I’m working on a new and improved Substack experiment – I’m consistently being called back to that platform and think it could be a good secondary way to build an audience. 

I started thinking about what I could name it, and was asking a friend what they thought about a new name. This was their feedback: 

They were 100% right. Instead of just doing what worked, setting up the Substack and adding in some content, I spent too much time on the stuff that didn’t matter (or make sense). 

I’m constantly thinking about how I can improve my processes and automations to reduce friction, so I can spend my time wisely. 

And then I get caught doing this.

Here’s the thing I keep coming back to: we create our own friction

I’m grateful that my friend was able to give me this sort of direct feedback – everyone needs people like that in their lives. 

You might think that I’m going to tell you how to prevent yourself from getting in your own way, and creating friction when you don’t have to. 

I’m not. Because we’re all going to do it. 

Like I said, it’s unavoidable. We’re going to procrastinate or work on the “fun, optional” part of a project before the necessary part. 

But we’re also going to get sick, or our kids will get sick. There will be days when we’re not “feeling” it. 

We put systems in place, we create processes, and we automate to reduce friction in other areas of our lives to give us the space for the unavoidable frictions – whether they’re self-imposed or not. 

The best thing we can do is be mindful of our actions, have some good friends who will tell us the truth, and build systems that give us grace for the friction we can’t avoid.