Flaws Of Saying 'Yes', Merch, Paddle Giveaway

“WHO follows you is far more important than HOW MANY people follow you”

• Flaws of just saying ‘yes’

• Merch story & update

• “WHO follows you is far more important than HOW MANY people follow you”

• Paddle giveaway: Maverix Clash

• Song recommendation

Flaws of just saying ‘yes’

The past few weeks I’ve been in this mode of saying ‘yes’ more. It all just hit me, how short life is, how isolating content creation can be, how comfortable we can be in our own homes letting days go by without interacting with anyone in-person, how I live in a city thousands of people migrate to every month yet spend most my time indoors, etc. So I made a commitment to saying yes more. Yes to workouts with strangers, yes to going out in the town for a night or to a concert I would otherwise say no to so I could get a couple more hours of sleep, yes to projects no matter how big or small. It was great and all until I was out running the other day and thought about how reactive and passive ‘yes’ can be, and that there has to be more to it. So I took the yes, flipped it, and came to the conclusion that the more effective and powerful alternative is asking, initiating, and being proactive rather than reactive.

Jim Kwik once used the analogy of a thermometer and thermostat when talking about the dangers of phone usage in the morning. When you wake up and immediately look at your phone, you’re reacting to the world, you’re a thermometer. When you choose to delay looking at your phone and start your day on your terms, you become a thermostat, you decide the direction of your day.

Saying yes has its limitations. You’re always waiting on someone. Waiting for someone to make the plans, to come up with the idea. Yes is the easy way out. Being the initiator is where the reward is. You’re the seeker. You’re the driving force behind whether or not IT happens today. It takes more courage to come up with the plan, ask someone, and put yourself out there to be rejected.

Merch

I started the merch because I wanted to have a way for people to show their support but also for those individuals who share mutual affinity in a brand, to recognize each other. I wanted to give people something to walk away with, to represent their support beyond just the digital world we’re in.

Many years ago I tried to design my own shirts inspired by my passion for working out, however, the problem then was that I didn’t have a brand. I just liked designing them. Also, funny enough, one of the first businesses my immigrant parents owned (early in their entrepreneurship career) was a small screen-printing kiosk.

The reason I do “limited runs”: Simply put, I don’t want to end up with a room full of shirts that don’t sell. I’m new to this, I have no idea what designs will sell and which won’t (forever grateful to everyone who has purchased a shirt). If the shirt has enough demand, I will re-print it. If not, likely will not be re-printed.

And it wouldn’t really align with my beliefs in open-source and inclusivity and how it drives what I’m trying to provide. Open source (in the tech sense) is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. And inclusivity, something I take from famous pastry chef, Christina Tosi, who once said:

Within each shirt design is a piece of me or my history.

shake & bake

• ironic because in my past life, I had a short stint as a pastry cook.

the ball doesn’t lie

• I’ve always been drawn to the American tattoo / motorcycle design. You can see some of it on my body through my tattoos or even inspiration through clothing style. I was looking for a way to tie that into pickleball. A clean and straight forward look.

next design

• the next design has been submitted to the print shop. as soon as it’s in my hands I will make a post on IG and the YouTube channel. The first order will be 50 pieces.

“WHO follows you is far more important than HOW MANY people follow you”

• this really resonated with me, especially with the merch. It’s no secret, I don’t have the largest following. However, after the merch sales, comments on videos and DMs, conversations I’ve had at different tournaments, I feel like I’m supported by a core group and I take pride in that and am grateful for the audience.

Paddle giveaway - Maverix Clash

As many of you may know, Matt Miller, the founder of Maverix, came into town a couple weeks ago to be a guest on the podcast. Aside from the podcast and all the other fun stuff, he wanted to offer something for the audience, a giveaway for their newest paddle, The Clash.

Giveaway is announced in the beginning:

Song recommendation

just wait until he busts out the trumpet 😌

the initiative era.
- brian