No B.S Progress Report #3

A continuation in the practice of extreme openness

I had a crisis this morning.

I was counting the number of posts that I’ve done so far in my 30-day SubStack Kickstart and realized that with the 7 days that I have left, it will leave me short of 30 total posts!

At the end of this next week, I’ll be at 28 posts in this publication.

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Since writing this blurb, I’ve had some coffee, and now realize that 4 sprints of 7 days equals 28 days not 30...

Lol

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Some I am really proud of, and some that I’m not.

Here are my posts from this past week. I think it’s easier to show how I felt about each with emojis rather than words:

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🤔 💟 Through the Chaos: A Love Letter to Human Potential

🫶🏻 💝 Let Life Hit You in the Face (With a Straw)

😄 📖 This Mountain Almost Killed Me, But It Taught Me a Lesson First

😬 😖 We Can Learn A Lot From YouTubers

🧐 🥱 Your Eyes Are Deceiving You—Rewire Your Perspective, Transform Everything

💨 🧠 Why Do We Like to be Inebriated? - Unfiltered Thoughts

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I had a lot more trouble this week then the last two. This time it wasn’t about finding the time to write but finding what to write about.

What I wanted to say.

I was really struggling with this.

I allowed my business brain to hijack my focus to elements of this project that, while important, are not necessary right now.

Overwhelming myself, with all the minutia of work to be done to build this publication, brand, and community to what I want it to be.

• Am I marketing this in the right channels?

• I want to eventually monetize content, should I be doing that right now?

• I need to read more “SubStack Growth” posts that dominate the platform right now. See what tips established writers have for me.

That was until I read a post from Benjamin Antoine, author of The 2hour Creator Stack:

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.

These words resonated with me deeply.

The whole reason Soul Mana was born was to release the creative pressure I’ve felt in my heart over the last 6 months. I knew I had something to say to the world and each day that went by where I didn’t, felt like a day wasted.

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Do, and You Will Learn

This 30-day kickstart began, with some inspiration from A Letter For, as a way for me to practice condensing the ideas in my head down into words on the page. Structuring my thoughts in a way that made sense, and communicating them effectively.

To use my voice.

The compression funnel of taking emotions to ideas, to words, to all of you.

This week, I felt like I lost sight of that. Of what Soul Mana really stands for.

Somewhere along the way, it became more about getting the arbitrary 30 straight posts completed than it was about sharing an idea that I felt really mattered.

Because I was focusing so much on quantity, my quality had suffered.

Lesson learned.

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Hypocrite much?

That said, I can’t give up on my goal this close to the finish line.

I want to see it through.

Be able to say, “I did that”.

But, what I’m not going to do? Write just for the sake of writing. I’m never going to do that again.

Some of the ideas that I share, and have shared, may not go into as much depth as I would like. But they will all be meaningful to me.

No more bullshit.

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What To Expect This Week

This week, we’re talking:

✨✨ Politics ✨✨

It’ll be fun, I promise.

You can expect to see 6 consecutive posts on different topics within the political sphere. It won’t be covering breaking news or juicy headlines.

We’ll be talking about how we can come together as a nation.

Tend to our cultural wounds, and mend our divides.

Think: a conversation over coffee with a close friend, discussing ideas—not debating Uncle Tom over the Thanksgiving dinner table.

There will be no division here.

Only, good conversation.

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Final Thoughts

I didn’t want to include the change in analytics from last week to this week. While fun to analyze, I feel it goes against what I want this publication to be.

At least for now.

You have all shown me tremendous support on this project so far. I am so deeply grateful for it.

I feel refreshed, renewed, and beyond excited to continue this journey with all of you.

With sincere love,

Brady