Take care of yourself

Notes on burnout, choice, and inspiration

Jan 27, 2020

👋Hello to all the new subscribers! I share a weekly update on ways to be a better marketer, brand-maker, team-builder, and person. If you enjoy this, you can share some love by hitting the Substack heart button above or below.

What are you working on this week?

I’d love to hear what you’re up to; you can hit reply and let me know. At Buffer, I’m building out our 2020 SEO and content strategy, including a refresh of the Buffer blogs. And at the university course I teach, we’re covering analytics this week. 💯

Wishing you a great week ahead!

— Kevan

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The Burnout list

by Frank Chimero

Summary:

Why does burnout happen?

And how can you tell it’s coming?

When designer Frank Chimero experienced burnout, he wrote down 11 reasons why burnout happens. This blog post is his list (it’s literally the list he put in his Notes app). Among the 11 reasons, these two stood out to me personally:

Achievement culture: believing that identity and safety are only available through high achievement
Authenticity imperative: pressure to be oneself, but to adapt (distort?) that self to ensure achievement, status, or safety.

I identify as an achiever. I love the thrill of pursuing a goal and the satisfaction of achieving it, so I feel the pressure of “achievement culture” acutely. Along with that, I also spend a lot of time thinking about what I truly want for myself — and struggling to identify whether the things I want are truly my heart’s desires or if they are the expectations put upon me by achievement, status, or safety.

If any of the 11 burnout factors resonate with you, take care of yourself! And let me know any way I can help, listen, or just empathize. 🤗

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MarketingExamples.com

by Harry Dry

Summary:

This website features short-and-sweet articles to boost your marketing tactics. Harry Dry pulls from some interesting campaigns (Tom Hanks podcast guest) and some cool personal experience (getting Kanye West on the phone). Here are some of my favorite stories on the site:

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“People don’t want more choices — they want to be more confident in the choices they make.”

by Scott Galloway

Summary:
Do you agree with the above quote? It comes from an article by Scott Galloway, a business professor, author, blogger, and podcaster. In the article, he reviews the 2019 predictions he made, including this one:

The consumer world begins to distill to a small number of mega-brands or networks

I agree that people don’t want more choices. The “paradox of choice” is real. User psychology is a necessary brand tactic. But while choice is narrowing to a few mega-brands in certain categories, in other categories — where consumers lack confidence in the choices they have — I’d say choice is proliferating.

What do you think?

On an unrelated note, Galloway’s article included this interesting graphic, showing how Tesla’s valuation is a bit higher than its competition:

Thanks so much for reading. Have a great week!