Don't Stop Creating—You Might Just Change a Life
Two lessons on making stuff that matters and telling people when it does
I rarely check my message requests on IG.
There’s no point.
Over the years, I’ve had many pages reach out to me, but the experience of opening this spam folder has been nothing short of embarrassing—it’s a constant cycle of spammers, dodgy salespeople or people acting genuine only to be spammers/dodgy salespeople.
These people feed into the validation we all seek and then act as if they value you, only to turn around 10 minutes later and ask to be paid for their help.
It never ends.
So I stopped opening my requests.
Then, out of nowhere and probably out of boredom, I decided to open them.
I saw a message that appeared like all the others…
Replying to my story
Not at all recognisable
Leading with congratulations
I almost disregarded it as spam because my goldfish brain doesn’t have time for comprehension.
Then I reread it…
I couldn’t believe it… I didn’t believe it.
I replied in cautionary disbelief:
He told me that he had been weighing up a big life decision and was at a crossroads—he received advice from friends and family, but then took to Google to look for further feedback and guidance.
After punching in testimonial of cold-call salesperson, my newsletter popped up!
He clicked the link, read the thing, and became inspired.
Not only did my writing.
He took some wisdom from it, acted on what I wrote about and then found me on Instagram to thank me for my work.
We went back and forth on Instagram over a few days.
He told me that he had taken my advice and gone headfirst into the unknown—trusting the universe and the scary opportunity he had been presented.
The joy of receiving a message like that from a stranger is unmatched.
You see, I make a lot of stuff…
Like — a lot — a lot of stuff!
And to be honest, I don’t know if anyone reads/listens to any of it, so it is nice to know when someone does.
Which brings me to my 2 takeaways from this message:
#1 - Don’t stop sharing your creations
If you make stuff, do not stop.
And if you haven’t started yet, that’s ok… start now!
There are so many people in the world, and in some random pocket of some random country, someone needs to hear exactly what YOU have to say.
Someone who is lost needs to hear your story.
Someone who is battling depression or addiction needs to know it is possible to win.
Don’t overthink.
You don’t need to:
Have a personal brand
Generate a wage or make any money
Have an audience or heaps of followers
You do need to be courageous!
You do need to start.
You just need to create… and never, ever, stop!
#2 - Normalise telling people they’re valued
This guy consumed my content… found me on IG… made an effort to share with me how my writing helped inspire him.
We need more of this.
If someone makes something amazing, tell them.
Fuck being cringe.
Fuck being seen as trying too hard.
Fuck people saying you need to play it cool.
Don’t fawn. Don’t gargle sack.
Just be real, be honest and authentic. If someone makes something that changes the trajectory of your life, let them know!
If someone makes something that simply makes you smile — tell them!
We’re becoming more and more disconnected as a race. It’s time to fight back against that by connecting and showing our humanity.
Anyway, that’s it from me this week.
Shoutout to my American friend for keepin’ it 100 with me.
Good luck with the week ahead, gang.
Stay safe and keep doing your best!
With gratitude,
SAV
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