Welcome to my substack!

I’m Sasha, 23 yo (24 in August #leo), and this is me:

I love a lot of different things: fashion, art, being active (gym), traveling, animals, journaling / writing, psychology, trying + learning new things. And much much more than that, but I’m trying to keep it brief here.

For work I’m currently a marketing manager at a tech startup, but I’m also launching a monthly print club for my art and building a clothing brand.

so wtf is [anti] preneurship

Now…the irony of my newsletter name is not lost on me. This project is intended to be a rightside brain exercise.

As a business owner I believe entrepreneurship provides a unique combination of creative freedom and financial upside, but more importantly allows you to build something on your own terms.

Hard to not appreciate that when your immigrant parents come from a country where this was impossible until the late 90s. And even then, corruption was ever-present.

Business aside, this is a space where I intend to share my thoughts on psychology, art, fashion, and culture (though I will also discuss my ventures when relevant, and maybe even challenge the traditional entrepreneurial approach if I’m feeling crazy).

And beyond bettering my writing, I think it is so important to continuously cultivate a dynamic, rich inner world. And I would love to build a community of creative, ambitious, like-minded people.

on getting started, why it’s hard

I want to begin this newsletter talking about a struggle that is relatable to many (and something I’ve dealt with myself, naturally): the difficulty of starting a new project.

It’s not logistically hard to start something…setting up a substack takes thirty minutes, opening a google doc takes two seconds.

At the same time, if starting anything were that easy, every other 19 year old ecom-inclined male would be busy bouncing his maybach with a rolex yacht-master on right now. And lord knows we see enough of that, so that’s not the world we live in.

That’s because it’s not so simple, and today I’m talking about three things I’ve found to be the most counterproductive to starting any project (as I start this project myself). Let’s get into ittt

announcing plans too early

In my opinion (and experience) talking about a goal too soon is one of the worst things you can do, especially if you haven’t done anything toward your plan yet.

According to an MIT Sloan Management Review, “voicing plans runs the risk of creating a ‘premature sense of completeness.’”

Funny brain hears you make announcement, accepts early reward, and checks it off the to-do list.

If you pay attention to how you feel during and after such an announcement, it all starts to make sense. Not to mention it’s the worst when you announce something and then realize you didn’t do it (that means your word is just word).

Research shows that people who publicly announce their goals tend to follow through significantly less than those who keep them private. Never let them know your next move was never a joke…do with that information what you will.

waiting until you’re “ready” and over-refining skill

This is the absolute biggest trap, especially for the overthinker perfectionist (me).

There’s no such thing as “ready”, break the cycle, and do it now. Unless your dream is something like neurosurgery, we can’t help you cut down those med school years lol

Action will always beat intelligence, talent, etc., and it’s a massive tragedy to let your potential go to waste.

You may or may not have seen this one quote circulating online recently:

“The art of not being ready and doing it anyway.”

Trust, you will figure it out as you go.

the Zeigarnik effect

Lastly, the Zeigarnik effect is this idea that unfinished things occupy far more of your attention than finished or not-yet-started ones. Imagine an unused app open in the background, just consuming energy.

This means that starting isn’t only the most difficult part, but it is also, in a sense, a point of no return. But that’s actually a good thing.

"Completing the task means resolving the tension system, or discharging the quasi-need. If a task is not completed, a state of tension remains and the quasi-need is unstilled."
— Bluma Zeigarnik, "On Finished and Unfinished Tasks" (1927)

I recently went through all of my unfinished projects, decided which are still worth pursuing, and mentally scrapped the others.

Matter of fact, starting this substack is finishing an unfinished project…

tldr

• Never let them know your next move

• You’ll never be ready, do it anyway

• Finish your unfinished projects

If you’ve made it all the way down to here, thank you for reading! And if you’re so inclined, do subscribe, but I won’t hold ya

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https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/announcing-plans-may-kill-motivation-productivity/