Issue #42
Hey there, I’m Lesley. Welcome to the latest issue of Failing Forward — A weekly newsletter sharing my experience as a bootstrapped co-founder.
There’s no bravado here. I fear failure, just like you. I write this newsletter to remind us both that failure is not just okay, it’s often the best way forward.
In this week’s post, I explore how self-perception can lag behind a shift in one’s reality, and the immediate gains one can get simply by recognising the shift and helping yourself catch up.
It all began when I did the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test yesterday. I hadn’t done it in years and found that I’d changed from an INTJ personality type to INFP.
For context, here’s a quick breakdown of the two personalities:
INFPs tend to be creative, driven by emotion, encouraging, self-critical, and prefer work that aligns with their values.
INTJs are single-minded, bold, unafraid to break rules, and intent on applying the full force of their intellect, logic and willpower to get things done.
While I was initially very surprised, looking back on the past year made me realise I had indeed been acting like an INFP.
This was interesting because, had I not re-done the MBTI, I would not have known I’d changed so fundamentally. Even right now, I still prefer to think of myself as an INTJ, despite my actions clearly indicating otherwise.
Struggling with this made me think about the broader principle of how self-perception often lags behind reality.
I’m building Newsletter Glue — an email newsletter platform on WordPress with a Gutenberg-first approach.
Here’s what I got up to this week…
🔥 Highlights from this week

💔 Lowlights from this week
- This week felt like we were swimming through mud. Everything felt slow and painful. We made important progress but have little to show for it.
✅ Completed this week
- Learnt how to and added rich text editing and dynamic updates to our blocks. This is going to have a huge impact on the quality of all our blocks going forward.
- Started work on newsletterglue.com.
🎯 Goals for next week
- Finish the first couple of blocks
- Start on some new ones
- Continue work on newsletterglue.com
- Create marketing plan for the paid plugin
- Tiny new update to the free plugin with some simple improvements
Worth a thousand words

Worth your while: Here are my favourite links from this week
Watch: How a deaf person navigates a drive through
Forgive my ignorance, but I don’t often think about accessibility in my life. Which is why this video about the experience of a deaf person at a drive through was eye-opening to me. In this video, we learn the right way to deal with a deaf person at a drive through, and watch this Starbucks employee nail it. Watch YouTube video →
Read: Many traditional newspapers are dying. Not the New York Times. They now have 4x more subscribers than they did in their print-era peak.
This powerpoint-like post dives deep into how the New York Times successfully transitioned from print to digital – profitably. From selling off its non-core assets, doubling down on subscriptions, and changing its business model, this post systematically explains how the NYT has pulled off the business transformation of the century. Read article →
Listen: Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about the beauty of plants, and the limitations of science and language when it comes to deeply understanding them.
If there was ever a human personification of Mother Earth, bryologist Robin Wall Kimmerer would be it. In this 2015 interview, we learn how she views plants as beings in their own right. And hear her thoughts on how the English language’s use of “it” for plants diminishes them to the level of inanimate objects. If you’ve never cared much for plants, it’s simply because you haven’t heard her speak. I highly recommend you make time for this. Listen to podcast →
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