A SideNotes State of the Union (2024)

News

Jan 3

Written By Mike LaValley

At a Glance

It’s time for some changes to the newsletter.
Some changes will go into effect now, some over time.
Let’s discuss what they are and how they’ll make your experience better in the new year!

A new year. A time for change.

If you’re not changing, you’re not growing.

January is notorious for NEW.

→ New goals, new ideas, and new takes on old ones.

Today is an unconventional issue of SideNotes. It's time to take what I’ve learned from the past year of content and where I see the newsletter is heading.

Let's call it a "SideNotes State of the Union", 2024 Edition.

It's a look behind-the-scenes at my newsletter creative process.
It's an opportunity for transparency about the changes.
It’s a preview of all the cool changes coming your way.

This is for all you creative nerds out there. 🤓

Setting the Stage

Every year I take some time to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t in my creative process. For my writing, more specifically for SideNotes, I try to stick with a format for a period of time, take in what’s working, and adjust from there.

This is what I use to measure my progress:

Data - I evaluated last year’s changes and goals based on community feedback. Sometimes that feedback would look like an email response to a post. Other times it was something that resonated with people on social media.
Goals - Since the start of this newsletter, it's been my goal to do the following each week:
1. Build a community of creative pros trying to balance their creative lives.
2. Share an idea that provides value to your journey.
3. Express myself through writing.

The Changes

Last year, I strove to make 6 changes to the newsletter/blog posts.

Change #1 - New(ish) Format
Change #2 - New Schedule
Change #3 - New Logo / Mascot
Change #4 - Rating System
Change #5 - Tip Jar
Change #6 - Article Archive

None of these were radical changes. More like “refinements”.

→ Some are getting another shot.

→ Some are being left behind.

Here’s the list of changes for 2024:

Change 1 - New(ish) Format
Change 2 - Refined Topics
Change 3 - More Drawings
Change 4 - More Products
Change 5 - More Book Shares
Change 6 - Better Archive

Change #1 - New(ish) Format

One of the things I was most proud of this year creatively was how I leveled up my writing.

It all started with a writing cohort I took called “Ship 30 for 30.” The instructors, Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush, helped students like me improve our writing online.

→ In short, writing online is different than something you’d read in your High School English class. It has a different feeling to it. It’s about capturing and keeping attention.

Since then, I’ve written essays on all things creative life and burnout. I ended each post with final thoughts and actionable steps. In that way, the reader could improve their life in a meaningful way directly after reading.

I treated each essay as an opportunity to use what I learned in the cohort and write in a slightly different style than I was used to.

The result—mostly great!

The good: I left my comfort zone and learned a new way of seeing my writing.
The not-as-good: I think the essays were mostly successful. But I felt like my voice got a little watered down sometimes. I wasn’t writing as many (albeit sometimes cringy) jokes, quips, etc. I think the content is there. The value is there. But my real voice needs to get injected back into the writing more.

So, the next evolution of the newsletter will be more conversational.

More stories to explain the meaning behind the topic. More raw thoughts about the topic and how I think it could help you (or not). Bringing you a truer version of self-care SideNotes for creatives.

Change #2 - Refined Topics

For a bit now, the newsletter has been “SideNotes.”

It still will be. But I want the focus to be clearer. Over time, I’ve shifted my focus a little. I am obsessed with self-development, personal growth, personal development—whatever you want to call it. Improving your life.

This past year, I realized how much creative life matters to me. I want to help you make the most of yours. If you’re reading this, you probably know my story. I burned out in 2017, found personal development, and now help other creatives make changes in their lives to avoid their own burnout.

The focus of SideNotes in 2024 is Creativity Self-Care.

→ To me, Creativity Self-Care is simply the process of building a life that sustainably supports who you want to be as a creative person.

Like you, I’m a busy creative professional. I’m also a designer at heart.

I want SideNotes to help you design the creative life you want, one small step at a time. I’ll bring you the stories, the lessons, and the examples of how to design your life. You take what you want and build your life to suit your own vision.

My goal for this next year of SideNotes is to find interesting concepts related to creativity self-care, share my insights on them, and help you translate the ideas into your own life. Along the way, I’ll let you know what has worked for me and others.

→ Hint: Sometimes, just because a popular principle exists, doesn’t mean it works for everyone.

Each week, we’ll dive into 1 of the 10 biggest issues all creative pros face.

Mindset
Life Design
Work Drama
Mental Health
Building Habits
Creative Process
Work / Life Balance
Overcoming Burnout
Personal / Career Growth
Time / Energy / Stress Management

Change #3 - More Drawings

Last year, I unveiled a new mascot — Felix the Cat.

I haven’t used Felix as much as I had originally intended, but creating him had an unforeseen effect. It got me back into drawing regularly. More specifically, it helped me find a new interest in sketching digitally.

Over the past year, I’ve shared several sketches on social media (and sometimes) in the newsletter. These drawings expand the way I talk about creativity self-care. I hope they make it even more engaging as well!

Here are a few of the greatest hits you may have seen if you follow me on LinkedIn.

I plan to draw more in the coming year and share them more consistently.

Change #4 - More Products

My focus for the past year and a half creatively has just been to write one newsletter each week and post consistently on LinkedIn.

This year, I want to find new ways to help you shape your creative life into whatever mold you want.

How will I do it?

→ By making tools to help supercharge your journey (wherever you may be along the path).

For many, the first step is to get you out of burnout and/or help you understand what personal development can do for you.

In turn, the first product will be a remixed version of my popular talk on burnout into a self-paced mini-course.
When you’re able to better identify burnout and how you get there, you make better choices for your life to avoid it.

If you find value in my work or believe something I make can help you, please consider purchasing one of the products I’ll be releasing later this year. It helps me reach more creative pros in need of balance and manage the overhead costs of running the newsletter and site.

Change #5 - More Book Shares

For those of you unaware, I’ve been writing a book on and off for a few years now.

When I say “writing,” I mean there exists a collection of about 85,000 words on my computer (the average non-fiction book is 50-80,000). But I never took them to the next step—editing.

I made a push a while back, then put it down.

Over time, the project has had quite a life.

→ It’s shifted gears.

→ It’s been reworked.

→ It’s been all over the place.

This year, my big creative goal is to finish the book and send it out into the world.

To keep me honest, I plan to regularly report more on the process as it moves forward. Think of it as:

Part update on the book
Part new ideas from my research
Part deep dive into how I juggle the project, my day job, my relationships, and everything else in my creative life.

Change #6 - Better Archive

I dropped the ball a bit on this one in 2023. 😅

It’s true that I did make some attempts to organize the SideNotes library throughout the year. But sadly, the bigger vision for the archive often took a back seat to keep up every week with the new posts.

I’m working on a better solution to this now and plan to roll it out sometime in January 2024.

Hopefully, this will make it clearer on both what is available to you in the Archive and how to find it quickly!

TL; DR

It’s time for some changes to the newsletter.
Some changes will go into effect now, some over time.
Change 1 - New(ish) Format
Change 2 - Refined Topics
Change 3 - More Drawings
Change 4 - More Products
Change 5 - More Book Shares
Change 6 - Better Archive

Quote of the Week

Motivation for the days ahead of you.

“If you're not changing, you're not growing; you're not being present. Change is essential.”

—Maggie Rogers

That's all for now.

Stay creative, my friends—and have a great week!

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Mike LaValley

Hi, I’m Mike. I’m an Architect and Writer from Buffalo, NY. I empower other ambitious Architects like you to advance to leadership without sacrificing your health and wellness.

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