I’m pretty sure I owe Ethiopian coffee roasters some royalties at this point.

It’s concerning the amount of business I’ve generated through coffee and goodwill.

Coffee chats. Writing sessions while chatting with a barista. Accidental conversations with strangers that sprout three more conversations with their network.

Honestly, cortados have provided more clarity in my business than the courses I used to pay for.

👆 And I need this cortado more than ever.

Because last night…it happened again.

The Creative Heater hopped into bed with me.

You never know when it’s going to hit.

But when it does, it decides that sleep is less important than a flood of ideas.

It started at 10:03 with a little idea.

I’ve wised up to know that if I don’t write the idea down, I won’t remember the goods the following day.

The Creative Heater has taught me to submit like a good little boy.

Because the idea could change someone’s life or mine or both.

So it’s not dramatic. It’s a tax I’m willing to pay whenever it arrives because I respect the potential a Creative Heater gives you.

Anyhow, I write my idea into an iPhone note. Put the phone down.

Time for nighty night.

Cue SpongeBob meme…

5 minutes later

Another idea pops in.

Pick up phone. Glasses on. Pop it in the note. Phone back down. Glasses off. Nighty night.

10:14. New idea. Repeat.

Then 10:33. Then 10:43.

And on and on until tomorrow’s energy was tied to a chair in the corner while my Notes app asked for one more idea.

So, melatonin got popped at 12:39 AM. Assisted nighty night.

And now, I’m mainlining this cortado and hoping this email makes any GD sense.

But I don’t think it’s about the coffee for me.

It’s become a vehicle that allows me to think…well…like me.

And so I do.

I write better there.

I listen better there.

I notice more.

And somehow the business starts looking more like the life.

Three years ago I started grabbing coffee with strangers because I enjoyed it. That was the only reason.

The smart people told me it wasn’t scalable.

And thank the almighty I ignored them.

Because what chatting over coffee has given me is a deep, indescribable love for my day-to-day.

A lot of this game is just placing yourself in the environment you want to repeatedly inhabit.

When the business stops feeling like a place I want to keep visiting, I try not to immediately “push through.”

I look first.

Because observation beats perseverance. If we push through when the fruit from the tree tastes a bit metallic, we’re at risk of growing more of it.

And with enough conviction and curiosity, the dumb-sounding thing starts to work.

Growing a business where coffee is the main source of leads, revenue, creativity…that sounded absurd to me three years ago too.

But I loved it.

So I kept going, even when the practical part looked stupid.

And I was curious enough to improve my processes around it little by little.

Now, coffee feeds my family.

So I’m thinking it might be time to start cutting Ethiopian roasters a small royalty check.

But like I said, it’s not about the coffee.

It’s not about the Creative Heater.

It’s about what you want to repeatedly inhabit.

We should never let anything stand in the way of our expression.

Not scale.

Not “you should.”

Not the smart people who think every good thing needs to become more efficient before it’s allowed to be fun.

Build more of your life around the rooms you’re actually alive in.

Mine happens to have a cortado in it.

-C