Growth // Codex Newsletter

A Weekly Digest Dedicated To Helping You

Produce // Promote // Profit

Better // Smarter

 

The other day, as I sat on a panel listening to founders and funders, I started playing a game in my head, counting the times someone said “it’s about your mindset“

After the 11th time, I calmly raised my hand and asked, “could you give us an example of how that would apply here?“

*Crickets*

Then the next person used the phrase as a catch-all, so again I asked “could you give elaborate on what you mean?”

*Crickets*

Welcome back Rogue, this week, we dig deeper into “mindset” because the time for fluffy words from some copy paste guru to “motivate us” is over

2021 means something different to all of us, the one thing that binds us is that the time for waiting is over, for some – it’s been helpful to start over, for others killing off bad habits and practices by ripping the bandaid off

What’s In This Issue //

Produce // Back to the basics

Promote // The less you listen, the more costly your advertising

Profit // Slow is smooth, smooth is fast

Bonus // GitHub Student Developer Pack – Github is offering students a developer pack with free GitHub pro, 12 free months of Canva premium, and a free domain from name.com (.edu email required) 

Would you like to catch up on previous issues? Check them out here

Aright now, let’s dig in on improving how we

Produce //

Pro Tip:

If you try more you'll fail more.
If you fail more you'll care less.
If you care less you'll try more.

— Jack Butcher (@jackbutcher) January 20, 2021

How often do you find yourself thinking you should prepare yourself, study a bit, know more, and then start the next level?

Not too long ago, I read how Elon Musk began shopping for rockets and soon discovered their price tag was north of $65 Million per rocket. Not one to shy from tinkering, he did research, and then more research, and then a little bit of exploring and found that he could source all the parts at about 2% of that = about $1 Million

Throw in research and development and some ingenuity and sometime later and Elon was making them at 10% the cost of what’s out there, giving birth to Space X who now handles about two-thirds of NASA’s launches

Look at your industry, or maybe you’ve been eyeing another, what part of it gets you excited? Feeling wonder and awe like when you were a kid? This isn’t one of those “believe and manifest” things, nope what we’re digging into is first principles theory – used by military strategists, philosophers, and billionaires alike, the first-principles theory has you dig deeper and deeper until you are left with only the foundational truths of a situation 

I figured this week would be a good time to dig into this because as we share strategies with talent, we find two big hurdles to their execution

• Imposter syndrome
• Lack of resources

Every now and again I’ll meet a Creative Misfit that struggles w/ imposter syndrome

Tell ya what I’ve learned

Your greatest competitive advantage is YOU

Build // Test // Measure 🤟

— Katriel €alderon-Sarfati (@NerdGoneRogue_) December 30, 2020

When it comes to what you and I create, we’re talking about the very “thing” that helps deliver the transformation. If you were Jeff Bezos, who loves Tech, Books, and Data, you’d naturally love building and launching an online bookstore (that breakdown is an example of how applying the theory to everything looks)

Although I switched major and never became an engineer, I did fulfill a childhood dream of becoming // working as a scientist, and work is never over

Scientists don’t assume anything. It’s a daily round of questions like, What are we absolutely sure is true? What has been proven?

This has been a game-changer when it comes to tackling my bouts with imposter syndrome and has proven helpful when I share it with colleagues and team members

 

 

When it comes to lack of resources, your build, and what you want to build (whether product or service) is dependant on the quality of gear you have, and how you apply it – minimize risk of failure by asking yourself “what is the major transformation I want to aid in?” This becomes your “rally cry” that simplifies your message from something like “we gather and synthesize hundreds of data points daily and aid in automating deployment to increase output with a decrease in waste” to “we’ve compiled cutting edge tech that helps you make smarter choices, oh and it requires no tech skills to run”

Try it out, let us know what you came up with on our IG

Alright now, let’s keep the momentum going and head on to improving how we

Promote //

Pro Tip:

The less you listen, the more costly your Advertising

I could bore you to death with all the advertising jargon and how to’s but lately, everyone and their mother is a marketer who apparently makes the best ads – so lets move to the engagement part of promoting 

Specifically, social media, which if we’re being honest, is no different than text, email, and calls

Here’s a sneak peek into a recent workshop i had with some business owners in our recent partnership with LA County to spearhead their Business Recovery Program

Profit //

Pro Tip:

“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” – Army Proverb

As we went over in the Produce section above, first-principles theory // experimentation // the scientific method is a key ingredient in all major discoveries. For as long as man has been on this earth we’ve been imagining things, and bringing them to life

“France in the Year 2000” is one example. A series of paintings, made by Jean-Marc Côté and other French artists from 1899 – 1910, shared what some people and artists thought  life would look like in the year 2000

And

We’re not always going to be right, like this one

What does this have to do with improving profits? Applying this to improving how we profit is essential to prosperity – if you were deciding to start from zero, I’d sit you down and have you draft out all the ideas you’d apply to the areas you saw some opportunity 

Sales (profits) are a symptom, if you feed the machine well, you get well very soon, and this takes not just a good idea, but great execution, we know that part sure – but what is great execution? As covered in the behind the scenes workshop above, creating a kickass product takes listening twice and talking once, promoting effectively means talking to likeminded people, and profting is the symptom of how you synthesize all three -which means take this opportunity to dream bigger tonight, what problems would your creation solve? Who would it help? What would it help your customer become?

The exercise if you haven’t one it yet looks like this

What do I help my customer? 

Do

1

2

3

Have 

1

2

3

Become

1

2

3

 

Alright now, we’ve got work to do, people to zoom and money to be made, till next week

here’s to escaping average

 

Growth // Codex Newsletter

A Weekly Digest Dedicated To Helping You

Produce // Promote // Profit

Better // Smarter

Welcome back Rogue,

Where do you stand on expertise?

At a dinner many decades ago, a physicist named Robert W. Wood was asked to respond to the toast, “To physics and metaphysics.”

Reason being, “metaphysics” meant psychology, philosophy, basically, truths you could recognize just by thinking about them. Wood, with a laid-back sympathetic smile, says “The physicist has an idea. The more he thinks it through, the more sense it seems to make. He consults scientific literature. The more he reads, the more promising the idea becomes. Thus prepared, he goes to the laboratory and devises an experiment to test it. The experiment is painstaking. Many possibilities are checked. The accuracy of measurement is refined, the error bars reduced.

He lets the chips fall where they may. He is devoted only to what the experiment teaches. At the end of all this work, through careful experimentation, the idea is found to be worthless. So the physicist discards it, frees his mind from the clutter of error, and moves on to something else.”

Raising his glass, he finishes his thought “The difference between physics and metaphysics, is not that the practitioners of one are smarter than the practitioner of the other. The difference is that the metaphysicist has no laboratory”

We can’t have it both ways – we’re either resilient and relentless or entitled and armchair philosophers

The time for resolutions, shortcuts, and magical quick fixes sold to you by a “guru” in a Lambo is over (except maybe on Instagram)

DISASTER, yes

Messy, SCARY and TONS OF CHANGES, also yes

Now imagine they spent months and months, maybe a year arguing over how it would be done

Here’s a quick tweak you can make today. Write everything down, pick one thing, focus on doing that, and only that for 3 months.

If you like it, try it for a year. If you don’t, pick something else for 3 months.

You with me?

Ok, let’s channel this into improving how // what we

Produce

He who builds on the people, builds on the mud – Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

 

A common pain point you and our fellow Creative Misfits shared was “growing brand” which led a lot of folks to create content – for those that fell in love with the process but forgot the steps to ensure they created for the right people this created a whole new set of problems

People wanting it all for $free.99

There’s a beauty to serving the right people, it’s what inspired us to start the all-new Growth // Society (first 50 people can join for free, just click here $20 a month after that)

But, serve the wrong people, try and solve the wrong problems, and you end up not communicating the value you intended to 

If you don’t click the image I’ll summarize it for ya, someone who has spent years learning, working, and now sharing his expertise had people crying because he was charging $9.99 for his hands-on course… yep you read that right

Bitching and moaning about investing $9.99 in themselves from someone who does what they want to

If you love coaching, teaching, here are 3 MAJOR mistakes I’ve begun correcting:

• I was giving away coaching for free when instead, I could’ve packaged up my expertise instead of giving out hours at a time. This is probably the most common mistake I made without even realizing it.
• I’d get excited with potential & start working for free (CEO’s were more than happy to let me keep making that mistake).
• Spent way too much time helping the wrong people – imagine spending 1 week trying to convince someone with their head in the sand that the solution was within reach
• Last but not least, I wasn’t teaching them to value my time/ support

While I in no way shape or form consider myself a guru I do consider myself driven to help those who have that magic and enthusiasm to experiment in them. I had to learn to solve problems that matter to them to take on the problems that mattered to me

Learn from my mistakes and try this instead:

• Document your most recent wins // losses
• Try writing out your experiences
• Record yourself reading it using your voice recorder app on your phone
• If you’re not camera-shy, record yourself on your phone breaking down one experience in under 2 minutes

You’ll discover which medium is the most natural for you, and material if you elected to outsource more content creation, AND, you’ll also have a more insightful piece of content, most people are regurgitating the same info over and over, just like their competitors

People don’t want more, they want different

P.S. If you’d like to check out, or just catch up on previous issues, they’re available here

P.P.S *If you love reading, or audiobooks, we’re ecstatic as hell over Libby – it’s your local library, on your phone, check out Libby on the app store here *

Alright bitchachos, let’s move on to improving how we

Promote

Pro Tip:

When it comes to how folks advertise, market, and brand – there seems to be this inescapable tendency for many a brand to talk at us. You know what I’m talking about – the billboards we ignore, the mailers left at our doorsteps, the Facebook // IG ads that cause us to roll our eyes – and it’s not just costing them, it’s costing us because the more expensive it is for them to do business, the more they raise prices to make up the difference

Via hunchads “According to research – the starting CPM cost in 2019 was around $5.12. … With more and more Facebook advertisers each day, the CPMs are definitely rising. But that also leads to more and more people giving up on their Facebook campaigns or reporting bad results. Not everyone is ready for Facebooks’ price increase.”

And this isn’t the only way their bad judgment affects us negatively, there are others who instead of improving how they promote, work harder to cut corners like this douchebag extraordinaire 

Promoting // Advertising // Marketing // Branding smarter comes down to simplifying it all – and listening more than you speak

Part of my work requires that I look at how people spend, why they spend, what they spend it on, and where they spend. Digital worlds have made that exceptionally fun (for me) because instead of running a test where I watch fast-forwarded foot traffic studies, I look at behavior in real-time, on the web

As we speak, Growth // Haxx is spearheading a Business recovery program for LA County, and while we’re based out of Miami, through the art of simplification and tech, we’re able to bring about massive results because we focus on cutting out bad habits to better serve our people

When you make it a habit to listen to your people, you not only avoid wasting time and money, you also gain a whole new insight that makes your work feel like play – as one of our first Angel investments, Sassy Bird does with their customers

 

One of the things Sassy did was

Go to reviews left on other restaurants and started deciding which complaints they would tackle in their location

Then they began highlighting people’s favorites menu items via picture content

Then they combined the hospitality with their premium (and fcukin delicious) favorites as a way to get peoples mouth watering

THEN, they show their people love with contests, giveaways, and shoutouts – the results have been inspiring and up until this month, we haven’t done any major advertising

Now, for this weeks segment on improving how we

Profit

Pro Tip:

“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others”

⁃ Veronica Roth // Divergent

As mentioned above, we’re in the Angel Investing game (now). The Angel investing space. the Venture Capital (VC) firms, Shark Tank on tv, and several other mediums out there help their people exceptionally well, but not all. As we speak, 98% of VC funding goes to the same people, up until recently, we, along with others in our spaces have largely tried different ways to navigate the space with little to no help from those already in positions of power

Side note: One VC firm went from ignoring us to offering me a limited partner (LP) opportunity in a matter of weeks once they realized what was going on lol

Make no mistake, there will be more massive shifts in where capital (money) goes in the next 5 years – and it’s those who are quicker to adapt that will not only make it – but flourish

Having been on both sides of the investor // founder dynamic, here’s what you can do to maximize your profits and avoid doing business with an asshole

Make sure you have your monthly revenue documented

Lookup similar companies in your area // business model

Lookup similar companies to you that are for sale on sites such as Microacquire 

Here’s a behind the scenes listen to a brainstorming session with Arnab Barua, founder of DUX: An Interactive Instructions platform

Alright you creative misfit, that’s enough for this weeks issue

Now go on, there’s much work to do, much progress to be made my friend

Here’s to escaping avg 🤟

Growth // Codex Newsletter

A Weekly Digest Dedicated To Helping You

Produce // Promote // Profit

Better // Smarter

Welcome back Rogue, this week, I woke up and deleted over 2000 words from what would’ve been this weeks issue

Tabula Rasa // translates to Blank slate (from Latin)

Tabula rasa because last night, I realized that 11 issues in, we’re finally getting the breakthroughs this Codex is intended for, while the masses are frustrated, hungry, and deflated

Some have turned into ice cold killers, some into fcuk it all dwellers, and others… others have really had their personal breakthroughs

I’m pumped

Because they’re pumped, not with “motivation” thats perishable, remember?

No, tabula fcuking rasa because I’m now hearing it from our fellow Rogue’s mouths that they’re starting to practice, get their hands dirty, take a risk a week

And they’re delivering

So this 12th issue of our Growth // Codex is dedicated to adapt, adjust, and overcoming the bullshit

If you’d like to check out, or just catch up on the previous issues, they’re now available here

Buzzwords, platitudes (cliches), that overused buzzword “mindset” won’t carry us into 2021 with something we can be proud of, if it helps you, good, use it, don’t rely on it

If it inspired you, good, use it, don’t rely on it

Reliance on that soothing feeling is how so many end up following false prophets, and boy do they profit…

Today, this week – when you see someone respond to what could be a learning moment with “it’s about mindset” ask them, “could you give an example?”

Just last week we had a workshop with an all new city funded initiative we’re spearheading (more on this later), and there was this one guy, he just couldn’t help himself, every other word, every answer he gave was this vague, buzzword, rehearsed almost script sounding jargon

We’d ask him what he thought was the reason he had so much turnover (employees leaving), his answer?

“We’re heavily committed to our culture of inclusion, we lead with a mindset that is suppose to foster collaboration”

So I asked “Could you give us an example?”

And away he went… “when we look at the mindset of a person, we want to work with those who have a growth mindset, scarcity mindset create these bottlenecks that really just throw a wrench into the whole thing, its about finding a balance”

So I, again… asked “Could you give us an example?”

I’ll spare you the boredom, he would go onto repeat just about every buzzword and even threw in some quotes to “illustrate his vision”

Needless to say, we won’t be investing more time into the self proclaimed thought leader and his “uber of __”. Like our homepage, our bio, and our tag line says, no fluff, no bs, no gurus, just creative misfits tackling bigger, more interesting problems

Speaking of, lets dig into this weeks segment on improving how we

Produce

Pro Tip:

I dabbled in crazy weight, without rap I was crazy straight, partna I’m still spending money from 88”

Dead Presidents II // JayZ

Recognize this?

William Wrigley was a hustler through and through, he listened to his customer, it’s why he kept producing what his people loved

When he set out selling Soap, he would frequently gift his customers some baking soda “it doubles the efficiency of this soap’ he’d tell them

Soon, requests for his baking soda doubled, then tripled

So, naturally (to him), it made sense to launch a baking soda variant, and just like before, with his orders, he’d give his customers a gift – this time it was gum

Soon, requests for his chewing gum doubled, then tripled

So, naturally (to him), it made sense to launch a chewing gum…

William Wrigley Jr, Heir to the Wrigley Gum company currently sits on a throne worth $2.9 Billion

And it all started with soap

From my time in the Cannabis space, I’ll also add that we can expect to see them enter that space as well with the same premise, observe, listen, ask, and launch

Replicate the process, by keeping it simple

Heard of an MVP? If no, what it means is Minimal Viable Product

Which means if you want to launch a restaurant for example, you’d start with

• A small menu
• You cook some dishes
• You’d hold 3 tastings
• 1st with say, 5 people, take their feedback and improve
• Invite them back plus 5 more, take their feedback and improve
• Invite them back plus 5 more, take their feedback, improve, and repurpose their feedback as promo material
• Launch

This list isn’t only about restaurants

Alright bitchachos, let’s move onto improving how we

Promote

Pro Tip:

“We all have access to the same information, I just know how to use it better”

“Bobby Axelrod”

• Insights
• Metrics
• Data

All very important right?

Then why are there so many folks struggling with this? Why as tech becomes easier to use, do more and more businesses fail, struggle, go belly up?

Look, it’s one thing to collect it, there’s a new SaaS (software as a service) popping up every month with the brand promise of getting you data faster and cleaner

Analyzing them – a sore spot

Thinking critically about them – a HUGE sore spot

If time and experience has taught us here at Haxx anything, it’s that a company that outsources their product and marketing ends up in a different business that they set off to

Katriel C Sarfati

Part of my work requires that I look at how people spend, why they spend, and where they spend, digital worlds have made that exceptionally fun (for me) because instead of running a test where I watch fast-forwarded foot traffic studies, I look at behavior in real-time.

On the web – someone goes from Facebook // IG to a blog post, share that blog post, then logs onto Tik Tok, responds to a few emails – maybe like a few photos along the way, adds something to their wish list on Amazon

And then is surprised when they’re shown an ad for something they had just thought about the day before

This sort of expertise has proven lucrative when consulting companies, but, exceptionally more when we launch our products, when we invest in, and start companies with others (special announcement on this next month)

For two minutes, silence all the noise out there – write down on a notepad (or your note app)

• “What problem am I solving?
• “What kind of person benefits the most from this problem being solved?”
• “Do I truly care about this problem? This person?”

We recently had a brilliant rising star start like this with their social justice program, their clients being Fortune 500 companies and their biggest problem being getting taken seriously and let in the door

This quick exercise inspired them to simplify their language, which then led them to explore their customers journey

Here’s a quick breakdown of what that looks like

“When would my customer look for the solution I provide?”

“What would cause them to have that problem?”

“Where would they first go to begin searching for solutions?”

“Why would they want to solve this problem NOW?”

“How could I deliver a quick win?”

The answer to those questions is what becomes your

• Sales page
• Outreach message
• Searchable terms
• Content you create
• Mission

Go ahead and apply this process to anything, a product, a service, a movement – you’ll spot the patterns

Now, for this weeks segment on improving how we

Profit

Pro Tip:

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder”

⁃ George Washington

As we speak, there have been a handful of Tech Bros who’ve left Silicon Valley, they’ve moved to places like Austin, Dallas, and most recently, Miami

As you may have seen in the previous issue, I covered a bit on the Miami side of things since having moved here in 2017/2018

Adapting to the reality of things is so essential, that those who adapt first, best, WIN.

Joe Rogan kept $13 Million which paid for his new mansion by simply changing his address, Elon Musk just got the blessing to build out his new nirvana in Texas, Jeff Bezos, Oracle, and so many others have begun their exodus from what used to be – to create what’s about to be

You can, and will too, here why, and how

A lot of history repeats itself, for a myriad of reasons we won’t get into here, those that spot the patterns – apply their skills // talent and cash in all happen to start at the end.

They look at what’s going on and ask themselves

Where does this go?

How did it go the last time?

What lessons can I take away from the previous cycle?

Growth // Haxx

We’re currently looking at very similar patterns to what our grandparents lived through from the 1930’s to the 1940’s

*Special Note: If you love reading, or audiobooks, we’re ecstatic as hell over Libby – it’s your local library, on your phone, check out Libby on the app store here *

Within that window of about 7 to 10 years, there were major shifts like the establishment of the social security, civil rights movements, how we used our money, where they spent it, housing, food, where we got that food… you see where I’m going?

*Special note: Internally, our work and research shows us in a similar cycle until about 2025*

As you read this, take look at these areas

• Food
• Housing
• Money
• Old School Trades (Plumbing, Electricians, Mechanics, etc)

Which one would your business // skills benefit the most?

If you happen to have said “I don’t know” GOOD, because if you’re not about sitting on your hands waiting to let life pass you by, you go on to Google, and you search “google trends”

You click on the link the takes you to google trends, and you enter one of those industries in the list like this

“__ Industry”

You look at what people are searching for the most

You also check out Mintel insights – we’ve added their reports to previous issues before, a robust research company that shares consumer trends

Stay tuned, next month we’re rolling out something we know many will appreciate, we started off by asking ourselves, what could a creative misfit accomplish if we set them up with a great resource to learn how to tackle one of those industries in the list above, a MacBook, some community, and hands on support?

Alright you creative misfit, thats enough for this weeks issue

Now go on, there’s much work to do, much progress to be made my friend

Here’s to escaping avg 🤟

You ever talked to someone about an idea and all they could contribute to the conversation was all the things they’d like to avoid?

“I hope xyz doesn’t happen”

“ok, I want to avoid ____”

Or all the reasons why something won’t work (I’m working on not rolling my eyes and saying stfu pero like… I’m only human)

Fear tends to do funny sh*t to us.

It can alter the way we say // hear // feel things. It can be the difference between

“I refuse to end up ___!”

And “I’m afraid of ending up ___!”

Psychology and experience have taught me how powerful hope and fear are, they’re two of the world’s oldest commodities.

They can build legacies, and rot them too

The flip side looks a bit like

“I can’t wait till ___ happens”

or

“we could totally do ___ because of ___”

Inconveniences suck, we all have them. Just about every single person, single, married, rich, poor, pretending to be rich – they allllll have problems

Which teaches me that problems don’t exactly go away – we simply get better and better at solving them

If 2020 has taught me anything, is that I needed a reminder, a reminder that between my childhood, my adolescent years with some characters general society would frown upon, and lastly my time in the Army have equipped me with better-coping skills, with quicker reaction times, boundless opportunities

Now to keep growing up, finding more silver linings – and learn how to do more than just survive, thrive time

Here’s to escaping average my friend 🖖

You’ve heard the stories, Insurance company promises safety, you pay, and then they send an army of lawyers to deny your claim – turns out, the devils in the details as one financial planner would go toe to toe with the insurance industry – and win

We caught with Yasuw Alvarado, who works with estate planning and all it entails.

He originally set out to become a doctor, but soon discovered “how the sausage gets made” and while pursuing his doctorate, began helping folks navigate the insurance world

One family in particular recently fueled his fire

“Her mother had passed away a few years ago and the family was still waiting on a pay out – Susan was told that not only had their agent lied to them, causing them to pay into a policy for decades that was no longer valid, but that they had no way of collecting anything”

This of course, only feeds the stereotype of insurance sales(wo)men – something Yasuw admits makes his work that much harder, luckily for Susan’s family, the devil was in the details

“I couldn’t believe it, they were so sloppy, we found all Susan had to do was enforce her mother’s Power Of Attorney – something that simple was the loophole they were using,” said Yasuw

Related: We found this site where you can peruse and even get yourself a template for your power of attorney

“They’re so sneaky with it too – the cost of the policy JUMPS from $1136.36 a year to $15,239.67 a year, just to keep your own policy”

Yasuw Alvarado

Pro Tip: It is industry standard practice to get all correspondence signed, with dated delivery receipt

Closing The Loophole

They were able to revive (sic) the policy using what’s known as a reinstatement provision. This allows you m five years from the date of lapse until the day of death to pay any back owed debt.

While victory was sweet, Susan’s family had paid well over the death benefit they were counting on

“In the finance space, prices change regularly, especially with the way things are going in this country. It’s essential you have someone experienced with a good eye look at your policies at least once a year to make sure you’re not overpaying. This one step has saved many of my clients hundreds of dollars in a few minutes of research” says Yasuw

Related: Doctor Who Grew $1000 Investment into a $200M Company Schools Us On Adversity

Things To Look Out For

Yasuw was gracious enough to share what a policy looks like (see below)

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

He recommends taking a look at something named INCONTESTABILITY a Provision on page 4

Another that states “WE CAN DELAY PAYMENT” Provision on page 9

In this case, he shares that the most common loophole insurance companies use is known as Incontestability — because an everyday person doesn’t know this exists, and they were willfully breaking this provision (the law) and continue to get away with it because how do you report a crime you don’t realize is a crime?

These days, money is tight, and if there’s anything that best describes how a lot of players in finance work is the old saying “if you can’t convince em, confuse em”

Glad to see someone’s out there simplifying the process for the everyday person

Here’s to escaping average 🤙

While most companies are treating the very people that help them run like disposable silverware – there are several who are saying enough is enough, career coach Ariel Lopez breaks down an easy to remember audit process you can try by the end of this post

Ready? Let’s get right into it 👇

• What about my job/career makes me unhappy?
• If I kept the same job but switched companies would I be happier?
• What does an ideal day look like for me?
• Are my needs being met in my current job? If not, what’s missing?
• Is it possible to switch roles at my company? What does career growth and transitioning look like internally?
• Is it possible to get a promotion within the next 6-12 months? Can I wait that long?
• If I were to switch careers, what else would I like to pursue?
• Who in my network can help guide me?
• Do I feel comfortable having a conversation with my boss about my unhappiness?
• If I leave my current company, how long am I going to give myself to make a change?

After seeing the responses to “A Letter To You, Who’s Sick And Tired, Of Being Sick And Tired” It was a breath of fresh air to come across Ariel’s perspective and mission.

As Founder of Hello Knac, Ariel Lopez is dedicated time helping people apply and prepare for new jobs – something we 100% need more amazing talent working on improving

Exploring and embracing your weaknesses is how many before you have excelled and made it look easy

The time for “wait and see” is over, these days it’s the folks who are investing in themselves, shooting their shot that will enter 2021 with a head start

Feeling a tad timid? Learn what makes you tick, here’s a link to an awesome way to decipher how your personality works: 16 Personalities Test

Now it’s time to take a good honest look at your job and yourself, answer the questions honestly, and you’ll position yourself to get ahead of the pack now

Here’s to escaping average ✊

[convertkit form=1028040]

Google’s certificate programs take about six months to complete and participants do not need a college degree or prior experience for the program, best of all, Google considers the certificate itself equivalent to a four-year degree.

As seen in a release, Google Career Certificates includes the fields of data analytics, project management and user experience design.

“We need new, accessible job-training solutions – from enhanced vocational programs to online education – to help America recover and rebuild,”

Kent Walker, Google’s Senior VP: Global Affairs

The new suites add to Google’s existing IT Certificate, which was launched in 2018:

• About six months to complete
• No previous experience required
• Entirely developed by Google
• Grants and scholarships will be available
• Hosted on Coursera

Revisiting old models and leading with innovation cannot wait longer and is completely doable – recently the U.K. announced it would be paying its citizens because of the surplus energy created by, wind. Reworking years and years of an outdated model.

With student loan debt over $1.5 trillion… with a capital T – alternatives to old models is a must

Look here for more information on the new certification program

Here’s to escaping average 🤙

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European countries have prioritized innovation in clean tech, specifically Wind production. The results? UK wind energy production is generating “negative subsidies”, with wind farm projects giving money back to the government, which will be passed on to citizens for cheaper energy bills.

For years, energy subsidies used to push up energy bills, but within a few years cheap renewable energy will see them brought down for the first time.

Related: How Do You Win A Game That’s Rigged Against YOU? CREATE, Don’t Compete

This is an astonishing development

Dr Malte Jansen

With their prices already 1/3 lower than the costs set in 2017 and 2/3 less than in 2015, clean energy tech is seeing a well received audience in the scientific and tech community.

As for the fossil fuel industry, which remains heavily subsidized, has struggled to keep up with the times and innovations is set to be a thing of the past in many parts of the world

Imagine a world where your best ideas not only came to life, but contributed to improving our overall quality of life

Katriel € Sarfati

For years, crisis after crisis for companies and economies, from reviving shelved idea to scaling new ones, there are clues left behind from each success story (and even more from those that failed)

How will your skills help the communities you live in?

Here’s to escaping average 🤙

As we explored in Here’s To Cutting Out The Middle Man. I’ve personally met so many talented and gifted Creatives that blow me away, you have visions and sketches and drafts of betas that would be game-changers. BUT, with the rise of hustle porn on social media, many keep feeling like if you’re not an entrepreneur, then what’s the point?

“I want to be my boss”

“My company doesn’t allow me to do that” others will chime in.

Corporate cultures have habitually stifled talent for ages, mostly due to fear-CEOs and other executives keeping a pecking order because… well the money’s good in diminishing your contribution

The startup world would soon replicate the same culture, sure they threw in some new language and wardrobes but a suit is still a suit, these days, VC’s have become the new media darling – their thinking and modus operandi has become gospel to many a startup founder

The Pain Point:

Getting right to the point, only 3% of venture capital in the U.S went to companies with a female CEO, less than 1% goes to Black founders, and a meager .4% (yup you read that right, point four percent) to Latin founders

I recently had the pleasure of joining Execution Strategist Georgie-Ann Getton-Mckoy who has created an awesome career for herself improving the way events happen online about growing strategically while maximizing your resources, I’ve included the entire video below, just press play and it’ll begin playing where she and I begin talking about following the money

The Hypothesis:

For ROGUE eyes only

The Experiment:

Growth Hacking and all its practices and theory has helped so many scrappy creatives compete with big brands that revisiting what our priorities are

So let’s take a deep breath, here are some powerful steps to begin

• Are You Scrappy Creative? Here’s A Collection Of FREE Resources For YOU (Series)

• How To Build A Brand Without Spending A Dime

• To My Fellow Procrastinator

The links mentioned above lead to action items you can start achieving today, let us know how you’re doing!

Simply use the hashtag #growthhaxx when posting and we’ll be sure to check-in and show love

Here’s to escaping average

So I have a bad habit

I procrastinate, A LOT

Pretty much all my life, school, boring. Work, boring, easy to excel at, but nonetheless, boring

That of course led to me convincing myself that I worked well under pressure, that is, until joined the Army

That’s when I learned, wow I didn’t know what a lot of pressure felt like

I watched superior after superior – grumpy, falling apart at 40 and generally miserable, I soon came to the realization , I don’t like this type of pressure

Later on, when I transitioned to civilian, I found myself breezing through tasks and troubles that many around me found hard – once again, there I was, bored

So I slacked a bit, telling myself “even if I half-ass it for 1 month, I’m ahead of the game”

Related: A Letter To You, Who’s Sick And Tired, Of Being Sick And Tired

And there too, I met boss after boss, manager after manager, grumpy, falling apart, just over broke, and I soon came to realization again, I don’t like this type of pressure

So I started experimenting, learning more about myself and how i operate

After a while, I learned a quick and easy to remember way I’ve begun using it to outperform “competitors” and be the most productive I’ve ever been in my life

I’ve shared some of my findings in Dear Creative, Here’s To Cutting Out The Middle Man and this video as well with those in the ROGUE Membership and know it can come in handy for you too

And here’s the link to the personality test I mention in the video: 16 Personalities Test 😎🤙

Here’s to escaping average