Problems That Solve Themselves When You're Not Looking
52. Your resource roundup from Unobstructed.
Confidence doesn’t build the thing. Doing the thing builds confidence.
Some days you’ll kick alllll the ass and the other days you’ll get your ass kicked.
Hey. hi. hello.
Welcome back or welcome to Unobstructed.
Confidence is inconsistent. And it’s overrated. You’ll have times where you’ll feel like you don’t have the hang of anything. At least, I have. Quite a lot of them. Very often. Then, other times you’ll feel like an expert.
But at some point, the realization hits that it was never about being confident.
It’s about consistently doing it anyway—when you lack confidence.
Because that’s how you build it.
Your weekly spotlight.
Grab your tissues.
Let’s say you’re the best in the world at what you do. You’ve stood on mountain tops and parts of this planet that nobody else has. Maybe you feel like you really do live in your own world sometimes.
But when you’re at home, not traveling for work, your daughter is who you share that world with.
Meet Jeremy Jones.
Big mountain snowboarder.
Eleven Big Mountain Rider of the Year awards.
Named National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year.
Founder of Jones Snowboards and Protect Our Winters.
Featured in over 50 snowboard films that reshaped the industry.
Jeremy’s career has been a masterclass in pushing limits.
But this is a story about his daughter, Mia.
She’s going to college. And they made a snowboard mini-movie to document a camping trip together before she leaves.
This short-film was a tear-jerker for me.
I grew up following Jeremy’s career. His movies introduced me to backcountry snowboarding, leading me to my own guiding career. His kids were in some of those videos—very young back then.
Now, watching him grapple with sending his daughter off to college?
WOOF.
It knocked the wind out of me. But in the best way. Because the most badass mountain man on the planet is also a dad.
If you’ve ever had to loosen your grip so someone else could find theirs, I recommend you watch this mini-doc (12 mins).
Because sometimes, the hardest part of leading is knowing when to follow.
Your latest, from my rotation.
watch.
Thoughts On Firing Yourself Responsibly by Timm Chiusano.
You've consumed enough. It's time to create by Rick Bebbington.
How to land a job and master corporate bullsh*t | Fredrik Fornes | TEDxArendal.
listen.
Animal instincts for being human with Josh Brolin on Armchair Expert.
Unlocking potential to thrive in life with Dr. Cristina Versari and Michael Gervais.
The Public Speaking Mistake That Makes People Ignore You with Vinh Giang and Steven Bartlett.
read.
What happens when you finally choose to be yourself by Michael Thompson.
I'm Sick of These Toxic Self-Help Tips That Don't Actually Work by Sean Kernan.
The Best Ideas Don’t Come From Thinking—They Arrive Like Lightning by Beckett Johnson.
Your latest, from Unobstructed.
Recap on reading.
Your latest episode of The Unobstructed Podcast.
You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
Sometimes your biggest hurdles figure themselves out.
“Impossible”, you cry.
“Inconceivable!”, I mock.
“He’s gone mad” you insist.
Ok, fair point. But, they do. It usually happens when you’re busy focusing on something else. It happened to me recently.
After years of working in corporate, everything I wrote “for myself” started sounding like an ad.
Like a soggy pile of paper, dressed up as a plain bagel.
With a bow on it.
Maybe with a little sticker that said something like, “trust me, I’m great”.
I really needed to stop filtering myself.
But I didn’t know how.
Then 4 unexpected things happened.
1. I accidentally adopted a new tech platform.
My partner showed Substack to me. And I immediately loved the platform for the tech—the social community of a "feed" with the distribution power of email.
So I migrated my newsletter.
2. I joined a writing community.
That's really what made me accountable. You know, so that I'd actually do something different. Instead of 10,000 of the wrong reps.
3. Writing daily squashed my fear.
I’ve long battled the ol’ fear of looking dumb. Daily writing made my voice something I used—not something I feared using.
But the irony of ironies?
4. The comment section's where it clicked.
After a multi-year hiatus from social media, comment threads ended up being the place that I got comfy enough to be myself. Make it make sense.
Well, it’s because the comment section wasn’t about announcing my ideas. It was about responding to someone else’s. Just talking to people, not at them.
Wild concept, right? I know.
So what’s my point?
I got past the hurdle by connecting with people—offering my help. Not by announcing my thoughts like product features in a whitepaper.
Without realizing, I'd found my voice.
When Fear Of Looking Dumb grabs you, don't F. O. L. D.
Pull up a chair, don’t stand by the door.
The first step is scariest, but the smallest.
Try, fail, adjust, try again. Then repeat.
Talk with the people at the table.
You can only play the hand you’re dealt.
You might as well have fun.
See you next time.
Thanks for being here. You’ll hear from me twice weekly—one podcast & one email.
Toodles.
onward.
-dmac
P.S. Starting or scaling your own newsletter? Use this free checklist to try the 5 Ps framework.