iced coffee is for pleasure, hot coffee is for business
a casual coffee chat about my first two months on substack
There’s this old-school internet saying that goes:
“Iced coffee is for pleasure, hot coffee is for business.”
And consciously or not, I find myself gravitating to that rule.
Putting my practically hat on, it’s because during business/corporate settings, I want a relatively quick coffee fix and typically down my drink in less than twenty minutes i.e. its optimal temperature.
Alternatively, if I’m opting for leisure, I’d like an iced coffee that maintains its ideal temperature for an extended period of time as I read my book at a cafe joint or jostle along my shopping stroll.
When it comes to my writing though, which has the seriousness of business (kinda) and pleasure of leisure (also kinda), then it really depends on how much I’d like to lock in / hang around on that particular day.
I’ve been writing on Substack for a little under two months now with decent effort into writing and minimal effort towards, well, growth and interaction.
Still, I’ve got a couple observations to make about this website and my overall experience with it — mostly good, few bad, some I want to imbue into the words I say and thoughts I think, and some better suited down my toilet bowl.
SUBSTACK IS JUST AS PRETENTIOUS AS LINKEDIN
There. I said it.
No, I won’t elaborate why.
Ok, maybe I will.
Substack and LinkedIn have similar levels of pretentiousness but sit on opposite extremes. And while I am pleased to mention that while the ratio of pretentious-fucks on Substack and LinkedIn are fairly similar, the non-pretentious Substack person posts more often than the non-pretentious LinkedIn person, which skews the general perception and vibe.
Like any other social media platform though, it is my job to curate my feed with content I actually enjoy. It took me a while to realise how desensitised I had gotten to topics like
How AI is the scum of the earth and is killing humanity
Identical takes on girlhood, social media, mental health, phones, etc.
Why [insert artist here, most often Sabrina Carpenter] is problematic
A reminder to myself that choosing not to read them is NOT symbolic of anti-intellectualism or ableism or disregard for minorities.
And you know something else I’ve realised?
I’ve got a massive soft spot for seeing what people have been up to in their very ordinary lives. Nobody cares? Fuck it, I do.
Tell me how your day went. Did you like that croissant? Did you read a cool article? Did you trip over your shoelaces and think about why you need yet another pair of minimal white sneakers?
And that, brings me to my next major observation.
NOBODY GIVES A SHIT / EVERYBODY GIVES A SHIT
I couldn’t decide which header to use because both of them are incredibly relevant.
Nobody cares about the consistency and quality of your posts!
(Well, not entirely true, because there is at least one person who consistently presses like on my Instagram stories and for that, I very much appreciate you David.)
I’ve had a few encouraging comments and have gotten a lot more comfortable at hitting the bright orange post/send button, a feat that once paralysed me with perfectionism.
This manifests in one other way and it’s the realisation that I don’t need to be an expert on something to write an article.
Fuck, I don’t even need to study or interview or curate from experts either, like how I wrote my interview with Jan Kamp Justesen, CEO of LB Forsikring.
I can be unabashedly myself and express my own personalised takes on things, and they are important because they are MY takes and this is MY newsletter. They don’t need to be interesting to anyone else but me.
The same way it’s easier to write when nobody is watching, it’s also easier to write when you feel like everybody thinks you’re the coolest bean in the world — with a 100% strike rate on every joke and quip that you make.
WRITING MAKES ME HAPPY (AND I ASSOCIATE A LOT OF MY IDENTITY WITH IT)
I am happiest when I am in a flow state.
And this can manifest in many artistic forms.
Writing just happens to be mine.
Over the last two months, I’ve been more reaffirmed that writing is one of the few activities that bring me great flow, satisfaction and joy.
(There are times where it feels like a chore, but overall, it’s an overwhelming plus.)
Contrary to popular belief (or perhaps in-line with what everyone else secretly thinks of me), I’ve got a bit of an ego.
I’ve achievement-oriented to a fault and often associate how well my day went by how productive I was and not how I mentally/emotionally feel. Thankfully, writing is one of those activities that tickle the itch of productivity - some say I have a weirdly clouded view on what a ‘productive’ task is (i.e. I think playing video games, but only certain video games, are a productive activity).
Undoubtedly, the idea of having a newsletter is a boost to my ego.
To me, the most interesting people are the ones who have ‘projects on the side’ in addition to their otherwise ordinary life, and it is those one or more hobbies/passions that represent intentionality, which I consider core to leading a good life.
A newsletter is like portfolio, proof that I’ve done something of my own volition. It’s an attestation, albeit brief and only getting about eight views per post, that I’m building something I’m passionate about, which is (and this is the ego speaking) far more than I can say for a majority of people.
It conjures the same “I’m just that guy” feeling as sneaking in a 5am workout before most people have left the bed.
Writing makes me feel more important than a cog in the machine of our capitalistic society — in a world where everything seems owned by corporations, it’s very uplifting to have something crafted solely out of my own creativity.
A CHECKPOINT ON PROGRESS
Including this post, I’ve published 17 articles this year, which is pretty much on budget for the 104-article target I have this year.
It’s a pretty steep goal, especially for someone who had written maybe five or so the previous year. To be frank with you, the only reason I was able to keep on track of my schedule is because of my writing burst over Christmas and New Years where I didn’t really have anything going on. Sometime in these next few weeks, I’d like to manufacture a few days in a row of complete, focused writing that will generate the momentum I need into April.
I’m happy with my two post per week schedule:
Tuesday being the notes app series, a casual life update that talks about the week gone by or something completely arbitrary.
Saturday being a deep dive into a topic of interest — mentally I’m referred to them as project posts — with a little more research, structure and attempt at giving value.
Importantly, when I started on this project, I made the commitment to silence that entrepreneurial hustle bro in me who thinks that everything I do must result in some social or financial gain. Writing, at least for this year, will be an entirely not-for-profit hobby.
Have I followed that? Mostly.
I’d be lying to say that I don’t occasionally click on posts I’m only interested in and force myself to interact in the name of ‘networking’ and ‘getting my name out’.
And I, like any reasonable writer, fantasises about the timeline where I turn writing into a secondary or primary income — bitten by the sudden desire to build a sizable following.
(And again, honestly speaking, it’s not the commitment not to do so that’s stopping me. If anything, it gives an easy excuse out of trying to grow. What really stops me is the fear of making an attempt and being decidedly unsuccessful at it — the looming worry that my execution will fall so drastically short of my expectations, so why set myself up for failure?)
((Which is interesting because I for one, hate that kind of mentality, even if said as a joke. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people actively encourage keeping low expectations to prepare for disappointment. I’m not saying you should always gun for the stars. I’m saying you should always have some reasonably set bare minimum — give yourself the RESPECT that you deserve.))
As for the question of whether I’d like to continue writing though: it is a resounding, decided YES.
THE TECHNICIAN, MANAGER AND ENTREPRENEUR
While I was drafting this post, I happened to listen to an episode of Feel-Good Lab by Angel Zheng where she shares lessons from her most recent read, E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber.
She introduces the idea that there are three players in a small business: the Technician (who does shit), the Entrepreneur (who dreams of shit) and the Manager (who keeps shit in-line).
A common pitfall of small business owners is their foolhardy focus on being the Technician, because well, most people start off as Technicians. Technicians believe that a successful business is grounded solely on the quality and quantity of their work.
To draw that connect to my situation, which again is not a business, but a side project: the Technician is the writer in me. That’s the role I’m currently playing, and he’s got one goal: to output consistent writing that he likes.
However, and again this could be the hustle-bro-in-the-flask in me speaking, I want to give the Manager and Entrepreneur a say in the future of Journaling in Public.
Manager me says: “Curate who you read. Binge the content you love. Sent it to your Kindle if you need to. Be mindful and decisive, and only read things you actually enjoy! The same way that we’ve got a two-article writing quota per week, we’ll have a reading quota per week, which comes with the task of liking, commenting and expressing critical thoughts on each. I want to fuel the Technician with the resources he needs, whether it’s knowledge, inspiration, or rest.”
Entrepreneur me says: “My purpose for this account remains the same: It is my beacon of creativity in an otherwise monochromatic world, a corner of the internet that is utterly mine. I have kept non-writing requirements (i.e. reading, networking, audience building) fairly low and I am happy to keep it that way for now. Moving forward, I’d like to publish content that is more personal and positive, where I can share my experiences even though I’m certainly not a subject matter expert — whether it is video games, business, fashion, technology or the very generic topic of navigating my twenties. My writing is, predominantly, for myself.”
And finally, the Technician, who had spent these last two months downing iced latte after iced latte, says: “I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve had to write, especially on how we’ve developed a stronger culture of dedicating time to the craft in an otherwise busy world. I want more of the same — of undisturbed, immersive moments; perhaps even add some backing tracks to stories that I like. I want to write what makes me happy. I want to see what I’ve written in the past and smile/cry/recall — for that is the purpose of journaling, and this one just happens to be public.”
THERE IS MUCH PAIN IN THE WORLD BUT NOT IN THIS ROOM
I’m still unclear about the long-term purpose of this account.
Will it continue to be what Entrepreneur me says — a beacon of creativity that ticks the box of my ego of feeling more special in a world where everyone is increasingly similar?
Will it transform into a more LinkedIn-like blog setup and revenue generating machine that plays to my corporate brand and maintains a secondary income, in exchange for my authenticity?
Will it be an undercover third space for me to report on potentially controversial findings, a bit like Ted Gioia (this guy is so cool), covering things that mainstream journalists would never be allowed to publish?
Right now, my PURPOSE is like liquid in a jar — which I will allow to mend and shift in its container. I’ve committed to about a year of this: spending all my 104 articles discovering more about my attentions.
Because it is through writing, brainstorming, and living with intentionality — that I get closer to not finding but CRAFTING my very own purpose.
I conclude this post with this beautiful comic sequence / interview with some bloke at the club:
This lad encapsulates how I’m feeling about Substack, or more broadly the world, with my intention to be more PERSONAL and POSITIVE in my following posts — cutting between the increasingly similar and negative takes on culture, relationships, the future of humanity, etc.
It’s a bit too overwhelming for my liking!
I just want to create feel-good content and share my thoughts. Not in a blind optimism kinda way, but in a… hot coffee on a wintry morning or lovely cocktail at a bar kinda way. As subservient and delusional as it is, I trust that my people, who appreciate and enjoy my writing, will find me eventually.