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- We Nearly Didn’t Send This
Hello 1,843 friends, it’s Michael here!
Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter.
Before we get into the meat of today’s issue, I have something to admit.
We nearly didn’t post a newsletter this week.
I find myself in an extraordinarily stressful period as we’re in the home-stretch of buying our first house (pun intended), and Zac has been struck by a sudden spell of illness.
You’d think that we would have a couple of newsletters banked for this sort of occasion, and even though we do have a list of 5+ ideas for issues, we’re still kind of wingin’ it.
I wanted to share this to be authentic and vulnerable with you.
It’s safe to say that we LOVE that we get to talk to y’all about wisdom on a weekly basis here, but we’re also just your average Joes trying to juggle all the pressures of life as they come.
But do you know what makes the extra grind to make sure that I got this issue out worthwhile?
Knowing that you’re opening up this newsletter right now! There’s something so humbling knowing that you are joining us in getting wiser.
Thank you for being part of this community. Let’s get WISER together!
🌊 We’re Riding the Wave!
Given that we’ve amassed a following over 100,000 by sharing visual representations of principles and quotes, it’ll come as no surprise that we love a metaphor.
They help us to manageably digest complex principles. You might say that they help us to make wisdom easier to understand, or Wisdom Made Easy.
Today I wanted to share a visual metaphor that we produced for one of our favourites: Sahil Bloom.
🏄♂️ The Surfer Mentality
The Surfer Mentality is a simple, yet powerful metaphor that can help us to be more present and enjoy our current circumstances while they last.
Here’s what Sahil had to say about it when he featured it in his newsletter:
“When a surfer gets up on a wave, they enjoy the present moment, even though they know with certainty that the wave will eventually end. They fully enjoy THIS wave, with the wisdom and awareness that there are always more waves coming.”
Applying The Surfer Mentality can help us in many aspects of our lives; our career, our relationships, our art, our hobbies and much more.
I’ve found that this analogy has helped me greatly whilst building online as I’m coming to embrace the ebbs and flows of social media content creation. I will have a wave of reach and engagement, only to be followed by a drastically different lull.
I use to get bummed out by the ups ‘n’ downs of this venture, but now I’m appreciating each aspect of it.
The heights of the waves are exciting and where I experience the most growth; both from a metric stand point and in understanding. But I can’t surf the wave for eternity, so I ensure that I’m taking care of myself and catching my breath when I’m between waves.
But that’s not where this analogy ends.
🌊 You Choose Which Waves to Ride
When a surfer surfs, they choose which waves to attempt. They don’t have to catch every single wave, right?
Instead, they select which ones are worth riding, and which ones are worth missing out on.
If I apply this analogy to some of the areas that I referenced earlier, I get to choose which opportunities I take in my career and I get to choose which relationships I engage with when the opportunities arise.
I can embrace my inner surfer by make the most of these waves, or I can embrace my inner surfer by recognising that there’s a better wave coming sometime soon.
🤙 Surfers are Patient
Surfers spend a long ol’ time in the water just hangin’ out, waiting for the next wave. Then they ride the wave for a fraction of the time that they’ve spent in the water, then they wait again.
They recognise that sometimes you have to wait a painful amount of time to surf a wave, but they know that the time waited is worth it for that perfect wave.
They exhibit patience because they recognise that it is worth it. They see the value of patience.
We could learn a thing or two from these surfers.
Patience is not a strength of mine, but I’ve been trying to adopt this mindset more recently. By recognising that there will be another wave sometime potentially soon, it helps me to engage with the lulls.
I utilise that time better to prepare, and stay alert just in case the next wave would’ve caught me by surprise. I too am using these downtimes to be attentive for opportunities to excel.
💦 The Waves Can Be Fierce
Surfers know that the water can come crashing around them at any moment; holding them underwater for uncomfortably long. They recognise that they may only get the briefest moment to catch their breath.
Yet still, these surfers manage to remain at peace in the face of this threat. There’s a remarkable stoicism to their approach to this risk.
Now that we understand this concept of The Surfer Mentality, here’s Sahil’s 5 encouragements to embrace your inner surfer:
Enjoy your next wave
Be strategic about your positioning
Pass on more waves
Always get in the surf
Be like water
The ocean is a grand place. We’d love to catch a wave with you sometime.
❓ What do you think about The Surfer Mentality?
Do you think that you could benefit from The Surfer Mentality?
Are you currently riding a wave, or waiting for the next one?
How else could you expand on the analogy? What role does the board play? What does it mean to drown? Does where you surf matter?
✍️ Consider journalling through the above questions yourself.
💬 Also, if you want to chat about this, email or DM us! We’d love to hear from you!
Recommendations
Here are a couple recommendations of things that
1️⃣ It feels right that our first recommendation is for you to check out Sahil Bloom’s Quarterly Review template.
It’s a great opportunity for you to reflect on the first 3 months, with such questions as:
What created energy this quarter?
What is my “most important thing” right now?
What do I need to eliminate from my life in order to reduce drag and accelerating my progress?
If you’d like to reflect on quarter 1 of 2023, download Sahil’s free review here:
2️⃣ Today’s second recommendation is completely unrelated to the rest of this issue, but if you checked out the WISER Newsletter a few weeks ago, you’ll remember that I wrote about Stealing Like an Artist.
Recently some of my favourite creators produced a video with Austin Kleon about this very topic.
Colin and Samir produce videos about the creator economy, and in their first video of 2023, they reflect on the prevalence of plagiarism on the platform of YouTube.
It’s a fascinating video about creativity and ownership.
You can watch this video here:
* Please note that these may be affiliation links. Purchasing through these links could support Wisdom Made Easy encourage more people to get wiser.
✍️ What We’re Working On
We’re busily working on some stuff to share, but we’re not quite ready to tell you all the details yet.
But don’t worry! As you subscribe to this newsletter, you’ll be the first to learn when we have something to announce!
The only other thing that we’re gearing up for is a big milestone on Instagram. If we continue to ride this current wave, we’ll have surpassed a following of 100,000 in less than 1 year.
Would you like to learn some tips of how we’ve amassed a large following so quickly? We’ve got plenty of tips that help us reach millions every month, so let us know if you’d like to learn more!
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😊 Thank You!
Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. If you have any feedback, we would love to hear it!
Simply reply to this email, and we will get back to you.
Alternatively, just DM us on social media. You can find us here:
Catch you in the next issue!
Thanks,
Michael and Zac!