From "Roads Untaken" to "Imperfect" - and I've launched a podcast!

A re-branding and a new project launch all in one. In this post I explain why I'm changing the name of this newsletter as well as share all the details on my new podcast - which is now available!

Back when I started this newsletter, it was driven by a strong internal drive to do something. More precisely, to do something creative, away from my 9-5 job, and to do it for me - regardless of whether it made money, progressed my career, or made me look good. I wanted to create! I wanted to work on the projects which I time and time again failed to start. As I wrote in my first post, fear was often at the root of what held me back. Fear that whatever I created wouldn’t be good enough, or worthy enough of people’s time.

By launching this newsletter I felt like I was finally doing what I wanted, despite the fear and perfectionism. I still felt those things, but I was doing it anyway. I was on my way down the roads I’d dreamed of but never taken. Thus “Roads Untaken” was born, the name inspired by the poem Road not Taken by Robert Frost, as well as the wonderful Pathless Path by Paul Millerd.

Of course, soon after starting this newsletter I did what I’m very good at and immediately set myself an unsustainable and needlessly lofty goal - I would publish a post every single week, no matter what. If I didn’t post, regardless of whatever else was going on in my life, then this was bad. I had given myself a streak to maintain, and unlike Duolingo, no “streak freeze” to bail myself out.

I made it 11 weeks before breaking my streak, and the problem with breaking streaks is that it can make it very hard to get going again. I felt embarrassed to stop posting, like I was letting myself down, as well as the small reader base that I had built up in that time. I had (very well meaning) friends reaching out and asking “what happened?” and “no post this week?”. With every week that passed I felt more and more unable to get started again. How could I, now that I’d messed up?

I can’t say exactly what changed. Quite honestly, feeling the weight of not posting here, I instead turned my energy to other projects (I’m a serial project-starter — you should see the list of my domain purchases over the years). Amongst those other projects was something I’d wanted to do for a very long time — starting a podcast.

For years, I’ve wanted to interview others on their views on creativity and their experiences publishing creative work, on finding meaning and fulfilment in life and how they’ve managed to build a life doing what they love whilst making peace with the trade-offs faced along the way. I am completely and utterly fascinated with these topics. On understanding why we do the things that we do. Why we create. How we work.

These are topics I already bombard my friends with, and I wanted to reach out to other people I didn’t know to also learn from their experiences. Being honest, I thought it would be easier to ask people I didn’t know to talk to me if I started a podcast (asking “will you come on my podcast?” feels easier than “do you… wanna hang out?”) and on top of that, sharing those conversations openly feels like a really cool thing to do.

Thankfully, I didn’t have much time to think about it. I mentioned the idea to a good friend of mine, hoping he’d be willing to be my first guest. Thankfully, he accepted, but only had a very limited time-window where he was free to record an episode (having a baby is not an easy to move deadline). Within a few weeks he helped me to get booked into a recording studio, show me the basics, and get the first episode recorded! Now all I had to do was name it and get it out there.

Just like with this newsletter, here came another “stalling moment”. I went over many, many names. I sent them to friends. I made lists. I searched through domains. Everything I liked was taken or didn’t quite feel right, and I received kind but non-enthusiastic responses from friends on everything I tried.

In the end, I had every intention of keeping the name consistent with this newsletter (which until now was “Roads Untaken”), but it didn’t feel like a match for the interviews I’d planned. I felt completely stuck, like if I couldn’t find the perfect name, then I couldn’t release it.

That was until I woke up in the middle of the night with the random thought that this sicking point was yet another example of everything I struggled with: doing things despite the fear of perfectionism and success. Why did I care so much? Why did I need the perfect name?

I needed a permanent reminder to ship my work despite it being imperfect.

With that, “Imperfect” was born, and it immediately felt right.

I sent a few quick mock-ups of logos to friends, and for the first time they also seemed to genuinely like it (“It’s… very you, actually!”).

With that, everything else fit together pretty quickly. Embracing the name Imperfect has felt like a magical tool to unblock whatever challenge I’m facing. For every sticking point, all I have to do is remind myself that this is imperfect, and that I’m shipping it anyway.

For that reason, I’ve decided to rename this newsletter as well. This newsletter is now named the Imperfect Newsletter, and my podcast is the Imperfect Creatives Podcast. I hope this name will also inspire others out there to work on what they love, despite the lure of perfectionism.

The Imperfect Creatives Podcast

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

With that said, I’m incredibly excited to share with you the first episode of my new podcast! In each episode I will be interviewing creatives from various industries - be they leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, YouTubers, writers, photographers, coaches. Whilst the topics and guests may vary, the focus of these conversations will be similar to this newsletter - we’ll talk about creativity, about work & careers, about fulfilment, meaning, and balance.

In the coming weeks you can expect episodes on everything from taking sabbaticals and quitting corporate jobs, to carving out your own corner of the internet and how to be an effective communicator and leader.

I’m kicking it all off with a chat I had with Phil Bennett about his new book “Punk Leadership”. Taking inspiration from the spikey-haired, loud-mouthed Punks of the 70s, Phil calls on all of us to take a boot to the status quo and fix broken corporations from the inside-out. I love this episode because it incorporates many topics within that: how to figure out your personal values by building a “personal manifesto”, how to balance the core pillars Phil has defined when it comes to finding impactful jobs (“people, cash, planet”), and how we can (and should) challenge dodgy decisions in the workplace.

I’m incredibly grateful to Phil for coming on and being my first guest. Without his guidance and enthusiasm to get the ball rolling quickly, I’m almost certain I would’ve spent at least another 6 months “considering to start” this project, rather than actually doing it. So please go show him some love and support and buy his book!

You can checkout the episode with Phil on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I hope you enjoy it! If you do, or if you have any feedback at all, please hit reply or comment on this post and let me know.

I don’t know how long I’ll be making this podcast (or this newsletter) or how often this will go out. Sometimes I’ll ship articles and episodes weekly, sometimes I won’t. Right now, it doesn’t matter. I’m excited to have shipped something! Just like everyone and everything - it’s imperfect, and that’s perfect enough.

-Mike.