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Why friendships are like trees

Why friendships are like trees

In this issue: Why the easy choice is not always the best choice, a fast & easy way to make arrows, how to respond to a hard world, and 3 types of friendship.

PJ Milani
February 04, 2025

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🤔 INTERESTING

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art depicting the relationship between decision-making and long-term consequences. A graph shows two paths: ‘Easy Decisions Now’ leading to ‘Hard Life Later’ and ‘Hard Decisions Now’ leading to ‘Easy Life Later.’ A character is shown climbing from the easy path to the harder path, symbolizing the struggle of making better choices early on for future rewards.

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Beware the path of least resistance.

I waited far too long to post ideas online (at the tender age of 41), because I was overwhelmed where to start and afraid what others would say. It wasn’t until a couple years ago I realized there’s a fine line between thoughtful reflection and willful procrastination.

If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve told myself to start first, figure the rest out as you go. It’s hard and scary to step into the unknown but as the famous Persian poet Remi said : “As you start to walk on the path, the way appears.”

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📐 DESIGN

How to make Quick & Easy Arrows in Figma

Arrows are a big part of visual metaphors so I made this easy to follow tutorial on how to make them in Figma (a free design app).

🔮 ENCHANTING

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art depicting the impact of our choices on the world. On the left, a person stands in a barren field of tree stumps with the text ‘The world is hard…’. On the right, the same person plants new saplings with the text ‘…but we don’t have to make it worse,’ symbolizing the power of positive action and restoration.

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❝

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr

🧠 ANALOGY

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art depicting ‘3 Types of Friendships.’ The top panel shows leaves blowing away, labeled ‘Leaves – seasonal.’ The middle panel features a broken branch, labeled ‘Branches – strong but can break under pressure.’ The bottom panel displays deep tree roots, labeled ‘Roots – through thick & thin,’ symbolizing lasting friendships.

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There's beauty in having all 3 friendships in our lives, because they each serve a different purpose. But the most distress I’ve felt in my personal friendships is confusing one for another so it’s helpful to know which friends are which.

Leaves flow in and out of our lives as new leaves fill their place (this is natural so we shouldn’t be too sad when it happens).

Branches—we see daily. Some are stronger than others. They can endure pressure, but only so much before breaking.

Root friends keep us grounded. Often unseen, but we feel their impact and stability.

🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW

https://www.sponsormagnet.com

My friend, Justin Moore, just released his first book ("Sponsor Magnet") and it’s PACKED with everything you need to know about landing brand partnerships.

Now if you don’t already know Justin, he’s personally landed over $5M in brand deals. But more importantly, Justin has helped hundreds of creators land millions in deals.

Funny enough, Justin didn’t sponsor this post and this is not an affiliate link. I just admire Justin’s approach as a creator online. If you have even a small following and you’ve been thinking to level up your sponsorship game, this is probably the most ROI you’ll get from a book on the topic.

What I love most about Justin’s book is that it acts as a reference with scripts you can copy/paste for each situation you’ll come across along the process (pitches, email replies, contract negotiations, etc.).

There’s actually quite a bit of visuals in the book, but just for fun, I broke down some key concepts on pitching for myself.

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