This week, one of the questions that I’m answering to gain clarity in my business is, “What kind of person do I want to work or collaborate with?”
I asked myself related questions in the past but I realise now that I didn’t really get specific and my answers remained too general. At the time, I didn’t have the right questions to go deeper but that changed last week when I began listening to Tim Ferriss’ most recent conversation with Derek Sivers (100% recommend).
Derek describes a simple process that he uses to find direction if you’re not sure which way to go. He talks about this through the lens of starting a new business venture but it can be applied to other areas as well. He calls it his people compass.
Who do I admire?
Who do I like?
Who are my heroes?
To answer these questions, I thought about it for some time and came up with a few names. I then went through the lists of people that I follow on YouTube, Substack, Twitter and Instagram because clearly, these are people that I like and who share common interests.
By the end of this, I had a list of 30 people – all of whom I admire in some way and who inspire me.
While looking at this list, I realised that these people have two things in common.
They are all creators in some way or form and they are people who have taken an unconventional or unscripted approach to living.
Creators are people who follow their innate passions and interests to bring their ideas and vision to life. My list of people includes creators who are:
- Artists and crafters
- Process and system experts, solutions architects (Notion consultants, digital creators)
- Designers
- Readers, writers, bloggers and authors
- Philosophers and thinkers
- Chefs and cooks
- Video creators
- Podcasters
- Multi-passionate creators
- Mixed martial artists
These are the people that spark joy for me, creators are my people and they are the ones that I want to serve.