I write a daily email helping Learning & Development professionals ditch meaningless work and earn more money
Warts n' all
It may seem counterintuitive to hear that someone who emails you daily struggles to share his work.
But despite being passionate about helping others and making a difference, I'm also a chronic perfectionist.
The idea of releasing something half-baked doesn't come naturally.
Even these emails, which I like to think only take me an hour each day, often take longer because I faff around trying to make them perfect.
I imagine 80% of the value comes from 20% of the time spent writing.
The rest is just tweaking, improving sentence structure and adding abominable dad jokes.
But I also feel a burden of responsibility to have all the answers.
I put pressure on myself to be "the complete instructional designer".
Of course, this is insane... for many reasons.
First of all, during the past couple of years, I've learned more about my craft than I did throughout the previous decade.
I feel like I've been on some crazy accelerator program, thrown in the deep end, practising uncomfortable, new techniques on real client projects.
And so, any expectation to have all the answers, whilst in the throws of such a valuable period of learning, is entirely unrealistic.
But this also reveals some deeper, personal challenges.
Not feeling like I'm good enough... projecting to gain approval... requiring external validation...
These are things I've struggled with for years, but only recently have I realised their impact on my behaviour.
(In hindsight, it's become clear this was triggered by an intense phase of childhood bullying, which lead to me feeling ostracised from my closest friends).
So, whilst it's clear my learning journey will never end, it does feel like this season of my career is all about mastering my craft.
Creating a body of work which delivers results for my clients.
This means sometimes, it makes sense to consider a different approach to content creation.
The teacher in me must be patient—it's also my duty to play the role of reporter.
Sharing what I'm learning, warts and all.
Telling you what's working... but more importantly, what's not.
So, this email is a flag in the ground.
A commitment to being more open.
I will embrace my perceived shortcomings, safe in the knowledge I am enough.
Nothing to hide, nothing to prove.
Just me (and the warts).
Now, if that's not enough to make you unsubscribe...
Yours,
- Ant
Ant Pugh
I write a daily email helping Learning & Development professionals ditch meaningless work and earn more money
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