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  • Issue #17: How To Fail Less Spectacularly In 2025

Issue #17: How To Fail Less Spectacularly In 2025

Your Guide to Failing Forward (With Style)

Author

Greg Mills
December 27, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes

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Why you're getting this: Welcome to My New Meta, where I analyze the ever-evolving "business meta" - those unwritten rules and strategies that actually work in modern entrepreneurship. As your self-proclaimed #1 "Entrepreneur in Training," I share weekly insights from my adventures both IRL and in the digital realm.

No pressure to join the journey - unsubscribe anytime (don’t worry, I won’t be notified or offended 😊)

Here’s what I’ve got for you today:

TLDR (The No-BS Version):

  • Stop trying to revolutionize - just make things suck less

  • Trade your "research" tabs for actual working

  • Excellence = Mediocrity + Consistency + Time

  • Get comfortable looking stupid (I'm a pro at this)

  • Build in public, fails and all

Let’s get into it.

The Setup: A Conversation About Priorities

SCENE: At the cabin for Christmas, 9 PM. I'm doom-scrolling through "entrepreneur motivation" posts while Kirsten reviews QuickBooks by the fireplace.

ME: (showing phone) "Check this out - this guy built a billion-dollar company from his garage in just six months!"

KIRSTEN: (scrolling through QuickBooks) "Fascinating. Speaking of business basics, when were you planning to enter your billable hours from November?"

ME: (suddenly very interested in the fireplace) "Oh, you know... I've been focused on strategic growth initiatives."

KIRSTEN: "Uh-huh. And these unmarked receipts in your wallet from October? Are those part of the strategic growth too?"

ME: "Well... I was going to create an AI-powered receipt tracking system. With blockchain."

KIRSTEN: (closing laptop) "You know what's really revolutionary? Basic bookkeeping."

ME: "Are you saying my plans for an automated, machine-learning, Web3-enabled expense management solution might be..."

KIRSTEN: "Overthinking it? Just like those 470 browser tabs of 'market research'?"

ME: (pulling out crumpled receipts) "Point taken. QuickBooks it is."

…more on this after the Ad and links…

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CURATED TOOLS

🛠️ Buildpad.io - Your "Are You Sure About This?" AI Friend

Turns out my method of "build first, find users never" might not be optimal. Buildpad is like having a pragmatic friend asking the tough questions before you spend three months building another blockchain-enabled note-taking app. I wish I'd found this before my fourth attempt at revolutionizing... checks notes... receipt scanning?

📝 GoalMentor.app - The App That Thinks Like Kirsten

Been playing with this one and it's surprisingly good at breaking down those "I'll get to it later" tasks into actual doable chunks. Think of it as having a digital VP of Operations (minus the judgmental looks when you mention blockchain). It even has an AI assistant that, unlike my attempts at automated task management, actually helps you finish things instead of just creating more lists about finishing things.

I used it to break down my 2025 tasks and discovered that "revolutionize the entire real estate industry" might need a few intermediate steps.

📊 Infografix.app - Because "Trust Me, Newsletters Are Simple" Needs Visuals

Found this gem while trying to explain my newsletter production process to my mom. Remember when I spent three hours in Canva making that flowchart showing how My New Meta goes from "Greg's 2 AM ideas" to "actual readable content"? Infografix could have done it in seconds. Just type what you want, and it spits out professional infographics that make your chaotic content creation look like a well-oiled machine.

It will make you hierarchy charts, SWOT diagrams, family trees, and all types of charts.

My experience: Infografix just created a proper newsletter workflow diagram, and... apparently, I've been skipping about 50% of the recommended steps; like "define objectives," "optimize," and "not writing entire issues at midnight." Who knew?

Here is the first draft:

…now back to your regular scheduled content…

Your 2025 Power-Up Guide

You know those end-of-year lists that tell you to "hustle harder" and "rise and grind"? This isn't one of those. After receiving my annual performance review from our VP of Operations (aka my wife Kirsten) over Christmas dinner, here are the only five things that actually mattered in my journey from corporate suit to startup sherpa.

Lesson #1: Build Clear Solutions, Not "Revolutionary" Ones

Remember when I thought every business needed to be a "disruption play"? Turns out, solving obvious problems beats reinventing the wheel:

IRL Example: Instead of building an AI-powered receipt tracking system, I finally just spent 30 minutes sorting receipts and entering them in QuickBooks. Expenses tracked: $967. Time spent dreaming up complex solutions: 3 months. Time spent actually solving the problem: 30 minutes.

You will be rewarded for obvious solutions to real problems, not complex answers to questions nobody asked.

Lesson #2: Choose Action Over Planning

Looking at my browser history from 2024 is humbling:

  • 470 tabs of "market research"

  • 12 different project management tools

  • 3 complete Notion workspace redesigns

  • 0 actual projects finished in Q4

IRL Example: Last month I spent 16 hours researching the perfect CRM tool for chargeFUZE. Meanwhile, Kirsten just created a simple Google Sheet and started tracking everything. Guess which method actually helped us make actual progress?

The best entrepreneurs (and employees) I know aren't the ones with the prettiest Notion workspaces or OneNote workbooks - they're the ones who actually get shit done.

Lesson #3: Embrace the Long Game

Here's what nobody tells you about "overnight success":

  • It takes about 1,000 nights

  • Most of the work is boring

  • Nobody claps for the daily grind

  • Progress happens in silence

IRL Example: When we started My New Meta, we had 5 subscribers in month one - mostly family members who felt obligated to read it. But we kept writing four issues per month for 4 straight months. By Issue 16, we hit 500+ engaged readers and started getting partnership offers. Not because we suddenly became better writers but because we stayed consistent long enough for people to find us.

It's about showing up daily, doing the unsexy work, and somehow not losing enthusiasm when everything takes 10x longer than expected.

Lesson #4: Get Comfortable Being Misunderstood

Most people choose guaranteed mediocrity over potential success because uncertainty is scary.

Think of it like playing a new game:

  • You'll die a lot at first

  • Veterans will laugh at your build

  • You'll use the wrong items

  • But you'll level up faster than those who never play

IRL Example: I mess things up all the time, too many examples to mention. Getting comfortable with being misunderstood is crucial for growth and innovation—It's okay to trip over your own feet while trying something new; just do it with style and call it "character development"!

The willingness to look stupid while figuring things out is a superpower.

Lesson #5: Build In Public

Stop hiding behind perfect plans and polished LinkedIn posts. Real value comes from sharing the journey - messy parts included.

My most viral posts of 2024?

IRL Example: My most successful LinkedIn post wasn't about our wins - it was about that time my ego wouldn't let me write a normal development proposal…all I wanted to talk about was me, me, me. That post led to three advisory clients who appreciated the honesty. Turns out, people trust failures more than highlight reels.

Turns out authenticity > perfection.

BONUS: Your First Quest of 2025

Choose ONE of these starter quests:

BEGINNER QUEST: The "Stop Procrastinating" Challenge

  • Pick that one small task you've been avoiding forever

  • Give yourself 30 minutes max

  • No overthinking allowed

  • Share what happened (good or bad)

INTERMEDIATE QUEST: The "Email My Boss" Challenge

  • Write that proposal/idea you've been sitting on

  • Give yourself 1 hour to draft it

  • Send it before you can overthink it

  • Share what happened (especially if it gets weird)

ADVANCED QUEST: The "Actually Start It" Challenge

  • Pick that side project you keep talking about

  • Do ONE small piece this weekend

  • No planning allowed - just start

  • Tell us how it went (success or hilarious disaster)

Bonus Points:

  • Tag me on LinkedIn or X with your progress updates

  • Include #MyNewMeta when sharing fails

  • Help other questers in the comments

  • Turn your failures into future content

Because if we're going to fail, we might as well fail forward together.

THAT’S A WRAP

Happy Holidays and see you in 2025

Stay curious and keep building,

Greg "Still Installing Updates" Mills

P.S. If this newsletter made you feel slightly called out but also motivated, mission accomplished. Hit reply and tell me which TODO you're tackling first.

P.P.S. Yes, I started another project while writing this. No, Kirsten doesn't know yet. Yes, this will probably be content for Issue #18.

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Note: Some of the links in the newsletter are affiliate links. I believe in transparency and honesty, so if you want to know more, visit Full Partner Disclosure for details.

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