33rd edition: Dreams do come true

Thanks for being here

There’s a house in Maine with a sign that says, “dreams do come true.”

The house sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean along the Marginal Way.

“Named for being a "margin" between land and sea, the Marginal Way is a stunning cliff walk about a 1 ¼ mile-long.”—Alexandra Hall, CN Traveller

I’ve been walking past this house most summers since I was kid (Maine is a popular vacation spot for Montrealers). At any given time, there’s at least a couple of people stopped in front of the house to take photos. It’s a reminder to dream big.

I always think of that house when I hit a milestone I’ve been grinding towards—this time it was making my first $100 online.

100 bucks isn't much, but it's a blueprint for how to work smarter—not harder.

I shared this in a Tweet on Sunday and was touched by the outpouring of encouragement I got. One notably from “solo entrepreneur” Justin Welsh, who’s amassed over $1.3M in revenue in under 3 years, along with over 104K Twitter followers.

One of many touching congratulatory messages on making my first $100 online

Early in my career, I was surprised by the generosity of time and encouragement from people I considered ultra successful. Now, I realize these superstars had the biggest urge to pay it forward because they know what it takes to swing for the fences.

So as you achieve more success, take every opportunity to champion those coming up behind you.

Now, down to business. Here are 3 prompts I have for you:

• A successful experiment to spur those of your own

• An article to prompt thinking around imitation and innovation

• A story to reflect on how to make your dreams a reality

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🌻 Experience of the week

I mentioned, I made my first $100 online last week. But what’s even more incredible is the feedback I’ve been getting on my product.

Here’s a post that stood out. Laraine is both a first time course creator (my target audience) and an instructional designer—so she has high standards for what constitutes a valuable learning product.

Laraine’s comment made my week infinitely brighter. Especially, considering I didn’t know if anyone would buy—let alone enjoy—my product. It goes to show, there’s only one way to find out whether something’s useful: test it.

CHECK-IN: What’s something you’ve been wanting to experiment with and how can you put said experiment in motion?

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🍎 Content diet

For those who don’t know, I lived in Paris for two years from 2018-2020. I worked at the international headquarters for Ubisoft—a global gaming company with a massive presence (4,000+ employees) stationed in Montreal’s artsy Mile-End neighbourhood.

I spent my afternoon co-working in the Mile-End yesterday and it made me nostalgic about my time with Ubisoft, and by association, my time in Paris. So this week, my must-read piece for you is a comparison of France and America by none other than my very own writing instructor—the mastermind behind Write of Passage—David Perell.

Here’s a snippet of Perell’s piece (which you can read in full here):

Read the full piece here.

CHALLENGE: How can you apply the concept of Imitate, then Innovate to improve a skill? How can you help your students do the same?

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💭 Question to ponder

One Friday afternoon in August 2019, I met a friend for lunch at Créatures—the rooftop restaurant at Galeries Lafayette.

We were enjoying traditional French cuisine with a side of champagne—because in Paris, champagne is always encouraged—when we started talking about how lucky we were to experience living in Paris. But it was funny, as grateful as we were, we also had dreams that still felt far off.

I remember dreaming about being self-employed one day. Three years later I am.

An underrated lunch spot: Créatures’ rooftop terrace at Galeries Lafayette. I mean… look at that view.

What’s incredible about my pathway to realizing this dream, is living in Paris was one of several others I achieved along the way. I applied for the job in Paris when my Australian work visa was nearing expiration. I wanted the job so bad. I remember my Aussie roommate-turned-soul-sister telling me:

“Believe that you already have the job. Imagine yourself walking into the office. That’s how you manifest it.”

That’s when I decided I was going to Paris. Whether or not I got the job was irrelevant, I was going no matter what. Getting the job would be ideal, but otherwise I would apply for jobs once I got there.

I ended up getting the job. But the lesson of not being deterred by rejection, has always stuck.

Dreams do come true. So don’t ever stop chasing them.

QUESTION: What’s something you know deep down you’ll do—but haven’t found the confidence to do yet? Todays a great day to map out a pathway.

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💜 A message for my friends in the US

I don’t know what to say, so I’ll just say this: I’m thinking of you all, and hoping for the changes you’re advocating for. 💜💜💜

Sending love and support from Canada,

Alexandra