👋 Hello! I'm Nate Kadlac, and this is #50 of Plan Your Next. It’s a newsletter that connects design, creativity, and how you prepare for your next thing.
If you’re new here, it’s nice to meet you!
What’s new this week?
🎤 Episode #14 of It’s Gotta Be the Mic: Reza and I chat with Tim Coil about how to baby step your way into crypto.
👨🏫 My own workshop, Approachable Design, will soon shed its sheltered cocoon. I’ve only told you and a few close friends about this project. It’s looking like this idea will manifest itself into two-day weekend workshop, helping you unlock your creative taste. Sign up here to get notified on its progress.
🎨 Thanks to Nate Dykstra for purchasing my first ever NFT! Nate’s been an early supporter of my creative craziness. I hope to do more in the future, but I should probably learn some Cinema4D first.
Good morning from Los Angeles! I want to talk through an idea.
I started playing basketball in the eighth grade.
I was really bad, and I struggled to get better on my own. But by the ninth grade, I was regularly hanging out with kids who were 10x my skill level. I’d play consistently with these four other guys, but I was always the worst.
It was difficult to measure my progress because I was always losing. But I was learning because I surrounded myself with people who were giving me advice, knocking me on my ass, and teaching me by their own actions.
A commonality many companies share is that they install a corporate board of directors.
A board of directors usually consists of high performers. They might include shareholders, investors, and advisors who bring support, capital resources and connections.
There are people who are asked to serve on multiple boards, helping different companies serve different needs based on the support they can offer.
Serving on a board of directors can mean that you’re a person who’s resourceful, creative, and connected. You’re able to offer guidance through lived experiences, and thoughtful decision making.
Like a corporate board of directors, we should create our own.
Individuals also can benefit from the experience, perspective, and creativity of others. But most importantly, to offer guidance when we need to make tough decisions.
Jim Rhone has an often cited line, “you’re the average of the five people closest to you.”
I believe this to be true, which also means you might not be leveraging the most important areas of your life, with the right people.
A company might be catering to a certain segment of customers, and have built their board around best serving the CEO and its direction. It’s singularly focused, and the incentives are aligned.
But what if we have many different interests and play across dozens of groups at any given time? If I wanted to get better at basketball, I wouldn’t have chosen a group of writers to serve on my basketball board.
Our interests are growing all the time. We maintain autonomy over all of it, but should we always be asking the same people for help?
Imagine if you curated multiple Personal Boards of Directors (PBoD) for the different areas of your life?
One for growing as a cook. One for becoming a better writer. One for becoming a better teacher. One for creating online courses. One for learning design.
Each group might consist of 4-5 people, all serving different purposes. These groups would be picked by us, when we need to make tough decisions, or when we’re looking for help. Board members would need to be called on when asked, or they might automatically be given the boot.
What AngelList did for connecting startups, is the same way this platform could do for connecting individuals.
By my senior year of high school, I was chosen to the varsity basketball team. Of course, I rode the bench, but in three and a half years since picking up a basketball I finally had a barometer to how good I became.
Thankfully, I didn’t ask my closest friends at the time to teach me how to play basketball.
⚡️ Inspiration for this week
Create your Personal Board of Directors
Writer and entrepreneur Cam Houser on creating your first Personal Board of Directors.
Mindset over toolset in Building a Second Brain
Christina Luo on how to focus your mindset when organizing and capturing your notes.
The best place to find a quote
A website dedicated to famous quotes from movies, television, literature and celebrities.
👋 See you next Sunday
If you’ve forgotten who I am, here’s a little bit about me. As always, my calendar is always open to chat about your crazy ideas or if you’re creatively stuck.
And if you’re creatively stuck because you ran out of coffee, save 10% on Flow State coffee. Flow State uses l-theanine and raw cacao to lower anxiety and support creativity. (Affiliate link)
Have a great week,
Twitter: @kadlac
Web: kadlac.com
Create your Personal Board of Directors