This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Let's talk about minimalism. Let's talk about a minimalism expert who becomes disillusioned, at least, or let's hear her story, actually. So I'll talk about her very briefly. And then you're gonna hear in more detail from her. Welcome to Cytosool School.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is our segment known as Failure Friday, built on the principle that we can learn as much from failure as we can from success. So you get to hear directly from a Cytosool who has struggled in some way to get something off the ground, or sometimes it's already off the ground and it comes crashing to the ground, whatever it is, some variation of a short story of something that went quite wrong. So today's short story, as alluded to, it's going to feature, I believe her name is Rebecca. Rebecca sets out to become a subject matter expert in the world of minimalism.
You know, that's a thing. Before she becomes uncomfortable with the commercial elements of the philosophy, AKA minimalism for sale. That's also a thing. So interesting story. I really enjoyed working on this one and kind of reviewing the notes from Rebecca.
So without further ado, I wish to present them to you, or at least I present Rebecca to you. Minimalism expert becomes disillusioned, the Failure Friday segment for today. [Music]
I had this grand idea of becoming the go-to expert in minimalism. I'd always been interested in living a simpler life and I thought it would be great to help others do the same. So I started a blog, made a website, and I even started writing a book on the subject.
I was so excited to share my knowledge and inspire others to live more intentionally, but things didn't go as planned. I quickly realized that everyone has a different idea of what minimalism means to them. Some people wanted to know how to declutter their homes while others wanted to simplify their finances. And then there were those who wanted to know how to simplify their entire lives, including their relationships and work. My first big mistake was trying to be all thanks to all people.
I was so focused on trying to please everyone that I lost sight of what I was actually good at. I was spreading myself too thin and it showed in my content. It wasn't focused or engaging and I wasn't delivering the value that I promised. Instead, I was just throwing things out there, hoping they would stick. I was trying to be everything to everyone and it just wasn't working.
The second mistake was not properly marketing my expertise. I was so busy creating content that I forgot to tell people about it. I wasn't using social media effectively and I wasn't reaching my target audience. It was a classic case of if you build it, they will come and it wasn't working. As I delved deeper into the world of minimalism, I started to realize that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
In fact, it seemed like everyone was trying to monetize it in some way. Brands were selling minimalistic products, influencers were promoting their own version of minimalism and everyone was trying to jump on the bandwagon. I started to feel disillusioned with the whole thing. It seemed like minimalism had lost its soul and become just another trend that people were trying to cash in on and I didn't want to be a part of that. So if you're thinking about becoming a subject matter expert in minimalism, just remember, it's not just about decluttering your home.
It's about living a life that's true to you. It's a personal journey and you don't need an expert to guide you. Also, if you find that the trend isn't for you, that's okay too. There's always room to pivot and find your own path. [Music]
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
That's the theme of Failure Friday. I also think of my own life motto or the theme of art of nonconformity in my blog, which is you don't have to live your life the way others expect. And so it's really interesting with things like minimalism because those underlying beliefs or that philosophy, you know, such as it is, is also kind of aligned with that viewpoint of like, you can do things your own way. But of course, you know, things can also become overly commercialized or they can become like what is kind of contrarian or nonconformist can eventually become like what is mainstream. And so then someone who seeks to do something that's contrarian or nonconformist has to look, you know, look elsewhere or just, you know, really ultimately question like, what are your values?
What do you believe in? What's important to you? You know, how do you want to live your life and what do you want to contribute to others? I think those are the fundamental questions of life, not just for side hustle school, but for life in general. So thanks to Rebecca for sharing the story, just kind of bringing some of those ideas to light.
It was helpful for me to think about. Listeners, if you have a question, an update for us about your hustle or anything else, sidehustleschool.com/questions. You can also say hi on social media. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Today's notes, sidehustleschool.com/2281.
Hope you tune in tomorrow. Got a new episode coming up right around the corner. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
