WORK LESS WEDNESDAY
WLW #155
👋 Hey Reader!
This is issue #155 of Work Less Wednesday, where I share with you 5 things you should know about, in 5 minutes or less. That leaves you with 10,075 other minutes this week.
🌡️ 1. New Video – Why You’re Stuck at the Same Income Level (Success Thermostat)
A couple weeks ago I posted a video called “10 Shifts From $100k to $500k As A Solopreneur.”
One of the concepts that really resonated with people was the “Success Thermostat.”
The idea is super simple:
| Your Success Thermostat |
We all have an ‘inner thermostat‘ for the amount of money we feel that we “should” earn.
– When we make less than that number, we scramble to earn more.
– When we make more than that number, we self sabotage or take our foot off the gas.
Many entrepreneurs get “stuck” at a certain income level for years as a result.
After working with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I can confirm:
It’s an EXTREMELY common problem.
So in this week’s podcast/video, I reveal:
- Why entrepreneurs get stuck at the exact same income level for years
- Why using fear as motivation leads to burnout (and what to do instead)
- Why your income ceiling isn’t a business problem – it’s an IDENTITY problem
- Why your biggest fear isn’t failure – it’s actually success
- 7 frameworks you can use to reset your internal “success thermostat“
You can watch the full 38 minute video here, or catch the audio version on my podcast.
🪨 2. Create Something Heavy – Essay by Anu Atluru
This is one of the most important essays I’ve read this year.
Here’s a quick summary:
“We’re creating more than ever, but it weighs nothing.”
The internet rewards lightness above all else. The algorithm doesn’t care what you create, only that you keep creating.
“Light things shape culture but rarely shape us.”
A million views doesn’t equal a pound of significance. Your tweets and TikToks don’t stack into something heavy. They’re snowflakes – beautiful but gone in seconds.
We all start light – short-form content, rapid experiments, prolific posting. It’s necessary. But no one wants to stay there forever.
“Many light things don’t add up to one heavy thing.”
Eventually, we all crave something with weight. A book. A company. A masterpiece. Not just for prestige or money. For permanence.
The heaviest truth? You feel like an impostor when you only make light things. Deep down, you know they don’t count. High output, low imprint.
What have you made that could survive a month offline? A year? A decade? Creating for 24-hour cycles isn’t freedom or legacy. It’s renting out your time.
The question isn’t whether to make light or heavy things. It’s finding the right balance between them.
“Your life’s work will be heavy.”
Start building it now.
🥇 3. Short Video – CEO Explains Why Your Priorities Are Wrong
My client Dave Roma shared this short video with me and my other clients this week.
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on why you need to focus on ONE THING:
“I found out early on that if you can whittle things down to just one thing, you become unstoppable. Unfortunately, people resist whittling things down to one thing because it’s really hard to decide what that one thing is.
“People have a very easy time telling you what their top 3-5 things are because hopefully the right things are in there somewhere… I can’t tell you how many board meetings I’ve been in where the CEO puts a PowerPoint up and it’s one bullet after another listing all of the things that are their priorities.
“You just know that they’re going to be a mile wide and an inch deep, swimming in glue, moving like molasses. The energy is leaving my body already just watching a long list of priorities… You’ve basically devalued what you should be doing because you’re time-sharing now with all of these other things.”
🎨 4. Graphic I Liked – Order Taker vs. Expert By Matt King
Cool poster my client Matt King made on LinkedIn to announce his shift from “order-taker” to “expert.”
Here’s what he said:
There’s a big difference between delivering good design and creating work that actually drives results, and tbh I didn’t always see that as clearly as I do now.
Then:
🎨 Focused on visuals first
🙌🏻 Said yes to every brief
🔁 Worked reactively
Now:
🧠 Strategy comes first
✅ Only take on projects where we can add real value
📈 Approach every brief with a long-term mindset
The shift from order-taker to expert means finally being compensated for the value of your work, not the hours you put in, or the number of deliverables you do.
This graphic is a great representation of that message.
Give Matt a follow over on LinkedIn.
🖐 5. More Things I’m Into This Week…
📘 Book I’m Reading – Illusions by Richard Bach
🔠 Typeface I Just Purchased For My Content – Suffix by Jen Wagner
🍀 Great Article On How Luck Can Be Created – How To Create Luck
🤖 How To Write Great ChatGPT Prompts – Article by Khe Hy
💬 Quote I’m Pondering…
“You wait a lifetime to meet Someone who understands you, accepts you as you are. At the end, you find that Someone, all along, has been you.”
― Richard Bach, Messiah’s Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul