Making problems magically disappear

Hey friends,

I had a chat earlier today with my friend and magic coach Matthew LeMottee. He’s been struggling to make YouTube videos and launch his online course, so we were trying to get to the root cause of the issues.

He said something very interesting after a few minutes of thinking: “I think my biggest problem, is that I’m treating this stuff as a heavier lift than it needs to be”.

He spent 4 hours scripting a video called “Why I Became a Magician”, but when I asked him to just tell me why he became a magician, he easily talked about it with enthusiasm, wit and charisma, completely impromptu. But turning this into a video was a struggle because he was treating the YouTube video as a “Big Deal”. In his mind, he made it into a much heavier lift than it needed to be.

I’ve definitely been guilty of Heavy Lift Syndrome many times too. When I was in my first year of medical school, I treated it as a heavy lift. I thought “this is supposed to be hard” and so it was hard. I used to carry around big textbooks, take copious handwritten notes, highlight the excrement out of them, and think I was being productive. A few months in, I realised that this Theatre of Effort was completely pointless, and that there were more efficient ways to learn the material.

One tip from Tim Ferriss is to ask ourselves “what would this look like if it were easy?” I’ve found that asking that question often leads me to insights I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

I’m using it these days when it comes to writing my book. Whenever I start to lose motivation or focus, I remind myself to not treat it as such a heavy lift, and to enjoy the journey. That mindset shift immediately makes me feel better, and more motivated to write.

So my question for you is this – what are you treating as a Heavy Lift that really doesn’t need to be?

Have a great week!

Ali

xx

❤️ My Favourite Things This Week

1. WeWork – I’ve never worked in an office before, so last week I decided to sign up for some office space and it was magical. It’s so much nicer to go somewhere and work with people than just be at home all day. Here’s a cheeky affiliate link if anyone fancies giving it a try in a major city, I would recommend it 100%.
2. Book – On my daily cycle to WeWork I’ve been listening to The Millionnaire Fast Lane. Despite the click-baity title, it’s a solid guide to wealth creation. There’s nothing particularly new to me, but there are some great models that I’ve started to incorporate into my thinking about money.
3. YouTube Video – I’ve recently been giving some extra thought to management of my team. This YouTube video is one I’ve been watching on repeat for the last week to take lessons from.​

✍️ Quote of the Week

“While making big changes and pursuing lasting happiness is certainly a worthy goal, when we ‘look under the hood at the dynamics of the process’ we’ve found that ‘we should be focusing on how we feel from day to day’.”

From The Happiness Advantage – Shawn Achor. Resurfaced using Readwise.

🎬 This Week’s Videos