Good morning!
Welcome to another edition of The Matt Viera Newsletter.
The newsletter with the goal to inspire you to stop waiting.
Did You Know…
Neil Armstrong never said, “That’s one small step for man.”
What he did say was, “That’s one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind.”
Additionally, there is no astronaut on record ever saying, “Houston, we have a problem.”
What was actually said was, “Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.”
We remember the moment.
But we forget the decision that made it possible.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps
Speaking of small steps and giant leaps, we finally found and purchased tickets for our upcoming mini-retirement to Crete this summer.
It was a learning experience, an incredibly challenging endeavor, and took every last one of our credit card reward points.
But we ended up with a pretty good itinerary: five days in Frankfurt, a month in Heraklion, Crete, and a couple of days in Athens.
All before heading back to the States.
Most people will read that and think, “must be nice.”
But, the better question is: why not you?
While I am excited about traveling to and experiencing Crete and Athens, I am absolutely over the moon to head back to Frankfurt.
The Question I am Actually Trying to Answer
I’m not going to lie, writing this newsletter weekly is becoming a bit of a burden for me for a variety of reasons.
So, I turned to AI to express my concern and to find the question I am trying to answer when I sit down to write an article, my North Star so to speak.
Something other than, “What should I write about?”
I entered into AI some of my experiences and what I sincerely believe and this is how it responded (edited for clarity):
You’re not writing to people who already live like you.
You’re writing to people who:
Feel stuck
Know something is off
But don’t know what to do next
That’s your audience.
Your content is about:
Reclaiming control over your time before it’s too late.
So stop trying to make [your readers] act.
Instead, make them feel the cost of not acting.
That’s where your writing becomes powerful again.
You’re writing to trigger reflection.
And it led me to a much better question than “What should I write about?”
It led me to: What moment, decision, or fear can I show that forces the reader to ask: Why am I still waiting?”
With that, I believe I found the format of the newsletter I will implement moving forward based on these past few weeks of experimentation.
My Questions to You
How would your life change if you stopped waiting?
If nothing changes, what does your life look like a year from now?
Five years from now?
Ten years from now?
If you don’t have answers…
That should concern you.
A Destination Worth Traveling To
Frankfurt, Germany
Quote that caught my attention…
“How much of human life is lost in waiting.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoy The Matt Viera Newsletter, please forward this email to one person you believe would enjoy reading this.
Grab your FREE copy of The Beginner’s Guide to Mini-Retirements by clicking here.
If you’re on X click here.
