Issue 42: All good things ...

but not just yet ...

Author

John Lim
December 20, 2024

Side note: I’m obsessed with numeric symmetry …

It’s December?!? I didn’t get the memo. It was August just a moment ago when I blinked, opening my eyes to Christmas decorations and tunes. Even though stores start putting out holiday decorations unseasonably and unreasonably early these days, I confirmed with my calendar that we really are less than a week away from Christmas! Time is trippy; starting with that never-ending January, then moving into a big middle blur, and now we’re staring at the tail end of the year. With that, it’s time to wrap this season with a bow and look ahead to the series finale in 2025.

If you’ve been following the podcast, you’ll know that I’ve been eyeing 500 as my swan song for a while. With just eight episodes left after Monday’s upcoming holiday episode (492), I cover what’s in store for 2025, and how I plan to use season 12 to reflect on what I’ve learned from my decade-plus of podcasting, including the ups, downs, and all arounds.

Finally, it’s also time to announce that the newsletter will be sunsetting with issue 50; coinciding with the end of the podcast. It’s been a heck of a fun ride, quirks and all, but I’m not one to overstay my welcome nor am I one to leave my audience on a cliffhanger. I’m all about arcs and having a landing to stick to.

Don’t fret, we’re still a bit a ways away from all of that. For now, let’s enjoy the close of the season, and the holidays by “making rather merry” as Bob Cratchit so eloquently stated in A Christmas Carol.

Cheers 🎄🥂

-John

[Moving Forward will end season 11 with the 2024 holiday episode (MF 492) on Monday, December 23rd, and will return with season 12, beginning with episode 493 on Thursday, Jan. 9th. The Weekly Quirk will return with issue 43 on Friday, Jan. 10th.]

Moving Forward 491: Season 11 wrap up
The podcast

Why are you ending the show? I’ve been asked this a lot. Though I’ve answered this question many times on the podcast, I’ve never addressed it here. If you listen to my conversation with William Christopher Ford (episode MF 488), we talk about arcs and coming almost full circle. As an actor, martial artist, and storyteller, he gets it. Being a storyteller means taking your followers on a journey with a beginning, middle, and end.

This is so evident with books. In my writing course, the first lesson I teach is the B-M-E (beginning-middle-end) concept, which is the cornerstone for understanding what it is to write a book. You see and experience the BME structure throughout books as they always have a beginning, middle, and end. Within the literal construct of a book, you have front matter, manuscript, and back matter, forming its own BME structure. On a macro level, trilogies and series have their own grand BME arcs. On the micro level, BME structures exist in chapters, pages, paragraphs, and sentences. The symmetry is beautiful and poetic.

With podcasting, it’s not always evident as it’s one of the most flexible and freeform content mediums out there. Most podcasters focus on the beginning, the conceptualization, the how, including the technical and logistical hurdles of launching one. In many ways, this is the sexiest part: the pomp and fanfare of starting something new. The middle is where many podcasters fall off. I’ve seen dozens of podcasts launch only to come to an abrupt stop somewhere between episode 12 and 20. The middle is where the excitement of launching has faded and it becomes about the work, consistency, and perseverance of building a critical mass, even though the needle on listeners, subscribers, and other metrics often moves slowly. There are growing pains, setbacks, and endurance challenges in creating content on a regular basis.

I believe that most podcasts don’t stick to the landing for one simple reason that has nothing to do with talent, cost, time, or even attention span. It’s because they don’t have a landing in the first place. When I’ve coached others on podcasting, the first thing I emphasize is have an end in mind, whether it’s a number of seasons, episodes, or years. In other words, don’t assume you’re going to podcast forever. The reality is you won’t. Yet, no matter how much I emphasize this, this is the one lesson that gets the most resistance. There’s a fear that in doing so, it will curtail the potential for growth. The problem is that when expectations don’t meet reality in terms of listeners, popularity, or other rewards, then having a podcast for its own sake doesn’t really work. Inevitably, podcasts without an exit will have one imposed on them due to lack of momentum, direction, or incentive to continue.

The reason why I’ve lasted this long isn’t because I’m better or even more disciplined. Yes, I work hard at it but what’s kept me going for 11 seasons is that I’ve never fooled myself into thinking I would do this forever, nor did I want to. While I didn’t know exactly where Moving Forward would go when I started in 2015, I came to the realization that I didn’t want to just continue for the sake of continuing. If I did, I would have faded out long ago, which would have been a big disservice to my listeners and subscribers. Think of a favorite show you love to watch. You follow the characters, story arcs, and plotlines from the beginning only to have it cancelled after a few seasons or worse, end on a cliffhanger. Podcasts with no exit end up like that. I never wanted to do that to myself or my listeners.

I decided to end on 500, which is a good round number representing a large body of work that I can be proud of. Knowing this has kept me going, week after week, month after month, season after season.

So in answer to the why question, it’s simply time. All journeys must have a beginning, middle, and end. If you decide podcasting is something you want to do, challenge yourself to have an exit. You’ll find it much easier to build when you have one than simply leaving it to chance. Moreover, it will be a far more satisfying experience to write the ending of your podcast on your terms.

The newsletter

As for the newsletter, this was a fun experiment. I wanted to move away from a traditional website and blog, which I had done since the early days of the podcast and try a completely new and different medium. As of this year, The Weekly Quirk has become the home of Moving Forward. Yet, the reason why I named this The Weekly Quirk newsletter rather than the Moving Forward newsletter is that I wanted to leave the door open to continue after the podcast ended. The newsletter was meant to be more casual than the podcast, allowing me to showcase my sarcastic humor, which doesn’t always come through on air. Further, I wanted to explore the quirk theme, as I consider myself a pretty quirky guy. In the early issues, I tried to balance covering the podcast with a look at quirky news, facts, and trivia. I even wrote issues when the podcast was on hiatus to further differentiate the two.

Over time though, the newsletter never gelled the way I hoped. While I enjoy writing the issues, I haven’t grown my audience significantly, signaling that it’s not the right direction to continue with. As I approached the 30s, I realized it was time to pivot or exit. After ruminating on this, I made the difficult decision to sunset the newsletter with the podcast. Thus, I will close with issue 50, which will coincide with episode 500 of the podcast. Admittedly, the symmetry in numbers is also symbolic and appealing.

Wow, this was supposed to be a celebration! I don’t want this to be a somber note nor do I feel that way in looking at the end of these two endeavors. I’m extremely grateful to every listener and reader, whether you’ve been with me since day one or just recently discovered Moving Forward and this quirky newsletter. Rather, it’s because of you that I’ve come this far and that’s a pretty cool gift for the holidays.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and since it will come within the next five minutes, let me wish you a Happy New Year!

Finally, after nine years, I discovered that podcasting is that much easier with an extra arm. Hey, I’m a slow learner.

Catch this week’s episode on Spotify.

*Affiliate disclosure: these are links through which I earn a commission from qualifying referrals and / or purchases.

Dropping wisdom on exit strategies long before that was a thing.

❝

Sometime when take trip, better know where trip end. Otherwise better just stay home.

-Mister Miyagi (The Karate Kid Part III)

Moving Forward

What’s ahead in 2025.

  1. Moving Forward season 12: Moving Forward’s final season will be split into three parts with the first seven episodes serving as a retrospective. Part III will wrap the show with episode 500, the series finale.

  2. Moving Forward release schedule:

    • Season 12, Part 1 (episodes 493-496) will air Thursdays, starting Jan. 9th, and concluding on Thursday, Jan. 30th.

    • Season 12, Part 2 (episodes 497-499) will air Thursdays, starting Feb. 13th, and concluding on Thursday, Feb. 27th.

    • Season 12, Part 3 (episode 500) will air sometime in late March 2025.

  3. The Weekly Quirk: The newsletter will resume with issue 43 on Friday, Jan. 10th. The remaining issues will be released on Fridays, coinciding with the podcast schedule, and concluding with issue 50 on Friday, Feb. 28th.

[Note: Upon conclusion of the podcast and newsletter, all Moving Forward episodes and The Weekly Quirk issues will remain available to stream and read online so long as I’m able to keep them published cost-free via their respective host providers. However, while I would like to keep them preserved for posterity sake, I can’t guarantee they will be available forever. Additional note: the copyright to all content, including audio and literary rights, remains with me, my assigns, and my heirs, regardless of publication status.]

Enjoy the season with the Moving Forward holiday collection

Celebrate and be merry! 🎄❄️

Join me on Monday, December 23rd for MF 492, the final holiday episode which will be my reading of chapter five of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens (1823).

Celebrate the Holidays with Moving Forward

Check out the holiday episodes, including write-ups and blogs from the legacy website.

bemovingforward.wixsite.com/bemovingforward/post/celebrate-the-holidays-with-moving-forward

Available now at my bookstore on Pangobooks

Find a great book to go along with that long winter’s nap.

Browse books from readersnook.

The Little Book Shop Around the Interwebs’ shop on PangoBooks.

pangobooks.com/bookstore/readersnook

Speaking of holiday parties

Get the perfect white elephant, secret Santa, holiday party stocking stuffer.

Amazon.com: Corporate Cliches: An Adult Coloring Book for Passive Aggressive Stress Relief Against Eye-Roll Inducing Office Sayings by John Lim

Amazon.com: Corporate Cliches: An Adult Coloring Book for Passive Aggressive Stress Relief Against Eye-Roll Inducing Office Sayings: 9781540539113: Lim, John, Luk, Jenny: Books

www.amazon.com/dp/1540539113/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_30JMDPEN9429WTESA17J_0

Quirky reads 📚

Speaking of good books, here are some titles I’ve been reading lately.

[Affiliate disclosure: these are affiliate links to Amazon through which I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.]

  • Sonny Boy by Al Pacino (****)

  • Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations and to see what else I’m reading.

Upcoming (January 16th, 2025)

Speaking of Poshmark, join me in January to learn Poshmark basics, hosted by The Acton Memorial Public Library.

One spot left! I goofed! There was one spot filled 🤦🏻‍♂️ There are plenty of spots left for this training. However, they are starting to fill so save yours now!

Virtual - Poshmark Basics "101"

Register in advance for this meeting:https://actonma. zoom. us/meeting/register/tZ0ucu-sqD8jHtBkVQSlF5wWsOZwJkjJ-4ya After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.  John Lim, author of The Poshmark Guide will be giving a 1 hour class on the ins and outs of Poshmark! Learn how to start a business or side hustle using the Poshmark reseller app!John will guide you through setting up your store and creating your first listing in minutes.…Learn More . Registration required. Spaces are limited.

actonmemoriallibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/poshmark-basics-101

Upcoming (January 28th, 2025)

My next writing class starts January 2025.

Write and Self-Publish Your First Book With a Step-by-Step Plan with John Lim, JD, Bus '13 (MBA) | Johns Hopkins Events

Course Description: Writing a book is one of the top "bucket list" goals of people around the world: across generations, backgrounds, and cultures. However, few ever see their dream come to fruition. If you've ever wanted to write a book but don't know how or where to start or maybe you've tried in the past and couldn't get past the blank screen in front of you, I'll teach you how to get over your fear, doubts, and procrastination habits to get that first book done.

events.jhu.edu/form/odysseyspring2025johnlim

Upcoming (March 25, 2025)

My next decluttering class starts March 2025.

Declutter Your Home and Free Your Life with John Lim, Bus '13 (MBA) | Johns Hopkins Events

Stuff! As a society, we’ve accumulated so much stuff that we now have to rent space for the extra stuff that we can’t fit into our homes. Garages no longer store cars but toys, clothing, furniture, and other accumulated stuff. In this class, I will cover a step-by-step process to declutter your home by employing several strategies.

events.jhu.edu/form/odysseyjohnlimspring25

Resources

Teach a man to fish, you know the rest (if you don’t, check these out).

  • Book a coaching call with me on Clarity.

  • Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations.

  • Check out one of my favorite daily newsletters Morning Brew (affiliate referral link).

Support the newsletter and podcast

“What are you selling?!?” -actual quote from a b-school classmate

Affiliate disclosure

Note: Links to Amazon and Audible products are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.