Pleasing Everyone Pleases No One
Welcome to #64 of Mindfully, a newsletter where we explore self-growth mindfully. I hope you’re having an awesome day!
Hey friends,
This week I want to try to illustrate an aspect of life some of us spend far too much time giving attention to that deserves little of our attention. Basically, trying to please everyone never gets us anywhere. We’ve all had those moments where a decision we’ve made has made one party happier whilst disappointing the other. Over the years, I’ve realised it is far better to stop trying to please people altogether and just do our thing. If that pleases some people, then that’s awesome, but, we shouldn’t over-index too much if it also disappoints some other people.
I’ve been looking for a good example to illustrate this point and today I’ve found it. Funnily enough, writing this weekly newsletter led me to this example I’m about to share with you now.
From the beginning of my newsletter, every week, I’ve shared my super subscriber count openly with all of you. Mainly this was for two reasons: (a) it would allow me to track and visualise my growth over time (to make sure I’m improving and this whole gig is working) but also to (b) encourage others to join my newsletter by creating an element of FOMO (fear of missing out) by emphasising the community aspect.
On the whole, I’ve not thought twice about sharing this number ever since, but recently I received two very interesting emails from two super subscribers. One asked that I stop sharing this number publicly to which I actually did experiment with not sharing the super subscriber count for a week or two. Then another super subscriber noticed this and emailed asking that I begin sharing the count again. Funny that. To be honest, both individuals had compelling good reasons (which I’ve not shared for anonymity) as to why I should either share or not share my super subscriber count.
This just proves that it’s impossible to please everyone, even though “everyone” may have perfectly good reasons as to why you should listen to them or action their needs. I guess the moral of the story here is as the title says: pleasing everyone pleases no one.
One Quote 🧠
Set realistic goals by setting realistic steps – discreet ‘doable’ actions, each of which connects to the next one in some logical progression. — What They Don’t Teach You At HBS by Mark McCormark
One Recommendation 🚀
Book 📚 — The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
I recently discovered Marie Kondo and have since been obsessed with her organising tips and tricks. I’m due to make a YouTube video sharing some lessons, but I’ve already written a newsletter article and recently read this really fantastic book of hers on the magic of tidying up. Would totally recommend it!
This Week on YouTube 🎥
My First Ever Day As A Doctor (VLOG):
Let’s keep growing! 🚀
We’re currently 900+ super subscribers strong! ⚡️
If you’re new to the family, welcome aboard! 👋🏾
Gained value? Share it with one other friend who might also enjoy it. 💌
That’s all for this week — be safe, be happy!