Why I Rebranded My Newsletter (and why you might want to as well)
Building leverage without becoming a content machine
I started the 2Hour Creator Stack in July 2024.
I was fed up with the state of work, the internet and productivity. My initial goal was to take a stand against hustle culture, quick hacks and disposable content.
And so I wrote about it. About the discipline spiral, about futile productivity and the lies of the creator economy.
After many months of writing into the void something shifted and certain articles started to take off. I received many heartfelt comments and was even invited into a telegram group with European writers and creatives of all shapes and sizes. It was really exciting and felt like I had found my people.
What struck me very quickly was that most of the people resonating with the work were not aspiring influencers or full-time creators. They were intelligent professionals in transition. People in their 30s, 40s and 50s who had succeeded in conventional terms but felt increasingly disconnected from the systems around them.
Many of them were consultants, leaders, designers, engineers, writers and creatives.
People with real life experience and expertise who didn’t want to spend the next twenty years trapped inside structures that no longer reflected who they were becoming.
That changed how I started thinking about my publication.
One thing I want to make clear is that your publication name and branding is not important when you first start. In fact I actively encourage people to just pick the first thing that comes to mind because it can be the source of serious procrastination.
It is very easy to change it later, which is now what I have done, so…
Welcome to The Work That Holds.
The phrase came to me because I realised that most modern work disappears almost instantly. Content gets consumed and forgotten and Platforms reward speed over depth.
I am not here to build more disposable output. My goal is to create work that survives changing platforms, changing algorithms and changing phases of life.
Work that stabilises rather than fragments. Work that compounds slowly over time instead of demanding constant reinvention. That is what I want to share with you and I encourage you to think in these terms.
The Work That Holds is the embodiment of this philosophy.
I help full-time professionals transform their expertise, ideas and lived experience into writing-based businesses that create leverage, income and long-term optionality outside traditional career structures.
A profitable Substack is not just an audience or readership. It is the beginning of a second life path.
In my experience most people join Substack with clear ideas about what they want to write about - in the form of traditional articles. But very few people give any thought to short form notes, collaborations, cross posts, and Email-Post ratios.
One thing I realised six months in was that the way I was writing also had to change.
I made a small but hugely significant shift which was to focus more of my attention on short-form writing.
Short-form forced me to sharpen ideas before they became essays. It helped me identify recurring themes, refine language and slowly develop a more coherent worldview.
I used to hat short-form. I mean truly despise it because I associated it with fragmented attention and disposable content. But when used properly, it can became a thinking tool, a positioning tool and a way of developing intellectual consistency in public.
In fact it changed my creative practice so much that I eventually built an entire system around it. It is the product that has received the most positive feedback and has made a real difference to how people approach online writing. I have decided to include it as one of the assets that paid members receive automatically when they sign up.
If you need direction and accountability this will help. You can check it out below.
This year I turned 40 which put a few things into perspective. I do not believe in burning the boats and running for the exit ramp. I am not 20 anymore and have obligations that cannot just be ditched.
I believe in building something slowly that energises me and enhances my existing life. Writing does that for me. By wrestling with the words, reflecting on my days, my progress and struggles I become more present and more embodied in my own life and I really want to transmit the importance of that gift to more people.
Writing does this in a way that video cannot. I tried video documentation and it is a complete distraction. It pulls you away from the present so that you cannot enjoy the moment you are living in.
This is not about desperately racing towards an end goal, it is about building something of meaning that can be sustained for years to come.
Living abroad changed the way I think about almost everything.
I’ve spent years moving between systems, cultures and ways of thinking. Britain taught me narrative, humour and improvisation. Germany taught me structure, systems and long-term thinking. Working in precious metals during periods of economic instability taught me how differently people behave once something real is at risk.
Those experiences slowly pushed me away from the internet’s obsession with speed, optimisation and constant visibility.
Most people online are desperately trying to accelerate their lives. I am actively trying to decelerate mine and focus on the one or two things that truly matter.
Most people do not need another productivity system. They need a direction that feels psychologically sustainable.
My purpose here is to demonstrate that sustainable growth built around clarity, ownership and coherence is achievable for anyone who can apply structure focus and implement consistently on their vision.
I believe, and have already seen how a body of work can become a stabilising force in a person’s life, not just financially but psychologically.
And, even if they haven’t fully articulated this yet, I think more people are craving this and that is exactly what I am here for.
If you have any questions feel free to send me a message.
Take care,
Ben