Being passionate is clearly important but I don't think you can underestimate the socio-economic factors that allow certain kids to activate that passion. From, in the case of soccer, access to equipment to fields to high quality coaching, just being passionate about something isn't usually enough.
Coaching, in particular, strikes me as highly important. Because a motivated idiot is still an idiot, regardless of how passionate they might be.
Where are the grammar police when you need them. A confusing sentence from today’s 7 Things: The aircraft was spotted by local residents eating lunch at a restaurant near the airport, and the story soon went national after being reported first by the Martha’s Vineyard Times.
One of the most crushing disappointments of my life was discovering how much it would cost for my son to play lacrosse with his best friend. I was already working two jobs so my youngest child could go to the YMCA for summer child care. I had two older ones as well. (Yes, I left a toxic marriage in the dust. No, he never paid child support.) I can’t take being told I’m in the wrong category at the start of every Understandably because I took you up on it and subscribed for free, so now I’ll take you up on unsubscribing.
How appropriate that your article on "passion" is followed up with the mention of Kai Neukermans performance with Pearl Jam. It's obvious that his passion for drumming led to the thrill, and opportunity, of a lifetime.
Oh, by the way, they’re not calling them UFO’s any more They’re being called “UAP” Unidentified Areal Phenomena. I think Congress is hoping no one will know that the committee checking these out really exists.
I went to an all-girls religious school and was on the 8th field hockey team. We all knew we were losers in hockey, but we bonded on that. We made up plays to pass the ball, we enjoyed confusing our competition because we were a team and we’re out to have fun. So at the end of the season there was a Round Robin with the school’s 8 teams. Guess who won? Yup, we did. We knew we were losers and we knew how to have fun. Then the team was split up the next year. Boo.
What exactly was the aircraft having for lunch, did it tip it's server at least 20%, and most importantly, how the hell did it fit its fat butt into that restaurant? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
How could you do anything without passion? Such as, for your significant other, even after 35 years; for the major endeavors in your lifetime such as in my case being a city manager, working as a consultant for local governments, starting your own business providing health care in local jails, and now, opening a non-profit to provide much needed support services for low to low middle income intellectually disabled adults who have nothing but their SSI to live on. Have you seen what these people take from SSI - less than $900/month, and that is often all they get from any source. Hard not to get passionate about that. Have all endeavors been successful - of course not, but loses were hard to live with, but the successes have always outweighed defeats. Just movin' along, and at 77 not seeing an end any time soon.
If I ever lose my mind and move to Indiana, I am going to live in Rep. Carson's district. He's got my vote. The man saw the need and jumped into the fray. The United States Government in action! Makes one weepy to see it happen.
Now, if only he'll show up to the hearing dressed as Luke Skywalker... or Darth Vader... "I find your lack of enthusiasm disturbing, General."
Passion, mindset or grit? All three and in that order.
I had the passion to climb a 7,000 foot tall mountain near my house. I had the mindset to know I needed to train before I attempted the climb. I had the grit to keep climbing until I got to the summit.
To say that one of the three is the "Magic Ingredient" is doing the other two attributes a disservice. Much like a food recipe, you need ALL the attributes in the correct amount, and added in the correct order, to achieve the desired amount.
Bill, as an ex-Little League coach of my then 10year olds team, I got teary eyed when you said you were proud of your players. That is what every coach should feel about the team. Make damn sure the kids know how you feel about them. There may be one kid who has never heard those words from anyone in their life. I had four of them.
What you do when you're up big is clear the bench. Everybody plays. And the starters should be hollering encouragement and help at their replacement player. That's teamwork.
Congrats for the W, and more importantly, the kids whose lives you've affected.
In our league at this age (and with only a few subs anyway) everybody plays equal time in every game to start with. At the end we just kept half the team on the back half of the field no matter where the ball was, and rotated our kids back and forth between offense and defense. It was like Dutch Total Football from the 1970s!
Hey Bill, I don't know if anyone has laid this bit of business wisdom on you, but I'll give it to you for free:
Shaming people into being a customer is not a good look for a company, or a sole proprietor. To this day I refuse to purchase anything from Michelin because of their commercials that intimated that I would be a bad parent if my Suburban didn't ride on Michelin tires. Or have Michelin wipers clearing my windshield.
Goodyear loves my money and I love their tires. I highly recommend them. Wipers and washer fluid come from Rain-X. Another great company that makes quality products. And neither try to shame me into purchasing them.
Ease up on the hard sell. And you might want to think about moving the sell off the header. Translated: You're pissing people off before they even get to the product.
You invited people in with a free product. To then bash them over the head first thing for money kinda/sorta smacks of a bait and switch. Not good optics, I'm sure you'll agree.
Point made? Wonderful! Great meeting, lets not do it again.
Anyone else want to chime in? Anyone else have advice? I need people to subscribe of course, otherwise it's hard to dedicate the mammoth amount of time required do the newsletter.
I read many things. Frankly, most I don’t pay for but I chose to pay for yours due to the quality of your work and, generally, your topics of choice. I value “Understandably”, and so I paid. All of the ones I read have reminders somewhere that paid subscribers make the publication of their product possible. But I don’t value them enough to contribute. If that means they cut me off at some point, so be it. So far that hasn’t happened since I suspect enough folks do pay to keep them going. I am limited by the “pay wall” in other cases.
That all said. If your push for subscribers is driving folks away and/or pissing them off.
Well. Do I need to say more?
Gentle reminders and a great product will cause growth. Advertising works too. At any rate, I hope you succeed since I really enjoy your product.
Another bit of business wisdom is that you can't please everyone. And while the customer isn't actually always right, they are always right to bring their concerns to your attention, which they have done.
Me, I didn't feel any shame about being a free subscriber, didn't feel that I was being chastised or unfairly hounded by the persistent upgrade request, and never felt that scrolling past your request was unduly taxing. I recognize that you need a call to action which makes taking action easy, otherwise folks don't take any action. And as a direct result of all the stop-harassing-us bellyaching, I've decided to become a paid subscriber
I am starting my own business (at 56, no less,) so I have a limited income. Despite that, I chose to pay for premium because your daily email is affecting me positively EVERY weekday.
I suggest moving your “premium push” down just below the first story. I think that would make it seem less “in our faces”, and that alone would probably mitigate responses like the ones you received today.
Thanks. Unfortunately on the current setup (Substack) there's only one place I an add a call to action for subscribers that goes to people who do not currently pay, but doesn't also go to people who have already signed up. I'm considering other platforms but it's a process.
For Sigmundsson’s study, which came first, the chicken or the egg? What I mean is, does passion determine athletic success…or does degree of athletic success have a part in someone’s passion level?
I haven’t read the study, but your summary makes me wonder how they know that passion came first.
Stands to reason that someone who’s naturally gifted in their field would probably be more passionate about it. Likewise, someone who isn’t really very gifted might not have much passion for it.
Seems to at least make a case for a “correlational” relationship in this study, rather than a “causal” one.
OMG! "Separately, a severe pilot shortage in the U.S. has left airlines scrambling for solutions." Will we have the airline industry's equivalent of nurse practitioner or physician assistant flying the planes?!?
Good morning Bill. Tell you what. I’d love to gift a subscription to your newsletter. I noticed though that I’d need an email address. Since I don’t have that info but you do, how can you help direct my gift to another party? I think Judd Legum does something like this. I d/c’d a different newsletter so this(gift)will replace that.
Being passionate is clearly important but I don't think you can underestimate the socio-economic factors that allow certain kids to activate that passion. From, in the case of soccer, access to equipment to fields to high quality coaching, just being passionate about something isn't usually enough.
Coaching, in particular, strikes me as highly important. Because a motivated idiot is still an idiot, regardless of how passionate they might be.
Where are the grammar police when you need them. A confusing sentence from today’s 7 Things: The aircraft was spotted by local residents eating lunch at a restaurant near the airport, and the story soon went national after being reported first by the Martha’s Vineyard Times.
One of the most crushing disappointments of my life was discovering how much it would cost for my son to play lacrosse with his best friend. I was already working two jobs so my youngest child could go to the YMCA for summer child care. I had two older ones as well. (Yes, I left a toxic marriage in the dust. No, he never paid child support.) I can’t take being told I’m in the wrong category at the start of every Understandably because I took you up on it and subscribed for free, so now I’ll take you up on unsubscribing.
How appropriate that your article on "passion" is followed up with the mention of Kai Neukermans performance with Pearl Jam. It's obvious that his passion for drumming led to the thrill, and opportunity, of a lifetime.
Oh, by the way, they’re not calling them UFO’s any more They’re being called “UAP” Unidentified Areal Phenomena. I think Congress is hoping no one will know that the committee checking these out really exists.
Love it! Your last sentence cracked me up!
I went to an all-girls religious school and was on the 8th field hockey team. We all knew we were losers in hockey, but we bonded on that. We made up plays to pass the ball, we enjoyed confusing our competition because we were a team and we’re out to have fun. So at the end of the season there was a Round Robin with the school’s 8 teams. Guess who won? Yup, we did. We knew we were losers and we knew how to have fun. Then the team was split up the next year. Boo.
What exactly was the aircraft having for lunch, did it tip it's server at least 20%, and most importantly, how the hell did it fit its fat butt into that restaurant? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
How could you do anything without passion? Such as, for your significant other, even after 35 years; for the major endeavors in your lifetime such as in my case being a city manager, working as a consultant for local governments, starting your own business providing health care in local jails, and now, opening a non-profit to provide much needed support services for low to low middle income intellectually disabled adults who have nothing but their SSI to live on. Have you seen what these people take from SSI - less than $900/month, and that is often all they get from any source. Hard not to get passionate about that. Have all endeavors been successful - of course not, but loses were hard to live with, but the successes have always outweighed defeats. Just movin' along, and at 77 not seeing an end any time soon.
If I ever lose my mind and move to Indiana, I am going to live in Rep. Carson's district. He's got my vote. The man saw the need and jumped into the fray. The United States Government in action! Makes one weepy to see it happen.
Now, if only he'll show up to the hearing dressed as Luke Skywalker... or Darth Vader... "I find your lack of enthusiasm disturbing, General."
Passion, mindset or grit? All three and in that order.
I had the passion to climb a 7,000 foot tall mountain near my house. I had the mindset to know I needed to train before I attempted the climb. I had the grit to keep climbing until I got to the summit.
To say that one of the three is the "Magic Ingredient" is doing the other two attributes a disservice. Much like a food recipe, you need ALL the attributes in the correct amount, and added in the correct order, to achieve the desired amount.
Bill, as an ex-Little League coach of my then 10year olds team, I got teary eyed when you said you were proud of your players. That is what every coach should feel about the team. Make damn sure the kids know how you feel about them. There may be one kid who has never heard those words from anyone in their life. I had four of them.
What you do when you're up big is clear the bench. Everybody plays. And the starters should be hollering encouragement and help at their replacement player. That's teamwork.
Congrats for the W, and more importantly, the kids whose lives you've affected.
In our league at this age (and with only a few subs anyway) everybody plays equal time in every game to start with. At the end we just kept half the team on the back half of the field no matter where the ball was, and rotated our kids back and forth between offense and defense. It was like Dutch Total Football from the 1970s!
Hey Bill, I don't know if anyone has laid this bit of business wisdom on you, but I'll give it to you for free:
Shaming people into being a customer is not a good look for a company, or a sole proprietor. To this day I refuse to purchase anything from Michelin because of their commercials that intimated that I would be a bad parent if my Suburban didn't ride on Michelin tires. Or have Michelin wipers clearing my windshield.
Goodyear loves my money and I love their tires. I highly recommend them. Wipers and washer fluid come from Rain-X. Another great company that makes quality products. And neither try to shame me into purchasing them.
Ease up on the hard sell. And you might want to think about moving the sell off the header. Translated: You're pissing people off before they even get to the product.
You invited people in with a free product. To then bash them over the head first thing for money kinda/sorta smacks of a bait and switch. Not good optics, I'm sure you'll agree.
Point made? Wonderful! Great meeting, lets not do it again.
Anyone else want to chime in? Anyone else have advice? I need people to subscribe of course, otherwise it's hard to dedicate the mammoth amount of time required do the newsletter.
As one who chose to pay I’ll share some thoughts.
I read many things. Frankly, most I don’t pay for but I chose to pay for yours due to the quality of your work and, generally, your topics of choice. I value “Understandably”, and so I paid. All of the ones I read have reminders somewhere that paid subscribers make the publication of their product possible. But I don’t value them enough to contribute. If that means they cut me off at some point, so be it. So far that hasn’t happened since I suspect enough folks do pay to keep them going. I am limited by the “pay wall” in other cases.
That all said. If your push for subscribers is driving folks away and/or pissing them off.
Well. Do I need to say more?
Gentle reminders and a great product will cause growth. Advertising works too. At any rate, I hope you succeed since I really enjoy your product.
Another bit of business wisdom is that you can't please everyone. And while the customer isn't actually always right, they are always right to bring their concerns to your attention, which they have done.
Me, I didn't feel any shame about being a free subscriber, didn't feel that I was being chastised or unfairly hounded by the persistent upgrade request, and never felt that scrolling past your request was unduly taxing. I recognize that you need a call to action which makes taking action easy, otherwise folks don't take any action. And as a direct result of all the stop-harassing-us bellyaching, I've decided to become a paid subscriber
🤟😀🤟
But that's just me. Ymmv.
Your mileage may vary - always makes me smile. Especially since I live full time in a motorhome. 😊
I am starting my own business (at 56, no less,) so I have a limited income. Despite that, I chose to pay for premium because your daily email is affecting me positively EVERY weekday.
I suggest moving your “premium push” down just below the first story. I think that would make it seem less “in our faces”, and that alone would probably mitigate responses like the ones you received today.
Thanks. Unfortunately on the current setup (Substack) there's only one place I an add a call to action for subscribers that goes to people who do not currently pay, but doesn't also go to people who have already signed up. I'm considering other platforms but it's a process.
So great that you definitely follow your passion, Bill. We are all grateful recipients!
For Sigmundsson’s study, which came first, the chicken or the egg? What I mean is, does passion determine athletic success…or does degree of athletic success have a part in someone’s passion level?
I haven’t read the study, but your summary makes me wonder how they know that passion came first.
Stands to reason that someone who’s naturally gifted in their field would probably be more passionate about it. Likewise, someone who isn’t really very gifted might not have much passion for it.
Seems to at least make a case for a “correlational” relationship in this study, rather than a “causal” one.
OMG! "Separately, a severe pilot shortage in the U.S. has left airlines scrambling for solutions." Will we have the airline industry's equivalent of nurse practitioner or physician assistant flying the planes?!?
Good morning Bill. Tell you what. I’d love to gift a subscription to your newsletter. I noticed though that I’d need an email address. Since I don’t have that info but you do, how can you help direct my gift to another party? I think Judd Legum does something like this. I d/c’d a different newsletter so this(gift)will replace that.