Welcome to the AP Creative Community Newsletter!
Every other week, I share actionable tips, honest answers, and valuable insights to help you on your creative journey—no fluff, just real talk. This newsletter is here to support your journey, spark ideas, and build a community of creatives. 🗺 When I’m not sharing tips, I feature creatives from the community through the Creator Spotlight.
New issues hit your inbox every Sunday. Glad you’re here. 🤝
So what's stopping you? 💭 Actually, is it embarrassment? The fear of being cringe? Because that feeling has killed more creative careers than lack of talent ever has.
Today we're breaking that down. I'm sharing the 3 things that helped me most get over cringe mountain and finally just go for it.🫡
I spent years letting other people's opinions live rent free in my head. Years. ⏳ And the wild part? Most of those people weren't even in my life anymore. They weren't watching. They weren't waiting for me to mess up. But I moved like they were. Like every single thing I did was being graded by some invisible audience that never actually existed.
That cost me time I'm never getting back. And if there's one thing I need you to hear from this newsletter it's this. Your regret will always hit harder than your cringe ever could. 🗣
So here are the 3 things that helped me most.
🤕 1. My regret hurts more than their opinion ever will.
There was something I always wanted to do. Like, always. And I kept pushing it back because of what I thought people were going to say. When I finally did it I remember looking back and thinking, why did I wait so long for this? The opinion I was so scared of? It didn't even land the way I imagined it would. Most of it didn't come at all. But the time I lost? That was real. Don't let the fear of one moment stop you from building something that lasts way longer than their attention span.
❓2. If their opinion is what's stopping you, ask yourself if they're really your friend.
This one changed my life. And I don't say that lightly. I had people around me whose energy was doing nothing but pulling me backwards. Subtle comments. Unsupportive reactions. That vibe where you walk away feeling smaller than when you showed up. 🫥 You know that feeling. I had to make some hard calls. I cut those ties. And I'm not exaggerating when I say I've been happier than ever since. Like, genuinely happier. The people who are really for you? They will never make you feel embarrassed for dreaming out loud. Ever.
🫵 3. You are in control of your life. Stop handing that over to someone else.
Nobody else is living your life. Nobody else is waking up with your goals. Your gifts. Your story. So why are you letting someone else's comfort zone become your ceiling? The moment you decide that your vision matters more than their validation, everything shifts. You stop performing for people and you start creating for yourself. And that's where the real stuff lives. Like, actually everything.
Here's the thing about cringe mountain. Everyone who ever built something worth having had to climb it. The embarrassment is part of it. The awkward posts. The videos that didn't land. The ideas people didn't get at first. All of it was necessary. All of it was the path.
The people on the other side of that mountain aren't less cringe than you. They just stopped letting it stop them.
So whatever you've been holding back. Whatever you've been waiting to start. Whatever version of yourself you've been too scared to show the world.
This is your sign. Climb the mountain. 🏔🤝
I've been trying out this new thing where I prop up my camera and just talk. No fancy edits, just a one-cut talking video with no script. My thoughts purely off the dome.
I've Built a Filming Uniform for Myself? 👕 I like to wear the same outfit in my videos. Check out why HERE.
So You're Scared of Being Cringe... 🫢 And that's what's stopping you from fully going after your content goals. Alright, let's talk about it HERE
If you enjoyed this and want to go even more in depth, Content College is where I teach the full system. How to write your story, editing, color, structure, and so much more —built for creators who want to level up.
Have a question about cameras/editing/technical skills? Ask me anonymously HERE!
Question of the Week:
Pls share how to shoot and edit some of the visual effects that can help us tell stories better
Submitted by: Smart
From Adrian 💬
Honestly I love this question because it gives me a chance to be real with you. I've made a lot of videos. On framing. On editing. On how to make your footage feel cinematic. And I mean every word of all of them. But there's something I probably don't say enough. None of that matters if the story isn't there. Not the frame. Not the cut. Not a single effect you throw on top.
Story wins every time. Every single time. It's not even close.
And visual effects? I barely use them. Like, actually barely. The only time I reach for an effect is when the story I'm trying to tell needs something my footage can't give me on its own. When there's this gap between the emotion I want someone to feel and what's actually on screen. That's the only reason an effect gets invited in. That's it. That's the only door it walks through.
So here's my honest answer. Before you learn any effect, before you even open the software, learn your story. Get so clear on what you want someone to feel that the visuals almost start building themselves. And when you hit a moment where the footage isn't carrying the weight you need it to, that's when you go find the right tool.
The effect serves the story. Never the other way around.
That's it for this week y'all! And I really hope something in here hits different for you. 🙏Because I don't want you to think that I wrote this from some place of having it all figured out. I wrote it because I spent way too long on the wrong side of that mountain and I don't want that for you. The cringe feels personal but it's universal. Every single person you admire online felt the exact same thing before they posted for the first time. They just posted anyway.
Hope this helps and I'll catch you next week. Happy creating!✌️
