Optimize for longevity

Plan Your Next #120

👋 Good morning from Los Angeles! I'm Nate Kadlac, and this is #120 of Plan Your Next. A Sunday newsletter that connects design, creativity, and how you prepare for your next thing.

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💡 What’s new?

📹 Inspired by Apple’s Think Different campaign, I launched a course trailer for Approachable Design. (At the bottom of the essay)

🎨 If you’re publishing online frequently, you must create an absurd amount of graphics, from your website to your slide decks to your YouTube channel. My two-day workshop teaches you how to assemble an authentic design kit so you never have to start from scratch again. And you may just learn to design along the way!

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Optimize for longevity

When starting to work on your next idea, you’ll inevitably hear a hot take from someone about what you should focus on first for that idea to become a successful reality.

For me and most of my career, it was the logo.

“The last thing you should spend any time on is a logo.”—most non-designers

But the one skill that matters most is your focus.

The ability to weather the untimely waters. To commit to something for the long term. In the short term, that means looking for ways to keep things humming and to be proud of the work you’re doing.

For me, much of this comes down to making sure I’m excited about what I’m doing day to day. Shaan Puri, entrepreneur and cohost of the My First Million podcast, describes how it’s important for him to sit down with high energy levels. His power writing style peaks only when he finds himself fully energized.

We’re all motivated by different domains, and our craft looks different to everyone. There’s no perfect formula for building successful businesses.

So you might hear “best practices” like:

• If you’re building an iOS app, don’t start on the app icon.

• If you’re building a website, don’t work on branding first.

• If you’re building a business, you should only bootstrap it.

• If you’re eating Wendy’s french fries, you should dip them in a frosty first. (Ok that’s actually sound advice.)

What matters is optimizing for the long game. If that happens by being inspired to design screenshots of your app like Paul Jarvis did for Fathom Analytics, then by all means, do that first. 

If it means working on the home page of your website before writing the ultimate guide to your niche content website, go for it. 

Or, if you want to create the promo video that gets you excited every time to sit down to work but might not be financially practical at all, then write it.

And so I did.

Thanks to Paul LeCrone for bringing my vision to life.

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⚡️ Two creative hits for you to check out next

✒️ This published article from The Guardian in 1977 is a typography nerd’s wet dream. H/T Paul Millerd.

Mike Sowden @Mikeachim

Thanks to the first volume of Michael Palin's diaries, I've just discovered the glory of one of the greatest travel pieces in British publishing history. In early April 1977, The Guardian published a 7-page travel supplement on this "little-known" island nation: (1/)

👨‍💻 The rebrand story of Jay Clouse’s Creator Science
This is a solid breakdown of Jay’s thought process behind revising his brand for the second time within just two years. This process is not easy nor cheap, so it does pay to get it right the first time around.

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👋 See you next Sunday

As always, my calendar is open to chat about your next adventure, crazy idea, or if you’re feeling creatively stuck.

My goal is to level up the visual vocabulary in the world through my writing, teaching, and design. If you want to support my journey, the best ways are to:

• Sign up for the 80/20 design challenge

• Become a sponsor of this newsletter (Starting at $50—Please reach out)

• Buy Slide Decks with Style

• Discover your own unique style by joining my live workshop

Have a great week,

p.s. Words are just words, but if these words made you feel something, would you let me know by tapping on the heart below?