The empty cafe that's breaking my heart

There's a new cafe that opened near my place in Warsaw a few months ago.

Every time I walk past, I glance through the window, hoping to see it buzzing with people.

It never is.

It's literally always empty.

The owner locks my eyes as I walk past, with a sheepish look.

He knows it doesn't look good.

It bothers me more than it should.

The place looks decent. The coffee's probably fine.

But I can already sense what's going to happen.

In a few months, there'll be a 'For Lease' sign in the window.

I've seen this time and time again. The owner decides to end it before enough people discover it exists.

This is exactly what happens to most creators building an audience online.

They start strong. They post consistently for a few months. Maybe they get some traction; perhaps they don't.

But then the doubts creep in. The engagement drops. Someone leaves a harsh comment. They start wondering if it's worth it.

So they quit. I never see them post again.

Right before things could have turned around.

I know things can turn around because nobody read my first 50 posts and I've coached hundreds to stay strong through the more challenging first phase.

I've watched this happen hundreds of times over 15 years.

I see talented people who had something valuable to say, gone before they gave themselves a real shot.

The ones who make it train themselves to measure success through different metrics.

Their success metrics are whether they hit publish, regardless of the outcome.

When a post flops, they don't see it as failure. They see it as another necessary rep of many.

When someone unsubscribes, they don't spiral into a decline.

They recognise that building an audience is about consistency over months and years, not viral moments.

The psychological shift is simple: you're not trying to win today, you're holding fast as you learn and improve as a creator long enough to start seeing traction.

Most creators quit because they focus on likes and subscribers when they should view every post published as a massive win.

They know that creating and publishing is a bit like going to the gym.

You don't see the effect at first, but it is there.

Every post counts just like every rep counts.

Knowing this intellectually doesn't eliminate the risk that you will close doors too soon.

You need a complete psychological framework that rewires how you process rejection, criticism, and setbacks in the context of getting yourself out there as a creator.

That's what the Creator's Mindset Blueprint course does.

It's a step-by-step system I've developed after years of creating and sharing things as a writer, designer and coach, and growing a newsletter that sustains me.

The course takes you from a creator who quits at the first signs of struggle to a resilient creator who builds something real and gets stronger with time.

Each module builds on the last. Each one includes fun exercises that cement the mindset shifts, making them automatic and not something you have to remind yourself of.

Most creators don't have this framework. That's why most suffer and quit.

Regular price: $197. Today: $79 until Saturday, 4pm ET. It's closed after that.

You also get my book Creatively Jacked: 43 badass motivation ideas for ambitious creators free.

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Until next time,

Alex