129 Comments

So glad to see you still online. Your teaching is great.

Glad you're back on your feet...takes a while to recover from divorce and find your way again. I did, after 27 years at age 63. Started college, 5 years later did my Masters in one year and now I'm one year plus and will receive my Ph.D in April 2024...at age 72. Far from done!

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Wow! Thank you for sharing all this, Dea. You're an inspiratino!

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Dec 29, 2022Liked by Jeff Goins

Hi- you go! Got my Doctorate two months before turning 65. Still have lots to learn, tho. Congrats!

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Welcome, Kathy!

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Good to see you here, Jeff. You've always been such a kind & supportive voice for new writers, so it was fun to get that notification email that you've started a Substack...

This platform's such a good place to bring some restless energy and a few what-if ideas, and to write your way into whatever a newsletter is about, instead of showing up with the idea fully realised. (Mine was almost pure "let's find out what the hell this thing is together" when I started out, and two years in, I'm still having a blast finding out.)

It's so great to be in a place with such an experimental feel, a golden-age-of-blogging vibe given a new coat of paint. (Answers are overrated. Questions rock.) And I'm glad your voice is joining it. Looking forward to reading what you have to say.

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Thank you, Mike! Looks like you're several steps ahead of me. Would love any tips from you. :)

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Oh blimey, that's far too kind. Also I'm British, so as someone genetically incapable of accepting either kind words or an actual compliment, I will spent the rest the evening rocking back & forth and screaming. (Thank you.)

Everything I've learned on here has ultimately been borrowed/stolen from the folk I followed during my blogging years - yourself included! Nothing new under the sun, with all this lark.

But I gave a few tips when Substack chatted to me last year - https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-7 - and I wrote this a few months back, which may or may not be nonsense: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/dont-start-a-newsletter-and-other There might be something useful in either of those?

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Thank you, Mike! Will dig into these (and apologies for missing this before).

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Astonished by your honesty Jeff, happy to see you doing what you feel… I’m a Mexican architect who writes… I work in the crossroads of neuroscience, mysticism, psychology and place design. Thanks for the invite I will be very attentive.

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Wow! Very cool, Karina. Where in Mexico are you?

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Dear Jeff, excuse the late reply, I am in Monterrey MEXICO.

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Hey Karina, just saw your post here and had to send a message to say: my partner and I have been full-time working travellers for over a year now (yes, we're blessed and we try to remind ourselves not to take any of it for granted ever!) and one of the really interesting things about working from cafes, co-works and other public places is that we get the feeling there are some super cool developments emerging at the intersection of architecture, interior design, gastronomy, occupational psychology, and workplace design, etc. I'm personally very interested in this and I've been trying to find people writing about this and making/trying stuff.

But it's still such a new and emergent cross-disciplinary space that I haven't yet found anyone who's focusing on it. I wondered, with your background in neuroscience and place design, have you been looking into this? Can you recommend some others who I can read/watch/listen to?

Thanks Karina!

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Yes Harrison, it is a very multidisciplinary field, I think you should look for Coliving projects in the US and abroad, I belong to the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (head of Mx Chapter) and this is where you should find the science evidence backup. Im interested if you think I can be of further help, been collaborating in this myself in national press since 2002. (El Norte newspaper in MX) I think communicating this to general audiences is key.

Nice to connect with you Harrison! Will take a look in The New Workday !

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oh really?? Your work sounds so fascinating. Would you say there are any thought leaders in this new space right now? Any Substacks or blogs you follow?

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Jan 15, 2023Liked by Jeff Goins

I've read in your blog (that I follow using RSS) that were ending blogging. Until, in the very last paragraph, you said that you were starting a new blog, here. Some thoughts:

You will give up a valuable asset of your professional life: your site. With your name and your photo on it. The one you can change as you see fit.

With so many sites, services, and social media, our identity is scattered. If a guy called Elon starts to blow Twitter, or Substack or any other service shuts down, you will lose your stuff.

I've found a movement called IndieWeb, that enforces exactly that: the ownership of your data.

Indieweb guys suggest 2 strategies:

POSSE (Publish -on your- Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere)

PESOS (Publish Elsewhere, Syndicate (to your) Own Site)

Either way, keep your very own site with all content. I would suggest posting in both places always pointing out that the original is on your site. I heard Substack devs are planning to implement a thing called Webmention. It would allow you to show Substack comments, replies, and resposts (and other social media that also implements it) direct into your site, keeping you connected with your community.

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Thanks, Bruno. I'm keeping the site for now and will make sure I do my best to cover my butt. That said, nothing is permanent. And I'm okay with using this as a soapbox for now. I like the community it engenders.

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Dec 29, 2022Liked by Jeff Goins

New here! Your introduction letter was absolutely amazing and is the reason I’m here. Not sure which stars pointed your direction but happy to be here with hopes to expand and get to the next level in my journey of writing a (good) book! P.S. let me know if logo designers position still open!

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Hey Lyra! Great to meet you and so glad you subscribed. Definitely still on the lookout for a logo. Shoot me an email at jeff@goinswriter.com with more details and sample work. Thanks!

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Welcome, Jeff! Your courses were some of the first I invested in. With two moderately successful traditionally published novels under my belt now, I'm also groping around a blind corner in my writing life. I got here to Substack a smidge before you but I'm still figuring our the lay of the land. I'm hoping you can help me figure it out more quickly!

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Thank you, Linda, for your support over the years. And yes, let's learn about this new landscape together.

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I look forward to it, Jeff!

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Same. :)

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Hi, Jeff. I have been following you for years. I am Lisa C. Miller. My family and I live in the beautiful state of Alaska. Fairbanks is home. I am a poet. I have written and published three books of poetry so far. I am currently working on my fourth book. I am here to learn.

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Beautiful! So glad to have you, Lisa.

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Thanks for 'reappearing' again. I've followed you from the early days, Jeff, have several of your books and always enjoyed your work. Glad to see you doing what you love. And if you're here on Substack, then that must mean this is an okay place. I've just started my own endeavor here, so I'm curious to see how it goes. You've shown me how to do it right. Thanks.

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Excellent, Rex! Let's cheer each other on. :)

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So thankful for you Jeff. Your resilience. Your honesty. Your example.

I’m following your lead (just like I did over 10 years ago with blogging!) and will be chronicling my own “occupational reboot” here on Substack as well.

Cheers to an honest, humble pursuit of a fruitful second career!

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Edward! One of my favorites from the old days. So glad to see you here. Let's nudge each other along like we used to. :)

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Hello, Jeff! It's great to see you here on Substack (we met in June '22 through Honorée Corder). Your message is inspiring and the path ahead is exciting. Who doesn't love a good mystery?

I'm launching two stacks of my own here, one for nonfiction (Conversations for Course Creators) and another for fiction (Time Stands Still). I look forward to being a part of your community.

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Thank you for being here, Lucas! Looking forward to learning with you.

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Dec 29, 2022Liked by Jeff Goins

This sounds great!

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Glad to have you aboard, Dave!

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Hey there, Jeff. Been following you for awhile, and I agree -- Substack is a pretty inspiring place for writers these days.

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Thank you, Meredith! I love the energy here.

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Good to see you back Jeff. Discovered you early in my publishing journey and appreciate your honest voice. Am also starting on Substack and have a 'let's see where this takes us' spirit with it as well.

Looking forward to see what you come up with.

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Ditto!

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Dec 29, 2022Liked by Jeff Goins

Looking forward to sharing and learning!

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Thank you, Kathy. Let's go!

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Dec 29, 2022Liked by Jeff Goins

Sounds intriguing.

I'm in!

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Awesome, Sharon!

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Hey Jeff, glad to see you on Substack! Very much enjoyed your blogging course back when I first started online. Looking forward to your ‘little notes’!

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Thank you, Kev.

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