Opt for a gift bag instead
You don't have to do things the way everyone else does — in branding and life.
How many times do you make things difficult for yourself because you’re trying to do things how everyone else does them?
Maybe you don’t know there’s another way. Or maybe you felt like you were less than because why couldn’t you just do the thing?
Or maybe you’re like me and just feeling a little run-down or facing burnout, and the way you’re used to doing things just…doesn’t work right now.
Especially those of us who are neurodivergent creators, we’re constantly told how we should do things, and we spend our lives masking and conforming to meet that arbitrary standard.
I was in my virtual co-working group this week, and one of the facilitators, Courtney, brought up this concept of choosing the gift bag.
It’s this unspoken rule that we should wrap gifts with wrapping paper. (Or the comics section of the newspaper if you’re like my dad.) Many people believe wrapping a gift yourself shows you care about the person enough to go that extra mile.
But sometimes we don’t have the energy, the spoons, or the brain space to sit and wrap a gift. (Not to mention waiting til the last minute and rushing around.) Yet we force ourselves to go through this ritual because, well, that’s just what people do.
Except here’s the thing: There are gift bags readily available.
You just put the gift in a bag, cover it with tissue paper (or something more eco-friendly), and voila! Done! And it’s just as valid of a way to share a present.
In the co-working session, Courtney asked us how we can bring this concept of gift bags to our work.
In other words: What can you make easier for yourself?
Maybe you’ve been trying to keep a regular day planner and wake up at 5am because you watched some YouTube videos that told you successful people do these things, but you don’t remember to actually use planners and, besides, you’re a total night owl.
Or maybe you’ve been filling out templates and trying out new sales systems, but it feels a little cringe and not you.
Sometimes there might be a really clear alternative solution right in front of you (the gift bag solution), but sometimes you’ll have to find your own path that works for your brain.
If you’ve been struggling because you’re trying to do things the way everyone else is doing — whether that’s branding, marketing, selling your offers, or living life — try giving yourself permission to try a new way that may not make sense to everyone else.
Now I turn it over to you: What are you giving yourself permission to “gift bag” — aka make easier on yourself?"
Happy branding (and gift bagging)!
Cat
A few notes:
Revue → Substack
Revue announced they’re shutting down in January, so I wanted to be proactive and switch over to Substack early to give us all enough time to adjust.
If you were already subscribed through Revue, you can sit back and relax because you’re still subscribed and will keep getting newsletters sent to your inbox. You can also see all the newsletters I’ve sent so far.
I’m still exploring Substack, but they have some really fun features like discussion prompts and a subscriber-only chat. Over the next few weeks, I’ll play with them and share with you how we can create a community feel in this space so we can keep the conversation going. For now, there’s a comment section available under each newsletter.
While it’s possible to monetize a Substack newsletter, I’m choosing to keep this free. You won’t have to worry about me cutting off access behind a paywall.
Contact me:
I’m not yet sure what’ll happen if you reply directly to this email. If you don’t want to leave a public comment, that’s okay. You can always reach out to me at cat@brandcraftersguild.com.
How I do deep work:
(aka write this newsletter every week)
Would you like to join a community of people dedicated to doing deep work? Caveday is a virtual co-working community where we work in sprints ran by a facilitator who keeps track of time and sparks interesting discussions (like the one that inspired today’s newsletter). If you’d like to check it out, you can here.
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