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Welcome to Life's a Game, a weekly newsletter to help ambitious people build a more meaningful and integrated life. Was this sent to you? Subscribe here so you don't miss the next one.​

The Consumer ➡️ Creator Shift

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Quick Spin:

• The consumer to creator shift & why you should consider it
• 5 things preventing you from shifting
• Visual: Cringe Valley
• Framework: Transtheoretical Model of behavior change
• How to get started

Preamble: I wrote this newsletter last week prior to my Twitter being hacked on Saturday and was locked out for 5 days. Sadly it’s happening more and more.

I still believe in everything I say below but next week I’ll be diving into what I learned from this experience and what I plan to do differently going forward.

I would greatly appreciate you sharing this newsletter with friends if you find it valuable. Writing is my happy place and my main goal is sharing lessons from 18 years as a marketer, leader and parent with more people. Platform agnostic. Here’s the link for people to sign up. Thank you for your support.

​https://amandagoetz.ck.page/signup​

♟️ MY TURN:

If you look at my Twitter (err….X) profile, I joined in March 2009.

But I didn’t start posting until 2019.

Ten years.

It took 10 years of standing on the sidelines scrolling other people’s thoughts before adding my own.

The last 4 years of creating content have led to:

• 125,000 followers
• TV appearances
• 100+ podcasts
• Features in Forbes & Business Insider
• 2 rounds of capital for my D2C company
• And the biggest job offer I’ve ever received

My only regret?
Not starting sooner.

Content Creators: By The #s

JobSage surveyed over 1,200 Americans in the workforce about their current jobs versus their ideal ones and found only 1 in 10 are working their dream jobs.

Perhaps “dream job” is a fool’s errand but let’s pair that with the 90-9-1 rule for social media: 90% lurk, 10% engage and only 1% create.

(edit: 89% lurk, 10% engage, 1% create and 1% hack)​
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Before I jump into why we hesitate and how to change your consumer mentality to a creator mentality…

.....let me tell you why you should.

Let’s define “creating” as intentionally growing your audience.

By intentionally growing your audience you will unlock:

• Leverage in your job - no one wants to piss off the person with thousands of followers + more and more employers see personal brands as an asset to growing a corporate brand
• A support system - friends, investors, job offers - I even found my therapist through a Twitter connection.
• Ability to earn extra income - affiliate marketing, sponsors and speaking engagements just to name a few.
• Personal growth - the act of creating is a self-development tool. You have to get curious. Discover what gives you energy and what you are passionate about.

But moving from a consumer to a creator mentality is not easy.

Let’s explore why.

WHY WE HESITATE

The 5 reasons 90% of people on social media don’t take action:

Reason #1: Fear of failure

We are primal creations wired for survival and safety. Our brains are literally designed to avoid fear and discomfort.

Yet my greatest strengths today came from failures of the past.

Great days bring memories.
Good days bring joy.
Bad days bring learning.
Horrible days bring change.

Reason #2: Self sabotage

You have to believe you deserve something better. Peeling back the layers to reveal what your subconscious is thinking might help you discover years of programming leading you to believe otherwise. Get curious about who from your past may have led you to believe you didn’t deserve something better.

A helpful way to begin identifying forms of self-sabotage is to frame your situation using the following sentence:

“I want to achieve (goal), but I keep doing (behavior).”

Reason #3: We try to change too much

James Clear reminds us: If you get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done. Small changes make for big gains but inaction is sure to result in no change.

Ask yourself: What is one tiny action you can take today on the path of your goal?

Reason #4: The wrong motivation

Are you running from something or toward something? The thing that motivates you will determine your ability to take action and maintain it.
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​Reason #5: Unrealistic expectations

Are you comparing yourself to someone who has been doing the thing for years? You can’t compare your day 1 to their day 10,000. Find others getting started and becoming friends with them.

Look to those ahead of you for inspiration but to those around you for support.

A NOTE: CRINGE VALLEY

“No one cares what I have to say”
“Those people are way more qualified”
“Everything I say is so cringe”

Every creator feels this in the beginning. I call it “Cringe Valley” because it feels as though you are wandering around not sure what to say and you question everything. It feels icky and self absorbed.

Eventually you climb out of it and get to a more stable and confident place.
A place where you are proud to take up space.

♟️ YOUR TURN:

Are you ready to stop mindlessly scrolling and start intentionally creating?

Today we will explore the stages of change and in a future newsletter we will go through building a personal brand and content strategy. Sound good?

When I was becoming an ACE certified personal trainer we studied the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change. It applies here as well.

Let's set this up....have you ever tried something new and it went something like this?

• Week 1: everything is going well
• Week 2: you miss a day
• Week 3: you miss 3 days
• Week 4: you decide "this thing is just not for me" and give up?

Understanding the stages of change is crucial for being able to properly assess one's ability to build new habits.

Stage 1: Pre-contemplation

The person is not planning on taking action at all.

Are you in this stage? The goal for you is to understand your why.

Stage 2: Contemplation

The person is aware of the opportunity and beginning to educate themselves on the changes necessary.

Are you bookmarking posts and reading about content creation strategy?
You are here.

The goal for this stage is understanding what you can achieve as well as the sacrifices you are going to have to make to achieve it.

Stage 3: Preparation

The person is ready to take action within the next 30 days.

Are you in this stage? Reply to this email as I have something coming that will help and subscribers will get early access!
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It's time to start creating your realistic action plan.

Stage 4: Action

The person is making changes to their behavior.

Too many people at this stage act like kids in a candy store and...just like my kids...end up passed out from too much sugar and excitement.

Remember: 1% better every day

Stage 5: Maintenance

The person has made the changes and the habit is part of who they are / who they see themself as.

The goal at this stage is to maintain motivation through realistic goal setting (more to come on this).

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​TIPS FOR GETTING UNSTUCK

Most people get stuck at Stage 2. They want to change but don’t move to realistic planning / action mode.

Here 5 ways to get unstuck:

1. Understand your why - Click here to conduct my personal values exercise.
2. Goal setting - Make a goal for how many posts you will create a day
3. Scroll with intent - When you are a creator, the two reasons to scroll is to get inspired or to engage. I spend more time using Twitter search than scrolling.
4. Don’t mix business with pleasure - I allow myself 30 mins a day of “consumer” time when I take my commute bath. I scroll TikTok for fun. This habit has confined mindless scrolling to one specific time in the day.
5. Support System - Find 5 other creators in the same stage as you and ask to create an accountability group along with helping to amplify each other’s content (I am in a 9 person Creator Coalition)

Final thoughts....

So what stage are you in?
Where do you want to be?

It’s easier to talk about creating than to actually create. Trust me!
But if you keep talking and don’t start doing…..nothing will change.

Just start.
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♟️ Let's Win Together.

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