If you’re reading this, chances are you know the feeling. You want a better life, and you’re willing to put in the extra work. So you have a side hustle, something that excites you enough to put in the hours of work - after the hours of your other work. But the results don’t seem to match the effort you put in, especially in the beginning. So you muster up your discipline, keep your eyes on the prize and create valuable, consistent content, day after day and week after week. After a while, there are days where the excitement is a bit lacking and you’re tired. Some days you even wonder if maybe it’s all too much.

Shiny Objects

It’s human nature. We work on our writing or our music or our paintings or our digital content, and we decide that our creations are capable of helping someone, somewhere. Maybe we can bring a smile to someone who needs it. We might be able to offer a new perspective, a new hobby, a healthier lifestyle, a supportive community. Maybe we help someone realize there’s a reason to get up again tomorrow.

If only we could find a way for people to see what we do.

And then we see the ad. The one that will finally help us learn how to attract an audience of people who can benefit from our knowledge and expertise, our unique way of viewing the world.

But its $2,997. “Well,” we justify, “that’s a lot of money,” but our erstwhile mentor shows us all the people who make thousands of dollars a month, just by following the foolproof, proven method to grow your audience.

But wait! Here’s someone who can teach us how to use a specific social media platform to get the results we want! For only $597! Maybe that will be the thing we need to get out there. It worked for them, didn’t it?

And so it goes. We are told that what really works, now, is a podcast, a challenge, a membership group. If only we can learn how to launch, build a funnel, be an effective copywriter, video editor.

Dysfunctional Discipline

So we double down in service of our vision. We spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to learn how to leverage the power of social media and write copy that sells! We craft crazy effective landing pages to build your email list in exchange for value-laden content. We give away the what, but sell the how.

We spend more time and money on Internet ads to get people to our irresistible offer that introduces the transformation that they already want. And then our gurus tell us it’s not about the transformation, after all.

But that’s OK, because we are driven. We have the discipline to learn all the marketing and production and sales and data analysis and A/B splits. And if we skip a few meals, we can afford that amazing web host that has made so many millionaires.

Even if we are smart enough to laugh at all the rented Lambos and fake business jet (excuse me, “PJ”) interior shots, we believe in ourselves so we take it all on and proudly fly the banner of the “solopreneur.”

It’s Just Business

What’s that? Our gurus say that the only way to scale is to build a team! We are just wasting our $1,000 per hour skills on a bunch of $20 per hour tasks. And it’s obviously cost-prohibitive to lease an office and hire American workers, but not to fear - we can get virtual assistants!

Just document everything you do (with a video and a process manual) for each of the thousands of tasks needed to run a business. And then train your temporary workers in Egypt or India or the Philippines. So when they suddenly disappear, you can start all over again.

Now you have monthly expenses for your courses and web hosts and email service providers and ads and assistants that equal your mortgage. And you have many other jobs (in addition to the job you are trying to replace) as an advertiser, web master, copywriter, trainer, podcaster, blogger, employer, marketer, SEO analyst, accountant, manager, HR specialist, business owner.

And what will really make your business explode is to write a book!

But it will all be worth it, because now you can focus on your art, your content.

Wait - content? Who has time for that?

Triage

I wish this was just a satirical roast of the “creator economy,” but it’s reality for those of us who believe we have something to differentiate us from the hundred-million other people who are trying to do the same thing.

But there’s good news.

This. Path. Is. Hard.

The “get-rich-quick” crowd will not make it long. The “just copy and paste from AI” bros are already on their way out. The 20-something “influencers” who have good looks but nothing really to say will enjoy a short tenure, if they are seen at all.

Those who have something of value to contribute really can make a difference for themselves and others. But it will require the development of two skills: patience and triage. The need for patience is obvious; it takes time to propagate through the vast web of the Internet, ads or no ads.

Triage, as you probably know, is the art and science of getting the most return from your limited resources. In a mass casualty event, victims in cardiac arrest (low probability of rescue, high use of resources) are tagged as such and stepped over, so that the 15 people bleeding out (high probability of rescue, low use of resources) can be helped.

How can we apply the principles of this very dramatic situation to our businesses as creators, artists?

Take a cold, hard objective look at what really moves us closer to our goals.

Take Two Steps

This becomes very easy if you are independently wealthy. Hire people to do all the business “stuff” while you focus on your art.

But you’re probably not independently wealthy. Nothing personal, it’s just statistically unlikely. Yes, you really are in business if you want to make money with your creations, your art. No, you really can’t do everything all at once, be everywhere at the same time.

If you are like most people, you have two primary limitations: time and money. Fortunately, the remedy is the same for both.

Step One is to immediately stop allocating resources to low value activities. Do you really need a monthly bill for separate email, web host, course host, podcast, blog, marketing funnel and payment accounts? There are solutions that combine all of these, at a much lower cost, in terms of both time and money.

Use the objective, measurable evaluations of time and money as your decision points. Which memberships, lessons, courses, masterminds, retreats, are putting more money into your business or freeing up significant chunks of your time? This is not the place to fall in love with a charismatic “influencer” or sexy ad campaign. If it isn’t working for you, cut it loose. Even if it seems to work for others.

Dump that which is not helping. Dump all of them, if you have to. Chalk them up to learning experiences and move on.

Step Two

Step Two is more difficult. If, again, you are like most of us trying to succeed in this ridiculously crowded field, you will realize there is still too much to do, even after you have cut the extraneous fluff.

Your blog and your podcast and your newsletter and your challenge and memberships and all nine of your social media accounts are starting to gain some traction. Unless you actually do employ a high-functioning team, you simply will not have enough time to keep it all up.

Imagine that you “break through” and start to make sales. Who will track the sales and do the accounting? Who will be in charge of customer service? Who will upsell the additional content that your audience will want from you? When will you have time to create it in the first place?

When you find that you need to choose from multiple endeavors - all of which are performing - because you don’t have the time or money to indulge in all of them, use these criteria to determine what stays:

The easiest and most obvious delineation is: what is working? If you need to reduce your time and money-intensive activities, measure which are most effective in growing your audience and generating sales. Keep the most efficient.

The next tier is more subjective. To choose from a field of endeavors that are all about the same in terms of metrics, pick the ones you most enjoy. Which projects excite you? What do you do best? It may sound selfish, but in the long haul you will only keep at those things that turn you on.

You already have a job you want to ditch, why create another one?

Too Much

When you find that you are tired, losing interest in activities that once energized you, it may be your mind and body telling you that you are doing too much. The answer is not to stop, to give up on your dreams, but to do your best to find a balance between your creative work and your business.

Use the criteria of what works, what motivates you and what you can afford (in terms of time and money). Cut out the extra activities that invariably accumulate over time and detract from your primary goals.

Be a ruthless editor of your life: it is better to excel at your core purpose than to do a mediocre job of too much.

I am a creator (musician, writer, live-streamer and podcaster), entrepreneur, educator and counselor.

 To learn more about how to use these concepts or to inquire about working with me, you can contact me through my website, the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or The Authentic Life Blog page. If you have found value in this article, follow my Instagram account for daily insights. To support this community, you can Buy Me A Coffee or donate through my Patreon account.

 Subscribe to my River of Creation podcast - The Podcast for Creators, and my associated YouTube channel, coming later this year, wherever you download your podcasts.

- JWW