Happy New Year, Something Free and Weekend Fun

Welcome to Potentially Focused. It's Friday, January 3rd!

Happy 2025 to you all!

I hope this new year is off to a terrific start for you. And, that you're still somewhere fun and enjoying a great holiday season.

We'll be back with original content next Tuesday, including our first-ever interview with a career coach. Be sure to check that out if you're thinking about new beginnings this January.

Today, we're sharing a few quick new items along with some of the best of the past year's Potentially Focused pieces. It's a good chance to catch up on great information you may have missed.

Potentially Focused is a newsletter for busy people in the TV business (or not) who are curious. Anyone interested in growth. Great new possibilities, and the stories we tell ourselves that get us there or hold us back. Each (regular) edition features quick links to at least one great piece of content on professional development and one centered on personal growth. It's practical information and it’s all just a click away.

Please like, subscribe, and share.

Also... Potentially Focused is on Bluesky (@potentiallyfocused.bsky.social) and Threads under my account (@marcobresaz). Please consider following us there as well.

Thank you very much!

Marco

Let's start with...

SOMETHING POTENTIALLY TIMELY (AND FREE)

Apple TV+ is a unique streamer. They offer some of the best originals, yet it seems unclear how serious Apple is about streaming. It's not their core business, of course, and I think that's felt in their approach to their platform.

But, however serious they are or aren't, they are moving forward with an old-school TV promotion this weekend.

In case you missed it, starting tomorrow Apple TV+ will be free to stream this Saturday or Sunday. No subscription required.

If you've never seen them, it's a good opportunity to watch Ted Lasso or Severance or whatever appeals to you.

PS - This is not a paid promotion. I just figured you might want to watch for fun or to check out a service you may not have. You are welcome!

Speaking of stuff to check out...

POTENTIALLY INTERESTING PODCASTS

With 2025 upon us, here are two podcast episodes to take a listen to if you're looking to get set for the next year in media.

Peter Kafka and Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw talk about 2024 and what to expect in 2025 in this episode of Channels.

And this episode of The Ankler is described as looking at trends that give hope for the entertainment business in 2025. Spoiler alert: unfortunately, it plays more like a review of 2024, but it is still very much worth a listen.

Now onto...

GETTING CREATIVE WITH YOUR PERSONALITY

I’ll fully admit it. I love personality tests. ?And sure, the science behind some of them is less than rigorous. But even knowing that, I’ll rarely pass up the chance to take one. It’s just part of my personality.

My guess is many of you like personality tests too.

I recently came across one that aims to define your creative type by understanding how you think, act, and see the world.

According to the test, there are eight creative types:

• The Artist
• The Thinker
• The Adventurer
• The Maker
• The Producer
• The Dreamer
• The Innovator
• The Visionary.

Which are you?

Take the test and let us know!

Here's the link!

That all figured out, let's talk about...

HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOURSELF

Stories matter.

What we tell ourselves goes a long way to determining where we take our lives. Of course, there are other factors including both good and bad luck or even tragedy, but what we believe about ourselves has a big impact on all aspects of our life.

The stories we tell others about ourselves hold equal importance. What you say about yourself can play a big part in how your career grows or doesn’t.

Scientists have been studying reactions to the different ways people describe themselves and have found what works best. This article will tell you all about the studies.

But, in case you’re busy (and you probably are), here are a few quick takeaways:

Hard work is great. Yes, work hard at your craft or career.

BUT... When talking about yourself in job interviews or any conversation related to career growth (like pitching your boss on a potential promotion), DO NOT overemphasize how hard you’ve worked to get good at your job.

Here’s why… Those scientists I mentioned above have found that we like stories about prodigies. We like people who are “naturally good” at something.

Whether you’re a Malcolm Gladwell fan or not, you have likely heard of the idea of it taking 10,000 hours to truly get good at something. I haven’t fact-checked that in a while, but I think I can safely say for most people at most things, it does take a lot of hard work to master something.

But again, this is about stories.

How can you tell effective stories to aid your career growth? The results of studies on how we describe ourselves are clear. Whether it’s for a potential job, promotion or job evaluation, people will always favor THE NATURAL over THE STRIVER.

Amazingly, this even holds when the person evaluating you is NOT a natural themselves and has had to work extremely hard to master their job.

So, what to do? Well, first off, don’t lie. The truth is whether you are a natural or not, hard work has very likely been part of the equation. So, use both when describing yourself whether you’re a natural or not.

Tell people your career interest came out of a natural gift AND THEN work in the truth about how you’ve worked hard.

As an example, If you are in sales, the article suggests you say something like this when describing yourself:

"I realized right away I had a gift for sales, and I've worked hard to make the most of it."

For those who feel squeamish about saying you are a natural at something when you actually aren’t, first of all, you have my complete respect.

You are a good person. Well done.

But, you are also fighting against an unconscious bias it turns out all humans have. We WANT to believe in natural gifts and callings. More importantly, WE WILL penalize those people who don’t tell us a story that includes being a natural.

Do with this information what you will.

But for those up for a job or promotion…

My two cents is if you are the real deal, if you truly have put in the work, it would be a mistake to not include being naturally good at something (which you now are actually really good at) as part of your origin story.

Onto another interesting study...

THE BEST TIMES TO POST

Whether it’s for career or personal reasons, many of us engage with social media to get our thoughts and information out there. For those of us who are not social media savants, it brings up a lot of questions. A big one we grapple with is when is the right time to post? What days and times work best? And, is it different for each social media platform?

As someone who has recently launched this newsletter and is continuing to look for ways to grow my career, these are all certainly things I think about. So, I was happy to stumble across a summary of a recent study from Sprout Social that provided answers for the most popular social media platforms.

Link to the study summary here, but since this newsletter is housed on LinkedIn, my guess is that many of you are most curious about LinkedIn.

So, cutting to the chase and with an imaginary drum roll…According to the survey results, the best times to post on LinkedIn are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10 AM and 12 PM.

So, get cracking!

And, whether you’re job searching, or looking to share your expertise or services on LinkedIn or other social platforms, good luck, and hope this information helps you get your message across to more people.

Next up...

MY FIRST PODCAST EXPERIENCE

I love podcasts and listen to many different ones. If we've spoken recently, I was probably excited to tell you about one I thought you might enjoy, and I frequently share podcast recommendations in this newsletter.

I'd like to start one of my own. That is a work in progress, but I'm happy to share a more personal recommendation today.

I was recently on a great new podcast as a guest. First time ever, and it was audio and (gulp!) video also.

Huge thanks to Chris Bray for inviting me on, making it a comfortable experience, and guiding us through a fun and fantastic conversation.

Our discussion is a good mix of looking backward with a POV informed by where we are now and more importantly, looking forward to where each of us may go next.

There's also talk about some of the more awkward pitch experiences I've had and I found out I say "soak it up" way more than I thought...

Please listen to or watch this and all of Bray's episodes. He has great guests like the always ahead of the curve Evan Shapīro, Wrigley Media Group CEO Joe Livecchi , and Rory Flynn, an AI expert who helps businesses tap into all that AI offers.

Spotify ? https://lnkd.in/d7vgPDSj

Apple ? https://lnkd.in/d6k7E7qG

Youtube ?https://lnkd.in/d_inFRqF

Grazie!

HAPPY WEEKENDING!

As always, here's some fun stuff to distract you over the weekend...

This link lets you figure out exactly when you and your cat will be exactly the same (relative) age.

It's that time of the year when comfort food calls to me even more than usual. I love a good burger and if you do too, check out this guide to the most loved regional burger styles in America!

And just because you can never go wrong with Nicholas Cage, here's a list of 20 facts you might not know about the Nicholas Cage classic Con Air, in which his character lovingly refers to his wife as "hummingbird"...

THAT'S IT FOR TODAY!

We'll be back on Tuesday with our first all-original edition of 2025!

Until then, wishing you all a great and relaxing weekend.

Thanks to you all for reading. Please let us know what you want more or less of. Please feel free to share information you’d like me to pass along to our readers. Also, always happy to feature guest contributors.

And of course, please like, subscribe, and share.

With deepest gratitude and may you make 2025 one of your best years yet!

Marco