Announcement:
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I’m doing a giveaway for a free 60-day trial of an Airtable Pro account.
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All you have to do is subscribe to The Content Studio’s Youtube channel and leave a comment on the most recent video with your best workflow hack.

On my mind:

“You’re not going to always reach your high bar, that’s impossible. The goal is train so hard your low-bar is higher than the other guy’s high-bar.

– Pete Mattaliano, Improv Instructor
New York Academy for Dramatic Arts

Last week, I made a video demonstrating how to upload a Google Doc into WordPress, with clean code, by pressing a button in your workflow management tool (in my case, Airtable).
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The production quality, the storytelling, the subject matter…
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I’m proud because this video is the culmination of nearly every skill I’ve developed and it’s the first time in a long time I’ve lived up to my potential.
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But I didn’t just wake up and say “I’m going to do better today.”
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Instead I:

  • Found inspiration watching a new YouTuber.
  • Subscribed to their Patreon to see how they plan videos.
  • Watched others that tell really good stories.
  • Referred to old notes from conservatory.
  • Planned shots, pacing, and music in advance.

It’s easy to rest on what we’ve learned so we can go through the motions and collect our checks. But there’s wisdom in the 17-year-old notes scribbled in the margins by a younger person not yet jaded by reality.
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I won’t pretend to be a scholar because I made one good video. But to me, at this moment, living up to your potential is about remembering past experiences, factoring in present circumstances, and trusting your instinct, which has always been there and is unique to you.
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If you’re currently going through your days, eyes glossed over, go back through your old notes. Open that book you dog eared and highlighted. Go back to the basics. There’s something refreshing about reconnecting with why you got into this thing in the first place.

An interesting tweet:

I love editors. They just make the writing SO MUCH better. Some comments that levelled-up my writing: - Data to back this up? Do we know this for sure? Any examples? - Is this tru for every case? Sounds generalized. -Why? - Can we make this simpler for the reader?

The relationship between editor and writer is sacred and should be built on trust and without ego.
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Good editors don’t just make the writing better, they make the writer better.

📡 What’s on my radar?

🦸‍♂️ Street scum becomes insanely talented artist in The Hero’s Journey.*
🧠This one hour on storytelling is worth more than a whole semester.
🎥How a film editor thinks and feels is surprisingly relevant for writers.
🕶Casey Neistat tells us how to be heard.
📈Christopher Nolan breaks down the construction of Momento.
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*contains one scene of graphic imagery near the 14-minute mark.

Weekly update:

This is the best video I’ve ever made.

Press a button, upload a Google Docs to WordPress with clean code, and never having to leave your workflow management tool.
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🎧Bonus Podcast

Nathan is one incredibly tough interviewer, and asked a question I’ve surprisingly never been asked before…
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“So why’d you leave Shopify?”
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​My answer was probably the most honest I’ve ever been on the subject.