The Three Alarms

Hey passionate creator,

I’m sure there’s a lot you want to achieve this year. Maybe you want to add another revenue stream to your creator business or work with your favourite brand. Or maybe your goals go beyond being a creator, like finally doing that 5K run or spending more time with your loved ones.

Like most people, you probably wear a lot of hats in your life. But let's be honest: when you're running a creator business, it's easy to keep the creator hat on for too long and lose sight of other areas of your life .

That's why I like to think in terms of modes. It's a similar concept to task batching. Batching similar tasks prevents context switching which eats up your time and energy. That's why I have set filming days, editing days, and writing days for YouTube.

Modes are more about your mindset and identity though. Which version of yourself do you want to show up as? What hat do you want to wear? Do you need to be the creative entrepreneur or the parent of two? Will you be the fitness junkie or the social butterfly?

Erik Partaker shares a great way to switch between your modes in his book The 3 Alarms. He sets 3 alarms each day to focus on different parts of his identity:

🏋🏽 A 6:30am World Fitness Champion alarm for when he shows up at the gym

👩🏽‍💻 A 9am World’s Best CEO alarm to remind him to bring his leadership and teamwork skills to the forefront

👨‍👧 A 6.30pm World’s Best Husband and Father alarm to nudge his loving self out for the family

Doing this helps you to bring your best self to different areas of your life. Here's how to set your alarms:

• Decide what areas of your life are most important to you. Ideally you shouldn't set more than 3 alarms.

• Visualise what your best self looks like in each area. What skills and energy do you need to bring to each mode? Give it a name like Erik did to trigger a strong visual e.g. you might call your work mode Focused Creator mode or Community Builder mode.

• Decide on a schedule to change modes and set your alarms accordingly. Avoid spending too long in one mode - each mode should be like a uniform instead of a layer of skin.

I know you're juggling a lot so use The 3 Alarms to ring in the new year and show up as who you want to be.

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Today's newsletter issue is presented by The Society of Independent Creators, which is run by Daren Smith, one of our Passionfroot users.

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Sushee has an automated business using faceless YouTube channels. I spoke to her about:

• what niches lend themselves to faceless channels

• how to build a conveyer belt to get off the hamster wheel

• how to build & manage teams asynchronously

• tips for optimization so you can rank on YouTube

Send your questions in

Later this month, Lana Blakely and Thomas Frank will be joining me on the podcast.

• Lana is a YouTuber with 1.2 million subscribers. She broke the stereotypical image people have of YouTubers with their larger-than-life personalities with her thoughtful, introspective content.

• Thomas Frank is a productivity YouTuber with 2.4 million subscribers. He's built an education business which makes $120k a month.

If you have any questions you want to ask them, now is your chance. Hit reply and send your questions in.

I wish you all the best for 2023 and I can't wait to grow alongside you.

Stay passionate,

Akta