Forget about "adding value": 6 lessons from 6 months of Substacking

It's all about you, not your audience

Hi there,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

I love this time of year because it is an opportunity for reflection and planning.

Publish less. Forget about adding value. Focus on yourself not your audience.

Those are a few of the lessons I have learned in the last six months.

Before we get into the rest I’d love to hear about your own journey.

I started the 2Hour Creator Stack in the middle of July of this year.

I started from zero with no other traffic source.

Since then I’ve grown to over 1300 followers and over and just under 800 subscribers and have made some friends along the way.

I achieved this by going against much of the common advice out there.

My goal with this letter is to demonstrate that there is another way.

If everyone is screaming the same advice does this mean that everyone is right?

My experience has shown me that the answer is a resounding “No.”

Before I started I had clarity on a few things:

I knew what I wanted to write about, the tone I wanted to strike, and the values I wanted to reflect.

But I didn’t know how this would be received.

I didn’t know if anyone else would care, and to be honest, that wasn’t my main goal or concern.

I just had this desire to speak my truth to the world.

I wanted to develop my own perspective and my own story.

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Theres so much advice out there.

It can be overwhelming.

Most of it is generic. It’s not geared towards you or your specific circumstances and desires.

I really struggled with this for a long time.

Generally I find an insight or a personal experience from someone else much more valuable than generic advice.

Which is why I want to share what’s worked for me.

Maybe it will help you, maybe it won’t. But it will, at the very least, give you a different perspective.

Lesson 1: The first 6 months are for you. Not your readers

This goes against every marketing guru and business book out there. So take it with a pinch of salt.

My first six months on Substack have been all about me.

My initial goals here have been all internal.

My thought process is focused on myself.

It might sound selfish, but it’s my newsletter. It has to serve me before it can serve anyone else.

• What do I want to write about?

• What is interesting to me?

• How do I feel when I write?

• Do I want to publish this or not?

These are the questions I am asking myself.

This might sound like a red flag to you.

It’s very much the antithesis of what every marketing and business book will tell you. Believe me I’ve read quite a few.

They are unanimous in their advice that you must constantly be thinking of your target audience.

• Who are you writing for?

• How are you providing value?

• What problem are you trying to solve?

Lets stop the broken record and change track.

This is fundamentally the wrong approach for beginners.

As a beginner you want to experiment and follow your own curiosity as much as possible.

You want to try stuff and see how it makes you feel.

If you can’t evoke emotion in yourself how can you do that for your reader?

If something gets results but leaves you feeling stressed and anxious - that’s not sustainable.

By constantly focusing on a customer avatar or trying to write about an arbitrary problem that the market tells you is profitable you loose yourself.

By doing this you constrain yourself to fit into a box.

You narrow your focus, you limit your potential and 99% of people who take this approach end up quitting.

Why? Because it’s only fulfilling if you end up with the desired outcome.

If your focus is solving a problem for someone else:

• What happens when no one cares?

• What happens when zero people read your work?

• What happens when you increase the volume. You publish more and more and still crickets?

It means you’ve failed. It means with each newsletter you put out there you are failing every single time.

That’s tough. It is in fact brutal. Why would you do that to yourself?

I have found so much fulfilment through trying to solve my own problems through my own writing.

This very letter is an example of that.

This way my motivation grows with each new piece of writing I put out there.

After all:

With each letter I write my confidence grows.

That’s a powerful feeling.

I want that feeling for everyone.

Key learning:

Stop strategising. Start internalising.

Lesson 2: Slow down and take deliberate action

There’s a common misconception that more volume brings more growth.

More output correlates with more followers, more revenue, more attention.

But this has not been my experience on YouTube and it’s not been my experience on substack.

I have found the exact opposite to be true.

I send a newsletter article about twice a month.

In a world that is increasingly spinning out of control I feel a strong pull to slow down.

This is very personal to me.

Some people are successful with sending out a bullet point newsletter every day.

This is not something which I ever want to do.

If a creator starts sending multiple newsletters a week I immediately unsubscribe.

It reeks of desperation.

It gives me the feeling that they are desperately trying to grow rather than actually trying to say something.

The internet is awash with surface level superficial content and I don’t want to contribute to more of that.

I want to go deeper.

I want to take the time to think. To contemplate. To rewrite. To scrap it. To start again and only publish something when I feel it’s right.

These first six months have been an intense period of experimentation, of self development and self awareness.

I’ve developed a strong writing routine which fills me with energy and cultivates new ideas.

I do not need discipline or grit. It is not a grind for me. It’s something which I enjoy.

I’ve found a rhythm that I feel I can sustain for years to come and that should be your focus during your first six months.

Develop a writing rhythm that will guide you for years to come.

• If you have to force yourself to write - something is wrong

• If you don’t know what to write about - something is wrong

• If you feel sad that not one is engaging with your words - something is wrong.

This is not about force, discipline or outcomes.

This is about curiosity, exploration and experimentation.

Lesson 3 : Build a Process That Works for You

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that consistency isn’t about rigid schedules—it’s about rhythm.

If you think about the rhythm of the waves on the beach or the score of a song there is consistency there but there is also variation.

It’s not fixed. It’s fluid.

There’s no force. It’s natural.

It’s not about just doing the same thing all day every day .

It’s about developing levels of intensity and focus.

Just like the waves on the beach, no two days are ever the same.

During these past six months I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with different levels of intensity.

If I try to write more than one article a week I start to feel stressed.

2-4 articles a month is my current sweet spot. I’m sure I could push that up if I wanted to but that hasn’t been my goal in the last six months.

The moment you need discipline and grit is the moment you loose your creative spark.

Do you need discipline to meet your friends? To read that novel? To watch your favourite show?

No! I’m guessing you just do it. Automatically. Because you want to.

If you find yourself needing to block out time to write, it’s time to rethink your process because it’s not working for you anymore.

Instead of desperately trying to post everyday really tune into what makes you feel good.

Are you posting everyday because you have something to say or is it just because some one told you that’s how to grow a following?

Key learning:

• Rigid schedules lead to burnout.

• Developing a rhythm leads to fulfilment.

It’s not about showing up everyday no matter what it’s about tapping into your natural energy and motivation and working in alignment with that.

Lesson 4: Are you a creator or an entrepreneur?

I wrote this note here a few weeks ago:

A key insight which I have learned about myself in the last 6 months is that I am a creator.

I am driven by meaning purpose and alignment.

I want to solve problems but I want to do it my way.

I have that creative urge, that need to express myself and I cannot cut that out.

Much of the advice for entrepreneurs is focused solely on the market.

On solving problems and selling the solution.

It is very easy to loose yourself in this process.

When your focus is persistently and unwaveringly set on a problem, an outcome, a niche, a key demographic you forget about yourself.

This is why so many creators burn out.

They forget why they started in the first place.

The successful writers and creators you see today went through years of experimentation, of learning, failing and growing.

The first six months are just the start and they are there for you to experiment.

Maybe you actually don’t even like writing? Maybe you prefer marketing and selling? Maybe you prefer teaching or networking.

If you are just starting out I would urge you to get clarity on this one specific point.

Are you here for self expression, development and knowledge or are you here to make money.

Of course there is overlap and nuance but I’m making it black and white for a reason.

You need to understand why you do what you do.

Trying to write about investing, or business or money just because you think this will bring you greater financial returns would be a mistake.

I am so glad I took the approach of the creator.

I feel fully aligned. I write when I have the energy to write.

I feel like this is a net positive. It is enriching my life, helping me to think more clearly and it is also resonating with some of you.

It might seem inconsequential in the beginning, but if you plan to write for many years you need to be aligned.

If you are writing about things that are not aligned with your values and which do not express your beliefs you will reach a moment of questioning and you will quit.

Key learning:

You first have to help yourself before you can help others.

Lesson 5: Failure is an integral part of the process

In the last six months I have failed repeatedly.

I have started and scrapped articles.

I have written and rewritten posts only to have them flop.

I wrote into the void for the first three months without hearing an echo.

Everything I have tried has been an experiment.

Some days I did feel down because nothing seemed to be working.

But I reminded myself that my key goal here is developing my writing rhythm, my style, my tone.

Developing my values, my message and the core principles I want to embody. That is what the first six months have been all about.

I wrote three guest posts for publications that were firmly established with engaged followings. One of them even had over 11,000 subscribers.

These guest posts did not bring me more than a had full of new subscribers.

It was disappointing. It did not grow my newsletter as I was hoping.

I have 32 newsletters recommending me but only 8 of them have actually sent me subscribers. Of those eight, six of them have brought me less than 10 subscribers.

This is an ongoing process. Just remember that progress, just like energy, is cyclical. Not linear.

Key learnings:

When you hit a wall take a break: Step away for an hour (or a day) and come back with fresh eyes.

Creativity isn’t always easy, but embracing the messy parts can help you grow.

Lesson 6: Write what only you can write

This is perhaps the most important point that I have discovered.

Personally I like reading stories. I enjoy context and detail. I don’t just want dry facts.

It’s easy to prompt AI to write about factual topics. History, finance, economics.

It’s difficult to prompt AI to write about an experience that you had last week or an insight which you gained from doing something.

The writing which I find most engaging are stories, insights and experiences - all things which AI is not good at simulating right now.

I get the most benefit from this kind of writing and that is what I want to write more of myself. This also seemed to resonate with you.

My pieces on anti-productivty, slowing down and going against the common advice out there seem to resonate because these are topics which I am passionate about and which I can write about from a position of experience.

I’ve been creating on YouTube for three years now and so I have a lot to say about productivity, creativity, audience building and finding fulfilment.

Even though there are a few thought leaders who tackle these problems I still struggle to find normal everyday people writing about this in a relatable way.

So if you are struggling to decide what to write about ask yourself this simple question:

- What do I wish more people wrote about?

The more personal and specific you get, the more universal your writing will feel.

Closing Thoughts

Starting a newsletter—or any creative project—isn’t just about producing content.

It’s about creating something that aligns with your values, lights you up, and feels sustainable.

Take it one step at a time.

Pick a topic that feels meaningful. Start small, build a process, and embrace the inevitable messiness. Above all, remember: your voice and perspective matter.

As we head into the new year, I encourage you to reflect on your own creative journey.

What would you write about if no one was watching?

How can you create in a way that feels inspiring, not draining?

Here’s to building something authentic, meaningful, and truly your own.

Thank you reading and enjoy the rest of your day.