Sup peeps, hope you’re doing well. As an antidote to my horrible, unplanned hiatus from posting here I’ve been thinking about how to change my relationship with content creation and all of my hair-brain so called long-term goals. A number of years ago, for a variety of reasons, I was able to get a lot done in just 30 minutes to a couple hours of work, and never really felt burnt out or like I was putting crazy effort in to my content. I was comfortable with the idea that once you get good at doing something it’s going to take fewer resources than when you are learning the ropes, and also that the amount of value your work gives has nothing to do with the amount of hours you put in to it. Over time, I think I become more and more focused on this idea that in order for my content to satisfy me and perhaps to stand out that I had to make some quantum leap in each new piece of whatever I decide to publish. This has a number of flaws, although it is not on its face the worst of all approaches, it still ends up being an incredibly silly idea. It’s not obvious what it means exactly to make a quantum leap in the quality of your work in a way that’s not anchored to one’s audience, which is something I’ve been trying to do for a long time. Okay, of course making content that is personally fulfilling is super important, but the thought process that you simply jog an extra mile with each article or piece or what have you to make it better doesn’t work. By piece 12 you’re jogging 13 miles, already fairly impractical unless you also have an idea of being a marathon runner.
Meandering rambles aside (maybe), my work is going to be a bit less grandiose and contain fewer expectations. My ideas might be less organized and it may not seem like exactly the same sort of content, and that’s exactly what I want. I’ve decided that I want to start talking with you guys and sharing ideas in a way that is entertaining, and effective, meaning I’m really giving value where possible, in a way that doesn’t cause me to burn out. Sometimes I might do really long in depth articles, or essays, I’m still working on writing books so that will be another avenue for the more complicated stuff, but here I wanna just offer more casual ideas. I’m going to try and improve my content and be a much better creator by not embedding expectations into all of my work. I’m not gonna worry about moving needles, monetization or really anything else, I’m just gonna try to make this site better and do more of the stuff that I like doing. To an extent I may end up talking about some stuff that doesn’t do as well (like that really matters at my scale) but I think the diversity of content will actually increase and you will find my work to be more valuable.
To address the title of this article, although I’ve just explained why I’m thinking about this stuff, my message here is if you are a content creator on the come up, or you feel stagnant, and really we are all creators of something somewhere in our lives, I have a few basic tips that I think are important. Firstly, stop having expectations and being a perfectionist about everything, it doesn’t make your content more valuable it just increases headache and production time. Do not bother making content for the sake of pandering, in terms of topic or format. If you love writing and hate audio, but find that podcasts perform better, does that matter if you will not be motivated to make podcasts? No. Orient your creations and your brand(s) towards audiences that have a real appreciation for your work and just be the best you can be. I know for freelancers and entrepreneurs this might sound like I’m telling you to forsake money for purity, but what I’m really saying is that in the long haul I don’t think success is born from consistently doing a bunch of things you don’t like. Cliché though it may be, making the foundation stuff you love and can bring maximum value to is better, because what you make is more valuable. Even in the game of appearing relevant on the internet value trumps having the right font or posting at the right time of the day. Probably the final lesson that I’ll leave you with, is don’t be afraid of admitting burnout. Sometimes you need to stop, pivot or take a fucking break and that’s okay. That is part of the creative process, it’s part of being a person, and personally I find a lot of spiritual and creative growth from my periods when I don’t post or when I focus on other aspects of life.
Anyways not hear to pretend to teach, just sharing some insights from my many years of questionable content creation and studying people who are actually good at it. If you find this content valuable please leave a comment and tell me your thoughts, I absolutely will read them and probably respond if I can.
Be well,
FourthEye author
Orion Aeneas Webster
FourthEye 
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