“Ask yourself daily: ‘What can I learn here?’” 👩🏾‍🎓~Morgan Harper Nichols

By Jessica L. Williams • Issue #255 • View online

Shout out to Chelsea for buying me coffee this past week! ☕️

–

I set a daily 7 am appointment in my Google Calendar to pop up and ask:

What is the most important thing for me to do today?

At this point, I’m not sure where I first saw the question. I think maybe Greg McKeown’s Essentialism or Effortless, both of which have been on my mind lately.

It’s an opportunity for me to pause, check-in with myself, and identify my priorities each day. Some days the answer is a work project, others it’s a biz task, but the ones that have come up for me lately are ease or rest. Not to say that’s the only thing I would do all day but on those days, slow and steady is the way to go.

Being a caregiver and juggling #allthethings is so hard at times. So I’m thinking through ways to bring more ease into my life. Of course, taking some time to nail down my values was a significant first step. But then, listening to this a second time was also really helpful.

I realized that I want to get to a point where I have more passive income coming in. Passive means that I can create something once, and it can continue to bring in money with minimal effort.

So I’ve started building my marketplace - free and paid offerings where I can help folks kickstart their side hustling, newsletter, and affiliate marketing journeys. It’s still a work in progress. But I feel really good about the direction it’s taking and looking forward to building on it over the next few months.

Baby steps, right? It’s our guiding principle in these parts.

My business doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s, and I can honor the person I am, the time I have to spend, and how I like to work.

So can you.

It can start with a simple question:

What is the most important thing for me to do today?

And trust the first answer that comes to you.

On to the picks!

Note: This email may contain affiliate links. If you click through my link and make a purchase, that means I may receive “thank you money” at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I use and love.

#loves 😍

📺. Watching: Dear Evan Hansen. I’ve heard so much about this musical over the years. And “Waving through the Window” is one of my favorite songs, especially this version. I finally saw the movie, and it was incredible—a teenage boy struggling to belong. Sometimes we as adults long for the same thing. Have some Kleenex handy as I went through quite a few while watching. 🤧

🎧. Listening: How To Create A Newsletter Business Using Curated Content. This was a great episode of someone who runs a daily email and has built a business from it. (Most of his revenue comes from advertising and affiliate marketing). Lots of great insights here. I also think it’s cool that people have a “newsletter business.” Is that what I have? 🤔

🗞. Resource: 39 Helpful Newsletters For Creators. Josh Spector just updated his list of favorite newsletters for creators! If you are looking to grow your audience or your career, you’ll find this list helpful. And you may see a familiar name on there. 😉

#reads

Headspace

@Headspace

What makes you feel most yourself? Do more of that.

11:09 AM - 18 Oct 2021

I Built a 6-Figure Passive Income Machine — Here’s How to Do It Without Quitting Your Job

“Design your own passive income machine with a job, side hustle, and financial assets. That’s how you can make 6-figures of passive income to buy back your time and spend it however you want.”

I like that part of Tim Denning’s passive income machine includes investing in crypto and just financial education in general. I’m starting to get into this and may add some learning-out-loud bits in a new section of #jesspicks. So, let me know if you’d be interested in that.

entrepreneurshandbook.co • Share

Free resources vs. applied expertise

“Your free content should be generally applicable to people consuming it. It might be any number of formats ranging from blog posts to entire free mini courses.

But if people want your advice applied to their specific situation, they either need pay you for it or you can do it in another way that benefits you.”

I thought this post by Kevin Whelan was a great way to think about what to give away for free versus paid. And it has been beneficial for me in thinking about some next steps.

kevin.me • Share

#icymi

😍. Last issue’s top pick was: Don’t build a personal brand – build a creative platform

🛒 Visit my MemberVault marketplace and check out my offerings.

🤝. Get introduced to others within the #jesspicks community!

#classifieds 🗞

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#lifevibes

#supporters ☕️

Thank you Chelsea, Amy, Ricky, Kirsten, Vin, Julie, Nicole, Humza, Greg, Kristin, Kirstyn, Jess, Cheryl, Krysta, Adrena, Vidya, Kristyn, Danielle, Keryn, Terry, Vanessa, Meredith, Lauren, Meg, Maria J., Chivon, Kim, Luciano, Colie, Chasity, Laurie, Latienda, Collette, Anne, Kristen, Liz, Katherine, Monale, Betsy, Melissa, Lindsay, Jennifer, Kayla, Madison, Rae, Stephanie, Christine R., Christine M., Frances, Hannah, Chris, Brandy, Mea, Kristian, Maria K. Avery, Adam, Barbara, Shenee, Desiree, Lisa, Kandice, L’Oreal, and LaVerne for being #jesspicks supporters!! ❤️

Want to help support this newsletter? Buy me a coffee.

Did you enjoy this issue?

By Jessica L. Williams

#jesspicks is a hand-picked roundup of the best resources, inspiration, and tools for side hustlers. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday. ☕️| | Curated by @techbizgurl.

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“Ask yourself daily: ‘What can I learn here?’” 👩🏾‍🎓~Morgan Harper Nichols

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“Imagine how you want to feel at the end of the day. Start working towards that now.” 🤔 ~Lin Manuel Miranda

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