Ev BogueNote: This is a sample Letter from Evolving Your Digital Work, a premium subscription Letter published in 2011.
Untethering from Hype
I used to do a thing called hype.
Hype is hypothetical. In theory, this thing will be awesome, when I do it.
This meant that I said I'd do something, before I did it. This got me into some trouble, because often I'd set the expectations of what I was going to do, before I was in a place where I was going to actually do something.
For example: I said I was going to go to SXSW this year, then I didn't. Everyone expected me to be there, but I wasn't, so they missed me. Another example of this was saying that I was going to Australia, and then not being able to go.
I began looking at what the trouble was. I sat with it. I wrote on it. Then one day, I realized what the problem was: it was hype.
When I've created hype, then I have to live up to the expectations. Otherwise, I've failed.
After experimenting with untethering from hype, I've discovered that abandoning it as often as I can suits me better. There's less chance of setting expectations, and then failing to align with them, because I haven't set expectations.
Instead of using hype, I've started using this formula:
- I experiment.
- I capture.
- I tell from experience.
In this way, I can tell everything that I did, after I did it. In this way, I'm only saying what actually happened (instead of what I intended to happen.)
I've found that this approach lands with my audience.
What is landing? Landing is a feeling of resonation when I read something. A piece has landed when I see that it's been told from an aligned place, and from an actual experience.
Landing is what I want. Hype, I can leave that behind.