What Took Me 1 Year to Learn, You Can Learn in 5-10 Minutes

Staying Focused In An Attention Economy

Jul 09, 2025

Who would have thought that doing something full-time would have made room for more innovation and strategy? Since running my business full-time, I have learned much, from marketing to networking to big gestures and the boogie man for our age: impostor syndrome.

I'd like to take the time to unpack it all with you. Yes, you heard that. I want to share these stories and lessons with you.

Advice: The Good, the Bad, and Untimely. Discernment is Key

If I could create a reminder that I could become aware of daily, it would be this: You don't have to take all the advice you receive. Don't get me wrong; advice is better than the alternative, which is isolation and introspection. But while some advice is sound, other pieces of advice are inadequate or untimely.

Let's start with the simple elements: good advice can be discerned from bad advice with the technique I call contextualizing or, as stated in the phrase, "chew on the meat and spit out the bones," for example, bad advice could lead me to a proper outcome. "follow this trend," can lead you to do the opposite by saying "No! I need to focus."

Now, let's pause for a minute: the advice that isn’t bad but given at a bad time. What might be suitable for your business tomorrow could mean failure today. Again, you must discern what works best: creating that system from start to finish for your product might prove useless unless you have sold said product; instead, sell your product and base the system on that process and user feedback.

Imposter Syndrome: why it's a good thing.

Imposter syndrome can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Sometimes, we think too much of ourselves and our work; other times, we think too little. This is impostor syndrome, but again, you could easily be distracted if you don't know how to discern it.

Contextualize these thoughts with counter thoughts: "Can I make this better?" or "Is it bad, or am I using my lack of skill to procrastinate?"

Sometimes what we offer, if we are being honest with ourselves, isn't the best, and that's okay because we can improve it, make that article sound good, and make it less "cringeworthy."

We can resolve it with a process.

Red Herrings

I think I would say less about this because it is attacking a central problem I see amongst entrepreneurs: look back 5 years (this works best for me because it was when I started), and make a note of all the times some guru said, "you need to do this," Ffor me it was

2020: "You need to create content a"

2021: "You need to be on every social media platform."

2023: "You need to be posting once a day on LinkedIn."

2025: "You need to be informed on AI to get ahead, or you will fall behind."

It's all noise, so at the start of the year, I did something: I deleted Instagram and Facebook, and I created a system in my mindfulness routine that limited my time spent on LinkedIn (the only platform aside from Substack).

All of this can be easily mitigated with a strategic approach: why? Why are we doing this? If the question leaves you doubting its usefulness, it might not be helpful.

Notes

Advice is seasonal; some advice is better stored for winter, but sometimes there is “bad advice,” and the daily task is to know the difference.
Imposter Syndrome Is Real, but it is also a challenge to clarify who you are, what you do, and why it matters. Lean into the doubts, challenge them, and learn from them.
“Red Herring” is more than just a logical fallacy your debate opponent uses; it is a daily obstacle entrepreneurs face. Your job is to test whether they're a proper foundation for your business or the sinking sand of the trend.

Extra Credit:

What kind of advice are you getting?
What are your doubts about your brand? Which ones are realistic? Which ones are merely distractions?
What kinds of trends can help you? Which ones are hindering you?

Comment your answers below 👇