put on your squirrel suit

Have you ever seen those people who jump off cliffs in squirrel suits?

A squirrel suit (or?‘wingsuit’ as Wikipedia calls them) is basically a big onesie that has fabric panels sewn between the legs and between the arms and torso.

When you jump off a cliff, if you hold your body just right, you can achieve a sort of gliding flight, as opposed to just, well…free falling.

The first guy to try using a squirrel suit was a 33 year-old Parisian tailor named Franz Reichelt, who in 1912 jumped off the Eiffel Tower to test his invention.

Witnesses say he stared over the edge for quite some time before jumping.

It didn’t end well for Franz, but that’s beside the point.

It got me wondering about these more modern day squirrel suit flying people.

My big question is: “How do you practice this?”

That is, before jumping off a cliff.

I’m sure there is some way. A wind tunnel, doing it with a parachute, maybe.

But the real answer is…

You don’t. One day you just jump.

Eventually you just have to decide that this is the day you’re going to jump off the cliff.

Joey Cofone, the author of?“The Laws of Creativity”?once said, “Jumping off cliffs is the only way to grow.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Additionally, I’d have to add this: It’s also the only way to find out if you can fly.

Just last week, Lauren Williams, a member of the Brand Design Masters Facebook group from Australia had been staring at the edge of her personal cliff and thinking about it for quite some time.

“…literally months.” Lauren told me.

She made the fortunate mistake of posting a comment in the group about her hesitation and fear of starting to post content.

I say “mistake” because of course, I seized upon it and challenged her to post something by the end of the day…ok, it was a little encouraging push closer to the edge.

But that’s my job, right?

I told her I was going to check up on her about it, too.

And guess what happened??

She put on her squirrel suit and did it. She jumped.

The most amazing thing about her first flight was that her first post was about…wait for it….being terrified about posting!

Honest, authentic, funny (I mean, come’on there’s a cat and a cucumber involved…) and IMHO totally brilliant for a first post.

If you’re curious about the cat and the cucumber,?here’s the post. Maybe you can follow her to give her a little encouragement.?

The other Facebook group members cheered and congratulated her for leaping.

And flying.

Today I went back on her Instagram profile and there’s a 2nd post up there now!

This time it’s a beautiful reel of her portfolio and her services. A higher cliff. A more ambitious flight.

So, if you’ve been anxious, procrastinating, and staring over the edge of your personal cliff for quite some time.

Don’t think about the jumping part.

Think about the flying part.

And put on your squirrel suit.

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resources

Adobe Enhance Speech: Adobe has a new tool, called ‘Enhance Speech’ that takes in audio clips and cleans up the sound by removing unwanted background noise, making your recording sound as if you had captured it on high-end equipment.?Use it to clean up your shabby podcast audio.

Opal Webcam: Let's face it, unless you're using a DSLR for your webcam, regular webcams suck for the most part. Lame clarity, washed out blacks and colors. Hardware startup Opal just launched the Opal C1 to solve this problem. They've brought a studio level camera and microphone to the market at a reasonable price ($300). Pricey for a webcam but it looks worth it IMHO.

Potion: Personalize video outreach in bulk and drive traffic to custom landing pages to close more deals. Your own face and voice, complete with auto-generated subtitles, logos, images, and GIFs. Customize landing pages with your domains, brand colors, CTAs, and calendar embeds.

1Password: I just dumped LassPass due to their repeated data breaches and less-than-truthful alerts to their customers, resulting in a multi-day massive headache of moving to the Mac-native and super secure 1Password. The easiest way to store and use strong passwords. Log in to sites and fill forms securely with a single click.

22 Best New Apps from Fast Company: The apps list says 2022, but it's an END of 2022 report. A motherload of grea apps, productivity booster, social tools, AI power tools, solid reviews and from a trusted source, to boot.

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read

This is the?best article I have read in probably 5 years. (special thanks to my friend Barclay for sharing it) An amazing exposé on how social platforms (not just TikTok) grow, mutate, manipulate their users and abuse their advertisers and eventually die. Doctorow is insanely smart and the article is absolutely riveting.?READ IT

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trend

What a chaotic 12 months it’s been for the major social networks. Meta continued its gradual decline, TikTok continues to rise, and Twitter is in the midst of a chaotic shift - and much more.?READ IT

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watch

In this video, I share the most effective marketing method you can use in 2023 . The crazy thing is, you’ve probably?never even tried it.

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books

Stop Looking for Zebras?by Robert Smith.?Robert's a good friend and owner of the branding agency, GreenMelon and founder of the RGD, The Association of Registered Graphic Designers. SLFZ is an entertaining and practical guide full of observations and rants to help you have a long and fulfilling creative career.?BUY IT

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quote of the week

“Might as well jump.”?~David Lee Roth, Van Halen

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Philip VanDusen is a branding thought leader and principal of Verhaal Brand Design an agency that leverages strategy and design to build brand equity for companies and entrepreneurs. Get more from Philip in his brand?muse newsletter, his industry leading YouTube channel or connect with Verhaal Brand Design on Facebook.

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