Past Wins Won’t Save You

All around us is career fatigue, job insecurity, and growing reliance on AI. It’s not surprising that many of us feel lost, isolated, or exhausted.

So much is changing, it’s just that our habits, systems, and sense of direction haven’t caught up.

This brings us to where we are today whilst so much feels unstable. What matters is how we show up, stay relevant and keep progressing. A question to ask is, ‘is what worked before, still effective now?’

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. In Ron Tite’s latest book The Purpose of Purpose, Ron dropped a line that has stuck with me, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” This is reference to Marshall Goldsmith’s famous book.

The reason it has stuck is the nudge to re-evaluate the foundations you’ve built things on and to consider if they still hold up in a different world from a few years ago.

The way I see it now, change isn’t a something that throws you off balance, it’s something you have to manage.

The better we get at it, the more grounded we feel in a world that isn’t standing still.

Let me explain by framing from my own experience and how it has changed.

For many years the YATM focus was on content marketing. The concept was simple, small businesses can build their own audiences and not be over-reliant on ads, platforms and algorithms. This idea proved to be relevant and effective, providing people with a means to establish visibility and trust on their own terms.

From 2016 to 2020, our Lunch Clubs focused on practical topics such as SEO, writing, GDPR, and event creation, among others.

Looking back, if that’s all YATM ever was, a platform about content marketing, I don’t doubt it would still be here today. This illustrates my point, what brought you here won’t necessarily take you ‘there’.

That version doesn’t resonate with people’s current needs. Which is why over time, more layers have been added. Layers that bring more context, more care, and more awareness of the world we’re in.

In 2025, we leaned into a new focus, the idea of not having to fit in. We positioned YATM as a place for marketing misfits, acknowledging that this concept now extends beyond just marketers to include anyone who chooses not to conform. It became more about embracing voice, identity, and confidence while feeling safe in an environment where people see you for who you truly are, quirks and all. We live our lives trying to fit in and be accepted. What if you got to spend time with people who never wanted to be the biggest, but refused to be ignored or overlooked?

That wasn’t just a message, it reflected the community’s feelings.

This is where I was, to where it’s heading.

What got you here – industry practice with a content marketing approach

What got you there – a human centred approach around togetherness, learning and friendship

Where we’re heading now is a response to something even bigger. The increasing disconnection people experience, even when they are digitally “connected.”

Watch this video from Scott Galloway where he discusses the epidemic of loneliness, particularly among men. He pointed out that many young men have fewer and fewer close friendships, and how this social isolation is taking a deep toll on wellbeing, ambition, and even lifespan.  

This is a reminder that what people truly crave is not just growth or success, but friendship. It’s the experience of being seen, known, and cared for in a world that too often prioritises productivity over people. We are not wired to go it alone, yet most of our current systems (work, tech, even social media) promote isolation in exactly that way.

We are also spending more time alone. 

We need to create spaces where people truly feel part of something, not just “connected,” but in it with others.

For me, “connection” is a corporate word. It belongs in sales decks and B2B slides when referring to weak links with someone else.

What I’m interested in now is friendship.

I like this from a recent Indie Business Club newsletter that says, “you get these little unexpected experiences which remind you that the real joy of doing your own thing is being free to work with people you actually like and want to partner with.”

For me, friendship is the real kind of closeness that happens when people show up together in spaces, embrace the strength of shared moments and support each other in ways no platform ever could.

‘There,’  the future we’re heading toward, isn’t more efficient, it’s more emotive.

It’s being able to say, “I feel a part of this” and that’s the future that AI can’t touch.

To prove the evidence. We create it when we sea swim together. When we run live events. When someone shows up not because they feel obligated, but because they want to.

People want to feel seen, not just added.

Seth Godin poses the question, “What change do I seek to make?”

That serves as a lens to look further into. It’s also helped reshape how I think about relevance.

To stay relevant and to stay useful you need three things:

1. You get to know the group of people you aim to serve.

Not the biggest group. Not the trendiest. Just the right people, for you.

2. You understand a problem that is relevant to them now.

Not the problem they had five years ago. Not the one that’s easiest to solve. The one they actually feel in their day-to-day life.

3. You support a change they seek to make.

That might be building confidence. Or finding their voice. Or being seen and supported. Or believing they don’t have to do this alone.

It’s no longer about telling people what to do. It’s about stadning beside them while they figure it out.

If you can bring someone peace of mind, a sense of belonging, a feeling of momentum, or a bit of status in their world, you’ve done something valuable. You’re in a better place to take them “there.”

If I had held tightly to the original version of YATM, I don’t think I’d still be writing this today.

The reason it still exists is because it’s always been rooted in people. However, people are constantly evolving. The more you listen, the better equipped you are to change with them.

Here’s the thing, you can’t wait for permission to change.

You need to change the game by taking action now, even if it feels uncomfortable or risks losing people along the way.Change, by definition, changes things.

If you are still doing things the same way today as you did five years ago, you are likely not serving the people who need you most. Instead, you are aiding an outdated version of them or an outdated version of yourself.

Your work improves based on who you regularly talk to and hang out with. If you can say that you are a part of your audience, even better. 

Who helps you make sense of things?

Who helps you see what “there” could look like and why it’s worth moving toward.

We haven’t changed. People are still people. But the environment around us has.

What got you here may have helped you survive.

But what gets you there to the version of work and life that truly fits, is confidence, context and the courage to refine. 

We’re built to be with others. We’re not meant to do this alone. What really shapes our future isn’t tech or the next big leap forward, it’s how we show up for each other. It’s knowing we matter, that someone has our back, and that we can share the highs and carry the lows together.

If you’re willing to go first, others will meet you along the way.