Hi friends,

Do you ever have those weeks where you look back and you know you’ve gone a little past your limit? I just had one of those. 

Honestly, it’s a small miracle I somehow found the mental capacity to type this email to you tonight. Here’s why:

😬 I was at home recovering from COVID with limited capacity to focus
😬 I heard that I definitely have to move out of my apartment on Wednesday, with no new confirmed place to live
😬 I woke up a lot during the nights; the mosquitos are back (yay!)

On top of all this, I had my final interview for a part-time job on Monday. I got an offer on Wednesday. They asked me to sign the contract latest on Thursday, so that I could start with a new client right away on Friday.

You can imagine this added some additional pressure on top of everything else. Not in the least because I haven’t worked for a boss in like 5 years! In case you’re curious: I asked them whether I could take longer to decide and negotiate and they said yes. I think that was a wise decision.

I did start working with that client on Friday though, under a special agreement 😅

More pressure meant more output 📈

What’s funny is that despite everything that’s going on (the above is not even the full story) and my limited concentration ability due to COVID… I somehow feel more productive. 

It’s like once the engine is fired up, you cannot stop. Every moment when I have some time, I just start working on something. Anything. I did A LOT this week. I’ve been extremely productive. 

And today I noticed the stress from all of that 🥲

You know. Like you can’t really relax. You breathe a little faster than usual. You’re just tired. So in one way, it couldn’t be better timing that I had a Brewery Run planned for this afternoon.

“A brewery run”, you ask? It’s like a mini-marathon (7 to 10 kilometres) with a few stops at local breweries along the way for a beer.

The weather was great. The beers made the running feel kind of fuzzy and chill. And it was just a nice moment to be completely out of everything. Afterwards we sat on a terrace in the sun. Then when I got home I started watching a new anime – which is awesome, by the way. And I played a ton of guitar, which I haven’t done in a looong time now 🎸🎵

I made the conscious decision to unplug and I think I need to keep doing that in the week to come, since – one way or another – it’s ‘moving week’ for me. And moving to a new place is always stressful, no matter where you move to. 

For me, it’s a bit more stressful, because I’m not sure that I’ll be able to find a place. Fortunately, I could always move back to my parents if I have to… but, that’s really the last resort.

So: how can I still be still? 🤔

Some people asked me this week: “how can you be so chill about all of this?”. 

I admit. It is a little bit much: starting a new job, not knowing whether you’ll have a place of your own, having little focus and sleep and still keeping the work up for several of your own businesses.

And as you know, I did feel a little bit stressed. But yes, I’m also still chill.

To be honest, I think part of the reason is because of my down-to-earth personality, but I think it’s also because of…

👌 My stoic approach to life: “I can’t change what’s outside of my control” (read more about it here)
👌 Being able to listen to my body and knowing when to unplug

I rarely feel stressed and I think I’m pretty sure it’s because of these two things.

Maybe you sometimes find yourself in a stressful situation yourself. In those cases, I recommend you follow one or both of these approaches. I can’t imagine they won’t help. 

And don’t forget: everybody has different ways to unplug. For you it could be meditation, journaling, working out, making music, hanging out with friends, watching Netflix or going for a walk. Whatever you choose, try to choose to unplug. 

Without guilt. Without feeling like there’s anything else you should do. Just unplug. That’s what I do. And it (almost) always works.

Keep it chill,

Marc

What I Loved this Week ❤️

📘 Tool – We started using ClickUp for KREW this week. Before, we did all event organisation via WhatsApp and different note-taking tools. In short: it was a mess. So to have a tool where everything is neatly organised is awesome. 

📽️ TV Show – After reading the IGN review, I had to give the new anime Ranking of Kings a try. I’m only a couple of episodes in, but it’s already awesome. It’s about a deaf prince. A total misfit and underdog in his world, treated like an outcast. It’s emotional early on, but very well-told. I can’t wait to see where it goes. 

🌈 Creator – I’ve been seeing a lot from Justin Welsh on my LinkedIn feed lately and I can’t help but feel inspired by his posts. They are almost all simple text posts, without any images or videos. But they feel powerful and valuable. And they tie right back into the funnel for his information products. Given that I want to start using social media more effectively next to my blog, this is the kind of inspiration that helps me a lot. 

Article of the Week 🏆

This week, I took the time to write my first ‘Ultimate Guide’ ever, which is based on a webinar I gave a while ago. It’s basically like five regular articles in one. While it was a lot of work, it felt good to work on something different. It’s also something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, so it feels quite fulfilling now that I finally did it.

You can read the full guide (or watch the webinar) here.