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Hey beautiful human 👋,
This month I want to talk about something that's been messing with everyone’s heads…
Mine included.
Titles.
Ever since we're kids, we're programmed to think life happens in neat little stages and progressions.
In games you go from level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... you get the idea.
At work you climb from junior, mid, senior, lead, manager, director, VP... insert fancy title here.
In business it's all about hitting those revenue milestones: $1M, $2M, $5M, $10M... because apparently bigger is always better.
If you stay put, you're losing. If you slow down, you're falling behind.
Now don't get me wrong…
I'm a hustler and I'm super growth-driven.
Type A personality through and through.
I wouldn't be in a position to work entirely on my own terms today if I'd been lazy or hadn't constantly pushed myself to grow.
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I firmly believe in the beginning of our careers we need to chase titles. Working hard and growing helps us build leverage, understand what we love and what we don’t love doing and eventually unlock the freedom to live life on our own terms.
But here's the thing that's been bugging me...
There's this critical moment where you NEED to be mindful about your situation.
The moment where you CAN afford to start living on your own terms.
And if so... you shouldn't still be obsessing over constantly chasing that next title.
Here's what happened to me...
Over the last 8 years, my businesses grew year on year. I ended up hiring more and more people, doing less and less hands-on work.
Until I reached a point where I found myself doing things I didn't really enjoy anymore.
All my life I loved building apps, being on the tools, growing products, and improving them with my own hands.
But I was no longer doing that. Because I had a team for everything.
As "the Founder," I apparently have these clear, non-negotiable responsibilities that everyone expects me to follow.
So this year, I said screw it.
I restructured my entire team and decided to go back to my roots, back to doing what I genuinely love.
BUILDING. BACK ON THE TOOLS.
I'm back in design. I'm back talking to customers. I'm back in the weeds solving product problems for a new app I'm building.
It was tough because I had to let go of some of my favorite people, but it’s also what the business needed.
I had to re-arrange my entire team structure and just signed on a full-time Head of Engineering and a full-stack dev to build alongside me; not for me, but WITH me.
I'm back doing what makes me come alive.
I found my flow again.
Here's my realization.
Sometimes we need to ask ourselves: if I'm happy with where I am today AND it serves me well financially, I don't actually need that next promotion or follow what society says I need to do.
Climbing to that next title isn't worth it if it takes me further away from what I love.
We've been conditioned to think that "Senior Designer" is better than "Designer," that "Founder" means you can't touch code or design anymore.
Here's my challenge for you:
Take a step back and really think about what you want your day-to-day to look like. Not what your LinkedIn profile should say.
Don't let a title trap you into a life you don't actually want.
Sometimes the best move isn't moving up… it's moving toward what makes you come alive.
Even if that means taking a "step back" according to everyone else's rulebook.
Your happiness doesn't have to follow a linear progression chart.
Trust me on this one.
— Mizko
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Useful lil' links
Nano Banana - Google’s NEW Gen AI model
Perplexity’s AI Voice Mode - I’ve been learning a lot by literally ‘chatting’ with AI
Claude now in Chrome - OMG… enough said
How can I help you?
Here are a few ways I can help you crush your career goals (just like me):
🖥️ Master Figma 2.0 (20 hours) - I just launched my Figma Masterclass 2.0 course! Become an expert in Figma so you can get more done; faster and better. This isn’t just a technical course about features, it’s an end-to-end course on how Figma fits into a real-world project. (8,500+ designers)
💼 Build confidence in end-to-end UX/UI design (10 hours) - You’ve mastered the tool and UX research and now you want to learn how to lead, design and manage a project end-to-end. Dive deep into every little step alongside me with a real-world project. (400+ designers)
🔍 Dive-deep into UX Research & Strategy (10 hours) - Learn how to run UX and business research to make more strategic and data-informed decisions for larger scaled projects and improved stakeholder management. (800+ designers)
⚡️Design 10X faster with 8,000+ pre-designed components - We just launched v.2.7.1. If you’re starting every project from scratch, you’re probably wasting a lot of time. Leverage Shipfaster UI to speed up your process dramatically. (3,400+ designers)
That's it for this month!
Oh and incase you missed it, I dropped my latest Figma Masterclass 2.0 course a few weeks ago. Now with over 8,500+ designers world-wide on it.
Your boy,
— Mizko