S3 E1 - Life lesson to live by: Achieve, Avoid, Maintain

[Audio Diary Recorded 10.22.25]

PDF to help you be you on Social Media at www.TheOneThatGlitters.com (and Merch!)

Welcome to Season 3 of Glitter Mouth, where I'm sharing my dad's game-changing framework for decision-making: what do you want to gain, what do you want to avoid, and what do you want to maintain? I'm getting brutally honest about hemorrhaging money on this creative endeavor (made $1500, spent way more), the hamster wheel of seasonal income pressure, and why I'm treating my creativity like my swim business by refusing to cancel on myself even with no money coming in yet. Plus, I'm breaking down my three metrics for social media domination and explaining why planting the seed where you want to grow means you have to start doing the thing before anyone gives you permission.

Key Themes & Takeaways:

• Dad's three question framework for decision making - "What do you want to gain? What do you want to avoid? What do you want to maintain?" Use this anytime you're struggling

• Startup mentality for creative endeavors - "Startups cost a fortune, anybody's business is probably in debt or has been in debt, yet with creativity we feel like it should instantly make money"

• Plant the seed where you want to grow - "If you want to be an actor you have to act, you have to put yourself in a position to act" - do the thing you want to be known for

• No one knows what you want if you don't know what you want - "How is my husband supposed to know what I want if I haven't done introspection work to figure out what I want myself?"

• Three metrics for social media domination - (1) What worked based on views, (2) How happy the post made you, (3) How much you enjoyed making it - "Follow the fun"

• The doing is the thing - "It's very hard to do the doing when you don't have proof that the doing is the thing, but you're banging your head against a wall for a year and a half studying and trying different things"

• Treating creativity like business - "If I wouldn't cancel on a swimming lesson I'm not going to cancel on my creative endeavor for that day, put it in same category of same amount of importance"

• Making house into vacation destination - When you have young kids and travel is expensive at peak times with five people, "we decided to make our house into where we'd want to travel to"

• Circle chart 100 fails method - Do 100 attempts, track the three metrics, see what works and double down on that

• Income reality check - "People ask how much money do you make on Instagram - none as of now, well not true I made $1500, I've spent far more than that, and I will continue to set aside money to hold space for my creativity"