Life after the storm.

Read time: 3 min.

Last week I told you it had been one of the harder periods of my life.

This week feels different.

Not because everything is resolved. Most of it isn't. But somewhere in the last few days, something settled. The noise got quieter. And underneath it, I found what I always find when I stop long enough to look.

Myself.

The fog lifting

It's not dramatic when it happens.

You don't wake up one morning and feel fixed. It's more like the fog lifts gradually and you start to see things clearly again. Not perfectly. Just clearly enough to move.

I've been sitting with my feelings more than usual this week. Not analyzing them, not trying to solve them. Just letting them be what they are and watching where they point.

And what they're pointing at is energy.

Specifically, what gives it and what takes it.

What's giving me energy right now

Connect with Growth has three million followers across YouTube and TikTok.

It's my first social media brand. The one built entirely around personal development, the subject I keep returning to even in the hardest moments. When things get difficult, I don't scroll mindlessly. I find myself watching podcasts about growth, about the human mind, about how people navigate their lives. It's not a guilty pleasure. It's just genuinely who I am.

And lately I've been thinking about what that community deserves next.

Not because the numbers demand it. But because the people in it are real and engaged and looking for something more than clips and quotes on a screen.

I got multiple messages recently from people in India asking where they could buy the book. Turns out the distribution doesn't reach there yet. And when I looked into it, I realized there are whole corners of the world where the book simply isn't available.

That bothers me. The book exists to reach people. So I'm working on fixing that.

And alongside that, I'm exploring what a real community could look like for the people who want to go deeper. A course, a membership, something built around genuine transformation. Nothing decided yet. Just exploring, with curiosity rather than urgency.

An hour ago I got off a call with someone who wants to help build exactly that.

Someone with real expertise in this space. Who has helped many people create what I'm now exploring. The call was filled with energy, good intentions, and the kind of conversation that makes your heart light up without you having to force it.

That's the feeling I'm chasing right now.

The only compass I trust

I don't need the numbers to make sense yet.

I'm not looking at spreadsheets or projections or trying to justify the next move with data. I'm just following what excites me. What makes me want to get up in the morning and start. What makes the work feel like the thing I'd choose even if nobody was watching.

That feeling is back this week.

And in my experience, that feeling is never wrong.

So I'm following it.

Much love,

— Martijn