Visual IDEAs Newsletter
Posts
Why you should always "root" for yourself

Why you should always "root" for yourself

In this issue: the difference between difficult and impossible, the real game you should be playing online, why being "weird" is cool 😎, and the opportunities and possibilities ahead this year!

PJ Milani
February 10, 2026

🤔 INTERESTING

Visual metaphor by milaniCREATIVE.art showing seedlings underground beneath large rocks. On the left, the seed is struggling to grow directly beneath a heavy rock. Text reads: “Sometimes it’s difficult…” On the right, the seed has curved its root around the rock and broken through the surface, sprouting green. Text concludes “…but not impossible.” The illustration highlights the resilience required to overcome obstacles that seem immovable.

Join the conversation on LinkedIn

Be sure to "root" for yourself to succeed 😬

My favorite place to find out what’s going on in AI:

Go from AI overwhelmed to AI savvy professional

AI will eliminate 300 million jobs in the next 5 years.

Yours doesn't have to be one of them.

Here's how to future-proof your career:

Join the Superhuman AI newsletter - read by 1M+ professionals
Learn AI skills in 3 mins a day
Become the AI expert on your team

Start learning AI now

📐 DESIGN

No one said you have to show up perfectly 😬

A lot of people are surprised when I tell them Twitter (not Instagram) is the first place I started posting visuals. It’s also my “least successful” (I cringe at defining success by follower count…but let’s temporarily use this definition).

Over the last 4 years of regularly posting on X, my follower count grew to about 19,000. Nothing to complain about but half that growth happened in the first 6 months. It’s felt like a grind to grow the other half.

Then last week something happened. The algorithm gods in the matrix saw it fit to bring some attention to my X account probably during a perfect storm of the right person seeing the right content at the right time of day.

Dec. 6, 2025 - 4 Likes

Feb. 5, 2026 - 16K Likes

Thankfully I learned early as a creator that social media algorithms are fickle creatures (notice that my content didn’t change, the algo did). It’s a dangerous game to measure success by their metrics. So I’ve stumbled into playing a more infinite game. The game of showing up despite the outcome.

The 3 most important lessons I’ve learned in this game:

You will go on a winning streak
You will go on a losing streak
You won’t know when either will stop.

And this has happened to me in every platform.

Oct. 21, 2025 - 17 Likes

Feb. 6, 2026 - 3.7K Likes

The lesson here is not to keep showing up so you too can go viral. If you live by your wins, you die by your losses. I can cough wrong later today and the algo might shift its attention elsewhere.

The goal is to avoid judging your work entirely on likes, shares, and engagement. Instead frame your progress as a byproduct of showing up day in and day out, even if you don’t do it perfectly.

🔮 ENCHANTING

Visual metaphor by milaniCREATIVE.art showing the contrast between our age and authenticity. In the top panel, a younger character leaps over a dip in the ground labeled “Your Weirdness,” trying to avoid it entirely. In the bottom panel, an older version of the same character relaxes comfortably inside the same dip, fully embracing it. The visual highlights how what we once tried to hide becomes something we relax into over time.

Join the conversation on LinkedIn

As you get older, you learn to embrace your cringe 😬

❝

That thing that made you weird as a kid could you make you great as an adult.

— Kevin Kelly —

🧠 ANALOGY

Visual metaphor by milaniCREATIVE.art showing the year as a path from January to December. A small figure stands near the start of the line at February. Before and below February, a puddle labeled “Lessons” flows downward, shaped like a moonlit night. Looking ahead and after February lies a sunrise-colored cloud labeled “Opportunities and Possibilities.” The visual illustrates how the beginning of the year is just the beginning to get started for a beautiful year.

Join the conversation on LinkedIn

The end of January but we're still just getting started.

🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW

I love “Sarah’s Scribbles” by Sarah Andersen

Sarah Anderson’s comics are perfect for anyone who copes with life by laughing at it (just me? 🙋🏻‍♂️). She’s written quite a few books, but my two favorites are “Adulthood is a Gift” and “Oddball”. If you’re into reading about the evils of procrastination, the absurdities of adulthood, or the cuteness of kittens, you might dig her work too. While the comics themselves are hilarious, my favorite part of “Adulthood is a Gift” are the essays giving a glimpse into Sarah’s behind-the-scenes sketches and creative process.

My all-time favorite comic of Sarah’s

A close second (too painfully true) 😂

Rate this week's newsletter:

Your feedback helps shape the best visual newsletter possible.

🔥 Loved it! | 👍 Solid. | 🫣 Could be better.

Say hi 👋🏻 on Twitter or LinkedIn

If you'd like to join the 27,000+ subscribers getting Visual IDEAs straight into their inbox, subscribe below:

Thanks for reading! Reply any time with feedback or questions.

I made this newsletter with beehiiv, my favorite tool for easily creating and growing a newsletter.

When you’re ready, I’ve built a course to teach Thinking in Visual Metaphors: Join the Waiting List

*By making a purchase through any of our affiliate links, we receive a very small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us on our mission to provide quality visuals and education. Thank you for your support!

Reply

or to participate.