Every so often, I get reflective and like to read a book that helps me focus on what’s important.

Maybe you do the same thing.

One such book is Essentialism. I have it on Audible and listen to it at least twice a year.

Maybe it’s voodoo, but I always feel more focused and clear about what’s important after reading that book. I’ll take it.

A few months ago, I read (aka listened to) a book called Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf. Recently, it’s been calling me to listen to it again.

The book is a story about a boy who has a lifelong fascination with samurai culture and wants to become a samurai archer himself.

He visits a training facility (I’m picturing something like a monastery) where there is no running water or electricity.

For cooking, drinking, showering, etc., they need to carry water in from the well in buckets. For heat, they need to chop wood and bring it inside.

Before the boy could be taught about how to become a samurai archer, he needed to chop wood and carry water.

Day in and day out, that was his chore. They wouldn’t let him learn the samurai archery skills until he completed this mundane work.

I’ll probably butcher the summary of the book if I keep going, but the main takeaway is that in order to have the outcome you want, you need to put in the work. You need to focus on the process.

Boring, daily routines lead to the skills you need to become the “samurai archer”. Until you put in the work, you’ll never be the master.

And it’s the same with marketing.

People don’t realize that a lot of marketing is task work.

Yes, you do strategy. Yes, there are creative elements. Yes, it can be technically challenging.

But the main thing is showing up and doing the thing you planned to do. Chopping wood and carrying water. It’s not glamorous but it needs to be done.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed about what to do in your marketing—maybe you have tons of ideas but you’re not sure where to start—I recommend chopping wood and carrying water.

Go through the Coworking Marketing Plan Worksheet in the Free Resources section. Top to bottom, knock one question off the list.

Don’t worry about the last part until you finish the first part. Just work on one thing, get it done, move on to the next.

Even if it doesn’t feel like it’s important, it’s part of the process. Don’t skip over things.

Becoming a samurai archer is absolutely attainable, but not before you chop wood and carry water.

Yours,
—K

P.S. If you need help implementing what you’re working on in the Marketing Plan Worksheet, perhaps working 1:1 or joining the membership would help.