance, but we can forget how similar we all are.
We don’t need more
This quest for more ultimately leaves us with less.
In a human life, with finite timescales, after a certain point, more does not equal more.
As Oliver Burkman reminds us, we get 4,000 weeks in a lifetime if we are lucky.
We don’t need to invest in more stuff. We just need to consume the books and courses we already have.
You have everything you need to start taking action right in front of you.
And if you must buy something, buy something that you are going to start consuming right away.
This week I picked up a random book on my shelf, read 10 pages and had one of those personal revelations or ‘ah ha’ moments. Here is your reminder to do the same. And here is my reminder to keep reading!
💡 Inspiration
Oops, I kind of shot myself in the foot with the messaging above 👆🏻
Here goes nothing, if you are looking for inspiration, then look no further than the Quoted Visually 2024 calendars and prints!
Designed with the ambitious soul in mind, I have included monthly priority lists and built-in habit trackers to help hold you accountable.
But, I am only ordering an extremely limited number of calendars from my supplier and I am doing this today. To guarantee yours, order before the end of the day!
🚨 Bonus: 10% off with the code: Closefriends10
Get in with the pre-sale before Nov 1st and receive a *free print* with your order!
To add to this, the founder of Airbnb shared some important advice:
It is better to have a small group of people that ‘love’ your product or service than 1000’s who ‘like’ it. People who love what you are doing will talk about it and spread the word with their friends. Start small. Focus on getting 10 people to love your product, tailor the product to them and once you get there focus on 100 people and keep going.
⚙️ Resources
I will be launching a self-paced course ‘Quoting Ideas Visually’ by the end of the year - feel free to remind me haha. Things keep getting in the way 👀
But, I get it, you might want to take action now.
My creator pal, PJ, is running a cohort-based visual course: ‘Thinking in Visual metaphors.’
It will be insane value. He is enthusiastic, he knows his stuff and he’s been teaching film and animation in schools for nearly 20 years 🤯 View a teaser video here.
If you use my affiliate link, PJ has kindly offered a 10% discount code: QuoteVisuals
*Enrollment closes today (he’s extended this for you).
🗞️ Update
Goodness me where do I start?
My happy face before jumping on a discovery call with a prospective client
I launched my shop 2 weeks ago and boy it felt good. I was *over the moon* to receive 16 orders on day one 🤯
At first, I felt relief that my gamble was starting to pay off, but it was not long before the hype of launch day slowed and realised, oh shit, I am actually going to have to promote this thing haha.
It is all a learning curve I tell you and don’t be fooled, likes and follows don’t equal sales 🤣 These are the stats for now:
What I love is I am getting the chance to know who is buying!
I am recognising your names popping up in orders. You are sending me emails after purchasing something 🥰 That’s flipping cooool!
I've started posting a little bit more on LinkedIn and I've been absolutely loving being vulnerable and leaning into writing.
It is fun to play around with storytelling and being raw and authentic!
But the whole social media stitch feels quite overwhelming for me at the minute. The more I post, the more noise there is. I could literally spend all day online replying and keeping up.
It is funny, I am finding my voice but risking losing myself at the same time!
I know that I don't need to reply to everything, yet it is hard to know where to draw the line. Who do I think I am that I can leave you hanging? And when I do, believe me, there is guilt. A very human feeling.
So I am asking myself, where do I draw that line? Especially, as posting online doesn't directly generate income!
Doggie walk with my fave pooch
There is a lot for me to think about for sure. But since you are here with me on the journey I want you to feel like you are getting the full picture.
The good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between!
Things feel heavy now, but I know that I will figure it all out, especially as I am able to hash things out with Michael and PJ. Friends in the visual space, whom I have not yet met, but feel a deep sense of connection and gratitude towards.
How can we help ourselves?
We can sit down and reflect on our achievements from the year and remind ourselves how far we have come.
We can be vocal about how we feel and vent to family and friends.
We can write down all the things we are trying to do and put together a realistic action plan. Where do I want to be in January?
And finally, we can ask ourselves the question, how can I redesign my life to serve myself better and in turn, serve others better?
That’s a wrap. Thanks for being here, you’re epic and you know it!
Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions, requests or feedback. I will respond at my earliest opportunity (sorry I am not very fast rn).
Big love,
Hannah aka Quoted Visually x
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