A heartening week

If you’re new here, hi I’m Jas, I’m recently going back to my creative business ~ with a guide I’m writing for folks with ADHD. It’s called ‘The ADHD Creator: A blueprint to go from zero to $25000.

I’ve also moved this newsletter to Beehiiv. Substack and Beehiiv are both excellent newsletter tools; Beehiiv has the ability to send a newsletter without uploading it as a blog post, which is one of the reasons why I am sending this one from Beehiiv — it’s nice to have the option.

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Dear All,

I’m writing to you from Mexico City. After a hiccup that involved not being allowed onto the bus and subsequently missing the flight I was originally supposed to be on, I landed here on Thursday and have been enjoying the big city in the eyes of a foreigner.

I’ve been here before. Not Mexico City, I mean, but newly landing in a new place and getting to experience the novelty of a place with fresh eyes and loose expectations.

On first impressions, Mexico City (also known as Ciudad de Mexico City, or CDMX) is beautiful. I am staying in the borough of Cuauhtémoc in the heart of all things arts- and culture-related.

My heart has been stirring like it did when I spent time in Valencia back in 2022. The architecture, the museums, the bookstores, the art scenes… Mexico’s City’s beating heart is a beautiful one.

I have arrived here having spent a couple of months over on the east coast in Playa del Carmen, a well-known tourist spot in the state of Quintana Roo. Playa (or PDC) also has her beauty, not least in being on the coast with some of the most beautiful-coloured waters I’ve seen. Having had what feels like a Summer vacation there (even though we’re still in the Mexican Winter), I am enjoying the cooler and more temperate climate in CDMX.

I suppose when you’ve spent more than 30 years in the temperate climate of England, it’s what you’ve become accustomed to. I breathed a silent sigh of relief as ChatGPT confirmed that Mexico City, is indeed, a temperature climate, unlike the tropical climate back in Playa del Carmen.

I am also aware that we are in the Dry Season currently, which runs until April before the Wet Season begins and runs for 6 months. Wherever you stay on this Earth, there isn’t a place that has everything. Such is life.

And, though I’ve long realised that I struggle with prolonged cold weather and shorter days ~ there’s something about prolonged Summers which don’t feel quite right, either. Just as I wouldn’t want to live in endless Summer, nor would I want to live in endless Winter. A balance between the two, vis a vis a temperate climate, seems to suit me.

All things considered, I’m pretty relaxed and centred here this Sunday morning as I write this.

Here’s what’s been happening for my writing and for my business…

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📖 ‘The ADHD Creator’

I had given myself a soft deadline of March 1st to draft the first version of this ebook guide, and a hard deadline of March 8th.

I’ve failed on both counts, but I’m cutting myself some slack as quite a lot has happened these last few weeks ~ more on that here, and have been navigating the adjustment to a new city.

I’m continuing to make progress on the GoogleDoc, and I hit a milestone this week with the platform that’s been helping me make progress:

As important as the progress being made, I have enjoyed writing this ebook. In the past I had thought that writing a book by the seat of my pants, and sharing the journey so openly, would be a bit stressful. This hasn’t been the case, so far.

My friend and accountability partner, Peter Grillet, has agreed that we will have our next cal, after I have completed the first draft and shared it with him.

He was also the first person I interviewed on my new podcast, Jas books guests, and I’d encourage you to listen. He has a knack for connecting dots in sales and marketing one might not otherwise see, and he is addressing the challenges of creators making money through his product lnks.to ~ which I view as a link.tree alternative but one that trains you to use your lnks to make money in a structured way. We share a similar philosophy when it comes to creators, to marketing and ~ crucially ~ to the sales piece which is so often missing from bloggers and content creators who are building side businesses and spinning wheels when a couple of tweaks could help them start to monetise more consistently, and in a way that is less conducive to burnout.

You can listen in on our conversation via the link below:

https://shows.acast.com/creator-conversations/episodes/67b16f30f7ed892410f974df

💼 My new business has been incorporated, hello LLC

This week, another milestone has been the confirmation I received that I officially have an LLC registered in the US state of Wyoming.

I had chosen Wyoming for its favourable state and taxation laws, it’s amenability someone in my situation being a UK citizen at this time, its privacy laws when it comes to the state’s business register and, last but not least, for the fact that it’s a beautiful state with plenty of land and wide open space. I hope to visit in the not distant future ~ and I was pleasantly surprised by this infographic displaying the ethnic origins of the people of Wyoming, via Wikipedia.org:

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💜 IWD, International Women’s Day

This global event sort of snuck up on me this year — I only realised what was going on when I saw some references mentioning IWD on LinkedIn, and then when I saw various posters and other things being set up around Mexico City.

I’ll be humble enough to admit here — it’s come at a much-needed time for me. (Thank you, God)

In the last couple of days I’ve had some wonderful conversations and enjoyed connecting and re-connecting with some wonderful women.

A phone call with my friend Elizabeth Miner was particularly poignant.

These exchanges, coupled with the sobering words and images I was presented with as I wandered around the city on Saturday, reminded me that I need to continue to keep myself in check — and not be the centre of my own, masculine universe.

Whilst I am not ashamed of my masculinity (quite the opposite), I am someone who has felt more complete by resting in some of those qualities that, I believe, is often missing from the male psyche — largely due to societal pressures and conditioning.

We live in a world of polarised politics and pervasive social media, with large-scale issues being put into black and white boxes when, in fact, the world doesn’t work like that. These issues — and the people who are affected by them — deserve more respect that. We, and I, need to put humanity back into the world. The 24/7 cycle of information is both exhausting and, increasingly, inhumane.

As I write these words, I am in no doubt that I would like to be supportive of and sensitive to the experiences and worldviews of women and those who identify as another gender that isn’t male.

With that in mind, I am recognising that I need to be more deliberate when it comes to my consumption of, and commentary on, anything that is US/UK politics related. It can wear anyone down, and I’m noticing how it’s affecting me.

Thank you for reading — now, I’m off to continue writing :)

Jas

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PS. Here’s the link to sign up and discover how you can build a calm and sustainable online business, using your ADHD-shaped brain in the best ways, and eliminating some of those not-so-helpful habits that can trip us up:

https://lnks.to/p/t5kra7c1

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March 9th, 2025