First week of December?! WHAT?!

How’d we get here!? Already! Feels like May was a week and a half ago, and somehow the summer is gone and winter is right at our doorstep. Here in Atlanta we’ve already had our fake fall/winter hit where it was 40 and under for a solid week. Now we’re back to the 60’s for a short time before it dips back down for good.

This is my favorite season of the year. Coming hot off my birthday and Thanksgiving and getting into Christmas.

I’m not sure about y’all, but December is always a gift. Contract work dries up a bit, but we’re in full swing on Christmas content for church. It’s always a challenge and I could always be more prepared for it, but it’s always wildly rewarding at the end when the content hits the screens and we get to tell the story of Jesus’ birth.

I hope y’all have some time this month to unwind and relax a bit before the new year comes a long and demands new goals and new focus so when you hit December 2024 you can look back and be proud of the time you’ve spent.

Think about it:

What’s the old proverb?

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” - Martha Goedert

Listen. I was a solo freelance artist for the better part of four years. It was great. Outside of the client I was accountable to no one. I was able to pitch what I wanted, the way I wanted to do it. As long as the client was good with it and signed off on it, I was green.

There is for sure something to be said for being able to one-stop-shop yourself and your work. “Come to me for full service creative.” It’s an incredible thing to be able to offer.

But I’ll tell you what… Something I’ve learned over the past 5 years is that I work way better in a group.

For the first year or so I kinda bucked against the idea . Like I was somehow less of an artist or less of a creative force because I wasn’t doing it all. But imagine if you could devote 100% of your creative attention on the field you’re actually well trained in. In the area that you’ve got the most passion for… You’d be a force.

It’s like Thanksgiving dinner… Y’all. I’m there for the homemade stuffing that you cook INSIDE the turkey. It’s why I show up! I’m there to put as much stuffing (“dressing” for you weridos…) on a single plate as can responsibly be done. Sure. I could grab a ton of mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and green beans, and honey baked ham, and whatever else… But that just means that I get full on stuff I’m not completely interested in.

Obviously I’d look like an insane person walking back to my chair with a plate full of stuffing so it’s not a perfect analogy. But if I could do what I really wanted at Thanksgiving dinner that’s exactly what I’d do. A full plate of stuffing with some mashed potatoes and a single piece of turkey.

It’s the same with creative responsibilities on a job. Could you do it all…? If you’ve got the skills, sure. I did it all for a long while and was 80% miserable dealing with things I wasn’t super strong in wishing I could just sit in the animation task. Wishing I could just have an entire plate of stuffing!

So the thing I’m asking you to think about this week is, “What is your stuffing?” What is the one thing you could fill you’re entire plate with while excluding the green beans and cranberry sauces of each job?

I know it’s rough to try and build a team for all your projects. I know it takes money and time to do all that. So it’s less of a “how to build your team” thought, and more of a, take some self reflection if you’re someone who operates as a one-stop-shop or jack of all traits and figure out what you’re stuffing is. Then lean into it.

I bet y’all weren’t ready for the stuffing analogy. I’m actually feeling pretty good about it. Hahaha. I hope it makes sense to you. I really feel like I knocked it out of the park with that one! Let me know if I didn’t…

Creatives to follow:

@LenteGameDev : This is Lente. She’s a game dev who’s working at job she loves, but ultimately doesn’t want to stay in forever. Why? Because she knows that it’s better to spend time doing a job that’s worth while, but ultimately isn’t the goal so she can have some of her time back to work on her ultimate job. Being a developer with a game published and released. She’s a super inspiring account to follow. Go say hi.

@alindragu : I don’t know where to begin with Alin. He’s one of my closest friends and inspirations. Dudes writes every single day without fail, and it’s all motivational and inspirational gold. He just release his first book on marketing (which you should absolutely go and buy). He’s 1/3 of my agency, and I’m super lucky to be able to call him friend. Go say hi.

Problem Solved:

Truth be told, I don’t have a problem to solve this week. I could probably whip something up, but instead I’ll just be transparent and say that the last week has kicked my butt.

I mentioned it in the open, but I’m full steam into content creation for Christmas and what we’re building is big and ambitious and it’s taken a lot of my time and attention.

So instead of trying to find something to place here, I’ll just say that I believe the problem of being “over worked” is something you can address every day.

Every minute of every hour is about decisions. Will you do this thing or that thing? What will you trade your time for?

• Do more work?

• Learn something new?

• Spend time with your husband/wife/significant other?

• Get down on your kids level and engage them in a meaningful way?

Ultimately I’ve chosen this week to decorate my house and watch Christmas movies with my family when free time came around. Instead of putting my head into a helpful problem solved I dug into the season and spent quality time with my people.

I won’t make a habit of not having this section hashed out each week, but this week I made the calls I made and I don’t regret it.

Hopefully y’all understand.

But if you do have questions about something you need help with, reach out on X or email me. I’m always around to beat something up and figure out solutions to problems y’all are having. And if I can’t help, we’ll hit up the community and get it all figured out.

Close:

So. First week of December. What does December usually look like for you?

For me, I try and work as hard as I can all year so that when December hits I only work IF I want it. If there’s something really worth doing.

Otherwise I get a puzzle with my wife and work on that every free chance we get. Good wine, beautiful wife, good conversation.

If you ask her, I’m absolutely terrible at puzzles. Shoot, if you ask me I’m the opposite of someone working on a puzzle. When I think I’m doing the right thing I’m actually actively working against the completion of the dumb thing.

But I’m here for the quality time with my wife. We’ve been married for almost 11 years (11 in January). Anyone who tells you it’s easy to continue to find new ways to connect to your husband or wife year over year is a liar.

Every day is an adventure to find new and exciting ways to connect with someone you’ve known the most in your life. My wife and I found that in December, it’s time to lean into our family and do a puzzle just the 2 of us leading up to Christmas.

I hope y’all have a restful and exciting December. Do all the work, or relax and take time off coming into 2024… Just make sure you enjoy it. Make sure you dig into relationships and your people. They’re all that’ll be left when career shifts or dries up.

I want to:

• Celebrate your wins.

• Be inspired by what is inspiring you.

• Help you with any issue you might have, if I can or if the community can.

• What’d you think of this week’s newsletter?

Go make something! I’ll see y’all next week!