Zach's four self-made boulders, from bucket thinking to fear of good change.
It's me, Zach.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Zach Ebert. I enjoy long walks on the beach and I am the Community Manager here at Maker Division.
But enough about me, let me tell you the story of Sisyphus.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the founder and king of Ephyra. Sisyphus was known as a trickster and a very intelligent king. Sisyphus was able to cheat death, not once but twice. And while he was able to cheat death, he was unable to avoid it. Eventually, Sisyphus found his way to the afterlife and as punishment for cheating death he was given an obstacle: an immense stone that he had to push up a hill for the rest of time.
Maybe the Gods created obstacles for people in ancient times, but in modern times we are the creators of our own obstacles. We manifest our own immense boulders that we tirelessly wrestle with uphill.
Here are some of the most common mental obstacles that I see being created by members here in Maker Division, and how to tackle them:
We Think In Buckets
Our brains are wired for efficiency. To avoid mental overload, we naturally create shortcuts and categories—what psychologists call our cognitive biases. While this helped our ancestors survive, it can limit our thinking in today's complex world.
One common mental trap is compartmentalizing our lives into separate buckets: work, personal life, hobbies, and communities. We treat these as distinct worlds that rarely intersect, missing valuable connections in the process.
Take email outreach, a core skill we teach in Maker Division. Members learn to categorize their outreach into three types: Client, Collaborator, and Competitor. The system works well, but here's what many miss—some of the best collaboration opportunities are sitting right in front of them.
The Maker Division community itself is full of creative professionals who could become collaborators. Guest speakers who share their expertise are perfect candidates for follow-up conversations. Yet most members overlook these connections because they've mentally filed "community participation" in one bucket and "business outreach" in another.
The lesson isn't just about email technique—it's about recognizing when our mental shortcuts are working against us. Sometimes the most valuable opportunities come from connecting the dots between buckets we normally keep separate.
We Strive For Perfection
I recently heard Ben on one of our recent Maker Division coaching calls use a term that really resonated with me. Actually, it's where the idea for this newsletter came from.
The term was "Noble Obstacle." These are obstacles that we place in front of ourselves, often with good intentions, that prevent our progress.
"If I just finish that last case study I'll be able to launch my website."
"If I just watch this last course, I'll feel confident in selling my services."
"If I just get it...perfect."
Spoiler warning: Nothing in life is perfect. So you might as well get used to it. Launch the site, sell your services, become comfortable with imperfection.
We Fear Change, Even The Good Kind
One of my favorite books from The School of Life is "How to Think More Effectively: A Guide to Greater Productivity, Insight & Creativity."
It's mainly a compilation of different models of thinking, but there is one that always stuck with me.
It's called "Butterfly Thinking" and the basic premise is this: the more interesting or pertinent our thoughts, the more they have a tendency to escape our grasp. Like trying to catch a butterfly with our hands.
These thoughts have the chance to change things, most times for the better, but on a subconscious level our mind sees change as anxiety-inducing.
The book goes on to say, "New ideas threaten the mental status quo and are often sharply at odds with our existing commitments and habits."
Next time your mind starts to give you the slip, try distracting it with a routine task to take it off guard.
Why else do your best ideas come in the shower?
We Become Trapped By Our Experience
Experience is like a cataract: the larger it becomes the more it blinds us.
We become reluctant to try new methods, because experience is whispering in our ear, "That'll never work. I would know, I've been doing this for years."
When in reality, things have changed. The world has changed.
What was once effective is no longer true.
One pattern I sometimes see in the Maker Division is that the members who struggle the most are sometimes the ones who have been in the industry the longest. They have difficulty shedding the baggage of experience and trying the exercises in each module.
So what's the solution to this obstacle? Try to look at things with fresh eyes. Adam Morgan in his book "Eating the Big Fish" calls this "Intelligent Naivety"—deliberately breaking with the past and putting everything into play.
Zach Ebert
P.S.This is partly written to myself, as I deal with many of these same obstacles. It's a journey, not a destination.
P.p.s. Are you building obstacles for yourself? The Division is a great place to tackle these obstacles together—our guides and coaches are there every step of the way to chip away at these boulders we are pushing uphill.
How to think more effectively
On the Bookshelf
Our brains are flawed machines. We have loads of cognitive bias' that impact how we think and see the world. This book is a wonderful little guide into the different ways we think and how to produce the ideas we need to fulfill our potential.
Brett stenson
Artist We Love
Something about Brett's wood carvings really caught my eye. The mix of vibrant color palette and simplistic shapes are really appealing. Like Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics blended with a National Geographic nature documentary. Go check him out.
mr. Blue sky by Electric light orchestra
Now Playing
A classic. I have this on repeat every spring when things start to warm up and Mr. Blue Sky peeks out to say hello.
Every once in awhile we have a member who shows true commitment to the work and the community.
Cso is one of those members.
I see him in every Friday call, I see him active in the community, I see him being an all around great human-being.
And that commitment has shown results! Cso mentioned that a couple of the contracts are easily tracking to become 5-figure projects.
Slow and steady wins the race.
We’re so happy to have member like Cso and can't wait to see what's next for them.
Cso Horvath
Division Win
Two clients reached out, one saying he was "drawn to my work" and wanted to talk, the other saying he thinks I'm a perfect fit, and turns out I was, both projects are really great in terms of fit, topic, and people as well, so very happy with the results. All coming from "getting forced" by Maker Division to work on my personal projects and give them extra care to prepare them for my cap deck.
RElated issues
I didn't have a portfolio
The good idea fairy… and other momentum murderers
Looking back, I know now that was never the case.
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