The small thing that made everything else MUCH easier
I knew it was helpful, but I didn't think it had been that MUCH helpful.
Life happens. And when it does, it derails things.
Take my personal experience as an example.
My goal this year was to write more often–from monthly to weekly posts.
In January, I kept my weekly cadence.
In February, life happened and I sent you this playbook a week late.
I recovered my consistency during March and April.
But in May I took some vacations and I jumped from weekly to fortnightly publications.
Upon my return, I realized that yes, I was being consistent (compared to my previous years). However, if I wanted to reduce the risk of missing my deadlines, I needed to do something.
And I did...
My solution has allowed me to write every Thursday, no matter what.
See the flatline at the right of the graphic?
From weekly-ish to Weekly
In may 22nd, I introduced a change into my workflow that removed second guessing, overthinking, and delays.
Instead of designing my thumbnails for every post, I went for a simpler template ⤵️
Then, I made six variants, based on my Leadsticks colors:
I decided to use these variants following a simple cycle: black first, followed by red, purple, dark red, dark blue, and finishing with gold. The sequence repeats over and over.
This is how it looks like in action:
To spice things up, I sometimes create clean images for some issues, collabs, and specials.
Most of the time though, a simple thumbnail is all you'll get from me.
It was the trade-off I chose to be here for you, week by week.
Now that I discovered this trick, I will apply the principle with my podcast.
If you're like myself (looking to achieve what you want in an easier way), then removing a "tiny" guesswork out of the equation will get you farther...way farther!
May you celebrate wins more often in 2026!
Alberto
PS: If you need a sounding board to jumpstart your personal-practical transformation journey, hit reply and I'll give you a suggestion depending on your context.
