What got you here won't get you there.
The theme of the month for members of our little tribe is “Back to Basics.” I know that means different things to different people, so allow me to give a quick take. The previous month was about red teaming and identifying where you have blindspots. This month is about adopting a beginner mindset and starting to solve for those weaknesses.
I have many weaknesses and blindspots, too many to tackle in a single month or year. So let’s talk about one of those and what I’m doing about it- because this affects you.
Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but the voices many content creators in the gun space have faded over the last year. COVID certainly took its toll, but so did ammunition shortages, panic buying, reduced training (or competition) opportunities, and more. I’ve had my own issues with burnout on more than one occasion.
Content creation can be a grind. It doesn’t matter if it’s writing articles, making videos, or recording podcasts. There is a constant yearn to produce and get better every time. For a while, I’ve sensed that I’ve fallen into the trap of riding the content treadmill and haven’t really challenged myself to do something new and interesting.
This is my blind spot.
The Next Stage
The Everyday Marksman is an evolving project for me. What started as a blog about my shooting journey blossomed into a repository of shooting and gear advice open to the world. Then it became a fledgling community of marksmen looking to connect.
I want to keep all of those things open to you and future marksmen like you, but I’m looking for the next challenge. I could continue on the grind, running through my list of “to write” topics, but that’s just a recipe for another burnout.
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a rather ambitious project in mind. It’s a new way of producing content I’ve not seen anyone else in the gun world do before, and the idea of pulling it off excites me. It’s also going to have a learning curve to get it right.
I don’t want to give anything away just yet, though supporters in the Discord server have already had a hint. Email subscribers will start getting a heads up next as I get closer.
However, I can’t do this project and continue on the weekly grind at the same time. What does that mean for you? It means that new content will become a bit more sparse for a while. I’ll still post updates and check-ins from time to time, but you shouldn’t expect to see new stuff every week.
Getting From Here to There
The quote I opened up this musing with is one that I’ve been using a lot lately in daily life. Growth is not an end goal, but a process. Many times, that growth requires us to stop what we’ve been doing and try something new.
The catch, of course, is that the option to do the new thing probably didn’t exist until we reached a certain level of experience.
I look forward to this next challenge, and I hope you enjoy where we go from here.
When Will We Get There?
Of course, I know you’re going to ask…when is this new thing going to arrive? The answer is simply that I don’t know yet. There are a lot of unknowns, and a lot of other more pressing questions to answer first. But answer them we will.
Good luck with your endeavor Matt! ‘Something inspiring’ is what we all need right now.
Good Luck I applaud what you have done so far and I believe this new thing will be great as well!