In for a Penny, In for a Pound

A personal piece today, but one i've been excited to write.

Good morning, and happy Monday!

I don’t often write personal posts. If you’ve been subscribed to the newsletter for a while, you may remember the last one I wrote was back in March. I know you’ve all signed up for Celtics content, so I try to ensure I keep my end of the bargain.

But, from time to time — maybe 2/3 times per year, I will peel back the curtain a little. The aim isn’t just to grow the newsletter and its subscriber base; it’s to build a community. I like to think that by giving some personal updates here and there, we can get to know each other better in the comments section, etc.

So, please indulge me today before we get back to regular scheduled programming tomorrow…More on that in a minute.

Reaching the first milestone

When I started this newsletter midway through the season, I viewed the 1,000 subscriber mark as proof of concept.

I had it set as a magic number in my mind.

If 1,000 people wanted to receive my thoughts, opinions, breakdowns, etc., in their inbox, then maybe, just maybe, there was something here worth really pushing and fighting for.

Yesterday, around 8 a.m. UK time, The Celtics Chronicle received its 1,000th subscriber. The goal was reached. My mind was Blown. My gratitude level was off the charts.

I’m incredibly goal-driven. I consistently set, evaluate, and re-adjust what I’m aiming for. The upside of that mentality is that I’m never settling. Once I achieve a goal, I have a new one waiting to take its place and to keep me pushing forward. The downside is that I rarely allow myself to live in the moment. As soon as I reach my goal, it’s full steam ahead to the next one.

That downside is why I chose to write this today. I want to live in the moment, at least for the time it takes me to complete this post.

Social media has skewed our concept of audience. A thousand followers is seen as a small account, and a thousand views, to many, is a flop. I’m constantly trying to remind myself that those followers or view counts need to be contextualized.

I mean, if I was told that all 1,000 of you would be in a room tomorrow, and I had to get up and narrate my thoughts on the Celtics, I’d be a nervous wreck. According to Google, that audience would fill the InterContinental Boston Hotel’s meeting space. To the brim.

When you add context like that, it’s impossible not to be humbled. And it’s impossible not to be grateful for each and every one of you who has helped me hit this first major milestone.

Triggering a change

I won’t lie; this has been in the works since midway through the playoffs. If you follow me on Twitter (because that’s its name), then you might have seen my insanely long post about this yesterday afternoon/evening. And if you haven’t, you can find it here. Please share it if you can.

Starting now, this newsletter will become the hub for my Celtics coverage. 95% of what I write about this team that we all love will reside here. It will make its way to your inboxes, and if you choose to follow the podcast/YouTube channel, then your eyes and ears, too.

That means that I’m scaling back at CelticsBlog. I won’t be writing the 10 Takeaways or doing much game analysis. That sort of stuff will all live here.

It wasn’t easy making this decision. As I’m sure many of you know, I love CelticsBlog. They’ve been a huge part of my journey so far, and I’ve made some amazing friendships and connections along the way.

However, it was unfair to everyone for me to try and straddle both platforms. This move made sense, even if it was incredibly hard for me to accept. As my nan used to say, “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

As a side note, my Warriors and Celtics news/aggregation coverage for USA Today will continue, as will my NBA, WWE and AEW coverage for Yardbarker. Nothing changes there. I love both of those sites. They’re full of good people. And that work keeps the lights on, too!

The fear factor

As with any change, there’s a risk associated with it. Scaling back at CelticsBlog is the first step toward my long-term goal of being fully independent in terms of coverage and income source. However, that means I’m taking a slight financial hit to take this first step while reducing my overall audience in the short and mid-term.

Over the past three years, I’ve been quite vocal about my battle with anxiety and depression since losing my nan — who I lived with for most of my life. I’ve made some huge strides there over the past few months. However, self-doubt and chronic overthinking are still some stumbling blocks I’m trying to work through.

When choosing to double down on this newsletter, I had a huge bout of anxiety, questioning myself on almost an hourly basis.

• Dude, you’re an English guy in his mid-30s; maybe it’s time to give it up and get a “regular job.”

• You have no contacts, insider connections, access to the team or unique selling point. And you’re thousands of miles away.

• There’s already so much amazing stuff out there for free. How do you really think you’re going to make this work?

• You’re not good enough. Not likable enough. Not talented enough. And not entertaining enough.

• You might get somewhere, but not exactly where you need to be.

• You’re making a mistake

• Lol, you think you’re special

All of these thoughts — and many more — swirled through my head countless times per day. Still do, to be honest. You see, self-doubt is a bitch and will ruin your confidence and chances of living *your* dream life if you let it.

Because that’s what this newsletter can do for me—it can give me my dream life: writing and talking about the Celtics with an incredible work-life balance and a community of like-minded people. And, just as importantly, a security that you just don’t get when working as a freelancer.

That’s something worth fighting for. And for me, that fight is internal. It’s between me, myself and I.

I don’t know whether things will work out how I want them to. Nobody ever knows that. But what I do know now is the same thing I knew when I swapped degree majors from Computer Science to Creative Writing and Journalism a few years back — I would rather give it my all and fail than never try and spend my life wondering, “What if?”

The voice of self-doubt that loves to live on my shoulder can shout and scream all it wants. Sure, it might win sometimes, but in the long run, I’m going to prove it wrong or go down swinging.

As a quick aside: We need to normalize talking about mental health in this way. Too many people (myself included) feel embarrassed to admit their struggles. They suffer alone. They suffer in silence. They think no one cares or understands. I like to think that opening up on some of my own struggles (however minimal) can help others do the same. I don’t share everything. I don’t even share much. But I do share, and that can be the starting point for so many of us. My DM’s are always open, and my ear is always willing to listen. None of us are alone.

The plan moving forward

This offseason has been tougher than I expected in terms of content. It’s hard to find ways to write about a team that just won it all, retained everyone except for Oshae Brissett and continues to operate with professionalism.

But we move.

My aim for the remainder of the offseason is to do a direct 50/50 split between paid and free posts. I would like to say these will be daily — and if you have topics you want to explore, shoot me a message or leave a comment to help keep a steady flow of posts.

Once the season begins, we’ll move back to a bigger split in favor of paid posts, with one (maybe two for big news) freebies per week. That feels fair.

I will also send out a free post for every podcast/YouTube video. The aim is to run a mailbag post once per month — I would love to have so many questions that I have to split this into multiple posts, too :)

I’ll probably experiment with some video posts, too—likely game breakdowns—just to diversify the content.

Looking ahead

I know how many paid subscribers I need to get to my goal of being fully independent. It’s a process to hit that target, and one I hope will occur organically over the coming months and years.

Instead, I want to focus on growing the community, building out the overall subscriber base, and making sure I’m providing the type of content and platform that makes people look forward to each email. I love when a post has a thread of comments or I get tagged by someone on social who has shared it. I appreciate every small step and every little detail.

As soon as I hit publish on this post, my focus turned to getting 1,250 subscribers, then 1,500 - 1,750 - 2,000, and so forth.

For now, though

I just want to say thank you. Whether you’re a day one or joined overnight, you’ve helped me believe this journey is possible. I hope that, in return, I can bring some additional fun to the upcoming season and, hopefully, countless more in the future.

After all, it’s #DifferentHere, and that’s because of all of you and the subscribers who are yet to jump on board.

That’s it for now. We’ll be back to regular scheduled programming tomorrow. Oh, and please feel free to hit me up in the comments so we can start getting this community bumpin’ before the season starts.

Also, if you choose to share this, you’re a real one.