To those who feel like nothing they post is the right answer | How to deal with an uncontrollable world, organized through Klaas's 'How Chance Shapes Your Life'. #BookReview #SoleProprietor #Uncertainty

Forgetting where I put my half-finished coffee and finding it right after I brew a new one.

My daily life is overflowing with such small chaos.

Hello, I am Mental Tsuyoshi.

While carrying a slightly 'noisy' nature with ADHD tendencies, I organize thoughts and mechanisms for continuing to work without breaking down.

My main job is as a Web writer, but I am a person on the front lines who also runs several media operations as a 'production flow specialist' who incorporates AI writing into practical work.

My detailed profile and why I am doing these activities are summarized in this article.

This article is not a pure book review, but a review essay meant to reinterpret Brian Klaas's book for our own posting and work sites.

To you, the sole proprietor whose feet have stopped because you feel 'I can't keep posting' or 'I don't know the right answer for attracting customers,' I have organized and delivered a way to walk through an uncontrollable world.

This book was not a book that teaches 'how to utilize chance,' but a book that shatters the illusion of control.

We are creatures who want to believe that we control our own lives.

Especially when doing business, that tendency becomes stronger.

'If I post this, there should be this much reaction.'

'If I create this flow, this many inquiries should come in.'

That is how we try to organize cause and effect neatly and derive the right answer.

However, reality is more cruel and more complex.

What the book 'How Chance Shapes Your Life' confronts us with is the lie behind the sweet words that 'life is up to you.'

The world we live in is a 'chaos' where countless chances are intricately intertwined.

Even the slightest difference in initial values creates huge changes later on.

Let's apply this to the field of posting.

There are times when an article you wrote with all your might reaches absolutely no one.

On the other hand, a single word written while half-asleep can sometimes lead to an unexpectedly big opportunity.

When faced with this 'lack of response' or 'unexpected outcome,' we tend to blame ourselves.

Thinking, 'My way of writing was bad,' or 'It's because I lack ability.'

By stuffing everything into the box of self-responsibility like that, our spirits break and we stop posting.

But that is only because we harbor the illusion that we can completely control the results.

Perhaps the habit of wanting to explain the world through simple cause and effect is what is causing us suffering.

This book shatters our arrogant 'illusion of control' into smithereens.

That is not despair, but rather a salvation.

A lack of response is not necessarily your fault.

It is just that the world is too complex, and the prediction was off.

You cannot control the response. But what you put out remains in the world.

A core argument of this book is the statement, 'We control nothing, yet we influence everything.'

This is the very sentence that we, as content creators, should take to heart.

We cannot dictate who reads our articles or when they read them.

We cannot perfectly tame social media algorithms either.

In other words, the output (the response) is uncontrollable.

However, that is no reason to abandon the input (the act of putting it out there).

Because what you put out definitely becomes 'part of the world' and continues to exert a subtle influence.

The fact that there is no response on the day you post is merely 'the current reality'.

Six months from now, it might show up in a Google search.

A year from now, someone might go back through your past posts, read them, and place their trust in you.

Posting is not a straight arrow.

It is a non-linear endeavor where you sow seeds here and there, never knowing when or where they will sprout.

We cannot decide the timing of the harvest.

I will not say that 'if you keep at it, you will definitely succeed'.

Because such a guarantee does not exist in this complex world.

However, it is certain that 'nothing begins unless you put it out there'.

Stop trying to control the reaction and switch to a stance of simply 'continuing to exert influence'.

I believe that is the only design philosophy that allows us to keep posting without breaking down.

Slow results and a flawed design are two completely different things.

Let's stop using periods of no response as fuel for self-denial.

We just need to keep casting small bottles into an uncertain sea.

A design that never stops is better suited for this world than a perfect plan.

When reading this book as a practitioner, there are moments when you feel a sense of dissatisfaction, wondering, 'So, what exactly should I do?'

Like, 'I understand that chance is important, but what should I do about attracting customers starting tomorrow?'

In fact, that very 'impatience' is the true nature of the trap we have fallen into.

We are always seeking a quick, controllable 'correct answer'.

Many people who stop posting try to determine the correct answer before they even write.

They try to calculate everything: 'Who should I tell, what should I say, and how should I say it to ensure a sale?'

However, the more perfect that plan is, the more easily it collapses at the slightest unexpected event (such as a lack of response).

Even now that we can use AI to write articles, there is no end to the number of people who stop updating.

That is not because they lack the ability to generate text.

It is because the desire to 'control even the reaction after publication' is acting as a brake.

What this book teaches is not a winning procedure.

It is an 'adjustment of attitude' to adapt to an uncertain world.

Let's stop wasting time on perfect theme selection or elaborate launch plans.

Such things are easily blown away by a single coincidence.

Instead, it is much better to set up a system that keeps you from stopping, such as 'no matter how bad things are, I will at least put this out'.

Rather than a rigid plan, a design with room to accept coincidence, flexible like a willow.

'I don't know if it will be a hit. But I have decided to keep putting it out.'

That sense of resignation is the strongest weapon for surviving in this uncertain world.

The fragility of a 'small business' and how to deal with coincidence

Here, I would like to share a little of my personal experience.

For sole proprietors like me, or people running small salons or cram schools, 'coincidence' sometimes shows its terrifying fangs.

Because small misfortunes that a large company could withstand can be fatal in our field.

Just by having a few large cancellations happen 'by chance,' cash flow can stop.

For those of us in such fragile environments, the book's assertion that 'the world cannot be controlled' is, honestly, terrifying to the point of trembling.

Even so, unless we face this inconvenient truth, we cannot escape the loop of self-blame that 'I am not trying hard enough'.

Our business is always on the edge of a cliff.

That is precisely why, at the very least, we should align our fundamental assumptions with reality.

Stop clinging to the fantasy that 'if you work hard, you will definitely be rewarded,' and stand instead in the gritty reality that 'bad luck happens, but you can keep making an impact.'

That might be the wisdom we 'little people' need to keep our sanity in this world.

To what extent are you trying to manage your own business solely through your own power?

Perhaps it is okay to take a little weight off your shoulders.

In this article, focusing on the ideas of Brian Klaas, I have organized the 'trap of self-blame' and the 'limits of control' regarding the content we sole proprietors post.

Stop trying to control the results, and place value on the act of continuing to influence the world itself.

That should be the first step toward consistent posting.

As a mini-action you can take today, just try publishing that 'one sentence you've kept in your drafts because you weren't sure if it was right' exactly as it is.

After all, no one knows what kind of coincidences that one sentence might attract.

・A lack of response is not due to a lack of ability, but due to the complexity of the world.

・We cannot control the results, but we can continue to influence the world.

・Rather than making a perfect plan, prioritize a 'non-stop design' that can accept coincidence.

Brian Klaas's perspective brilliantly updates our 'taken-for-granted' assumptions.

You can also find content that increases your resolution for viewing the world on his official website.

The same blockage from a different angle. Three books to read alongside this one.

Title: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable [Part 1] - The Nature of Uncertainty and Risk

Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

One-sentence introduction: A book that digs into why unpredictable events look like they were 'explainable' after the fact. Suitable for creators who want to think with uncertainty as a premise.

Book Title: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

Author: David Epstein

One-sentence introduction: A book showing that detours and crossing multiple fields become strengths rather than a single path of specialization. Good for reinterpreting yourself if your content themes seem scattered.

Book Title: Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us

Author: Brian Klaas

One-sentence introduction: A book where the same author digs into how to view the distortions of power and social structures. For those who want to verify the range of Klaas's thinking from a different angle.

Some of the books introduced may be available on Kindle Unlimited.

Since it is an all-you-can-read monthly subscription, if you are in a state of 'not knowing which one suits you,' it is easy to pick them up as if you were reading a trial.

Thank you for reading this article to the end.

'I want to post, but I'm too busy with my main job to get around to it'

'I want to use AI, but I don't know how to build a system'

For those people, I provide design, side-by-side support, and update assistance.

I keep this available as a form you can choose when you need it.

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If you want to organize it yourself, start with these two.

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