[🐝U] killing CHAOS starts with this ...

It's been a week.
The kind where you start doing quiet math in your head…
How much more can I do before crashing & burning

If you’re building something while life is chaotic…
this will matter.

Cats got snipped.
Mamma Mia's house went on the market, had a showing, & accepted an offer.
All in 1 weekend.

Started working with a new retainer client. Met twice with someone who might finally build me a real cabin & office on the property. Also that same weekend.

Imagine 4 insulated walls.
A wood-burning stove.
Heat I can actually leave on.

Because right now I'm in a trailer with unreliable electrical
& not enough solar to keep the heat going through an Alberta winter.

That means some nights, I had to set the alarm every 2 hours to try to get an extra degree or 2 of warmth …

the water still froze
& when those -30, -40 days were forecast, I had no choice but to run back to the house.

We’re in the 1st week of May & I STILL have patches of snow on the property

So once those subjects are removed, I won't have Mamma Mia's place to escape to when it gets colder inside the trailer than in the fridge.

I also spent part of the week so far clearing debris from the ditch.
Fallen trees, leaves, overgrown grass... all of it blocking the water from flowing away.
It didn’t help that the county snowplow cleared a big pile of dirt with the snow
The water's almost a foot deep at the gate.
& it stretches over 200 feet along the road.

We're under a severe flood watch & a total fire ban at the same time.
Still not sure how those 2 go together.
Other than the old Alberta saying …

“Don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes!”

County came out to inspect damage for the massive runoff created from record snowfall. Found an abandoned culvert they'll fix “sometime this summer”
So at least there's that.
One less thing I don’t need to pay for

Then yesterday afternoon, I got on a weekly call with an accountability group & walked them through all of it.
What’s was on my plate.
What got done.
Why everything felt like I was just putting out fires at the 11th hour before things went BOOM.

& when I finished...

Their instinct was to suggest I scale back this newsletter.

Here’s the part we tend to get wrong.

I don't blame them.

On the surface, it makes complete sense.
Given how many issues go out & the time it takes to write (& record) them

But it also told me exactly what was missing.

They're newer to newsletters.
Still building.
& when they heard everything on my plate... that's where their head went.

Newsletter = a lot of work.
A lot of work = something to cut when things get heavy.

Except I never specifically said the newsletter was overwhelming.
It IS time-consuming.
But I never said the newsletter was a problem.

I just described everything I was doing.
& they filled in the rest.

So I added the piece I'd left out.

The newsletter & its income streams cover every business expense I have & then some.

It may not be cruise-the-Mediterranean money.
But real money.
& right now... it's the thing that's working.

The moment I said that?
Their whole read of the situation changed.

Same conversation.
New context.
Completely different conclusion.

Then we talked about LinkedIn.

I'm posting more, commenting more...
yet my engagement's going down.

But they're getting strong results from it right now.
So naturally their instinct was...
dig in, test something, figure it out.

Which is usually right.

But once I filled in some blanks…
→ LinkedIn isn't currently generating income for me directly or indirectly
→ & that the time needs to go somewhere that either is producing income or spending it so I can literally survive an Alberta winter...

They got it immediately.
Scale back LinkedIn.
Protect the newsletter.

Same people.
Same conversation.
Completely different advice once they had enough context to actually work with.

Nothing changed… except the context.
& just like that, the chaos disappeared.

It’s not bad advice. Just incomplete.

There's a story... often credited to Hemingway... about a bet.

Could you write a complete story in 6 words?

“For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.”

& it works… because your brain rushes in to fill the blanks.

Some feel grief instantly... the baby didn't make it.
Others think the kid just outgrew them first.
Maybe they were ugly … the wrong size … or just stuffed in a closet & forgotten

But here’s the problem:
You’re not writing fiction.

Your marketing copy isn't trying to win a bet.
It's trying to get the right person to recognize themselves & take 1 step toward you.

& when you leave too many blanks?

They don't wait patiently.
They fill them in with their own experience.
Their own fear.
Every bad result they had before you showed up.

"I tried something like that. Didn't work for me." 
“Probably not for someone at my stage." 

& here's what actually stings about that.

Chances are... it could work for them.
Done in a way that fits how they actually operate.
At the right stage.
Built around who they are.

But they'll never know.

Because the blanks got filled before they gave you a chance.

Less is not always more.
Sometimes it’s just… missing information.

& missing information turns normal situations into chaos.

The Newspaper Test

Imagine this:
A stranger sees 1 thing about you.
Cold. No context. No buildup.

Just the words.

Your email subject line & preview text.
The first line of your LinkedIn post before "...read more."
Your website message before they have to scroll.

There are questions they need answered:
→ Do they realize this is for them? Not “kind of.” Not “probably.” Enough to see themselves to keep reading?
→ Did they have to assume anything? Any implied detail you forgot to actually write out.

Because blanks don't stay empty …
They get filled with whatever your reader already believes.

Try it yourself this week

Instead of going on autopilot through social media or your email …

Slow down & notice things you'd normally skip.
An email you were about to delete without opening.
A post you almost scrolled past.

Ask yourself why you were about to skip it.
Then read it anyway.

Was your instinct right?
Or did you fill in a blank that turned out to be wrong?

Now flip it.

Look at your own “above-the-fold” stuff with that same honesty.

What would make someone almost scroll past your stuff?
What blanks are you leaving?
What's the 1 thing a stranger can't figure out from the first thing they see?

Name it.
Fill it in.
Not with something cute or clever …
That’s just more confusion.
Make it clear.

Fix 1 blank.
Just 1

Then tell me what you changed.

Because most of what feels like chaos…
is just missing context.

Make it a great “context-filled“ week!
EG

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Thanks for being here. 
Seriously! 
I do appreciate your support.

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