We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Jacobson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Alex, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Early into starting a company in 2017 both Jason and I were heavily influenced by the “wake up and grind” culture. You know, the whole “if you aren’t spending every waking moment of your existence on this you’re wasting your time” type mindset.
That did work in the beginning, but it wasn’t healthy. It took me a while to realize, but doing that is the fastest way to burn out and become almost completely ineffective. I personally would be dreading waking up some days because I wasn’t taking any time to recharge; at the time I didn’t understand why I was so burnt out, but now looking back, I realize that I wasn’t taking care of myself.
Work/life balance is all about making sure that you are fundamentally prepared to give your all when you do work. If I’m not sleeping enough, eating well, or trying to keep yourself physically active, my performance suffers greatly. For me, having a routine and treating my health and wellness as a priority has massively impacted my performance, the business’s performance, and my quality of life as well.
TLDR: Make sure you take care of yourself because if you’re not at 100%, you can’t give 100%.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Astro Creative Company is focused on creating content that makes you feel something. “Breaking the mold” is a term that gets tossed around quite frequently, but we truly want to destroy it.
I’d say we’re most proud that we keep pushing the envelope with our content, and that we continue to expand and grow in our community and around the world.
If we weren’t true to our work, it would be obvious. We are where we are today because we trust ourselves to be ourselves and work with our creativity. It definitely wasn’t easy; we had a lot to learn to get here, and we have a lot to learn to get to the next step. We continue to overcome challenges by continuously educating ourselves, creating plans of action, and executing.
One lesson I’ve learned that I can’t stress enough is that motivation isn’t nearly as important as discipline. If you don’t have any discipline and you rely on your motivation to carry you, you are setting yourself up for failure.
If nothing else, the world should know that Astro Creative Company does dope sh*t.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’re located in Detroit, so some places to definitely check out would be The Monarch for a fancy rooftop drink, Penny Red’s for one of the best hot honey fried chicken sandwiches around, and we have the best riverwalk in the country so come check that out as well.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Most recently, I’d love to shout out Jay Shetty. His book “Think Like A Monk” and podcast have been very influential in my routine and mindset changes over the past year.
Website: astrocreative.co
Instagram: @astrocreativeco
Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/astro-creative-company
Twitter: @astrocreativeco
Facebook: facebook.com/astrocreativeco
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCskh5QvhNJGHsTxS-r7IfQ
Image Credits
Alex Jacobson, Jason Lanham, Nick Margetic, Jon Phou