Post Summary
Two Percent is back on Substack.
I’ll explain the details and how our return will improve Two Percent.
Housekeeping
As a welcome back, we’re running an Annual Membership discount.
It’ll last for 48 hours. Sign up now and get 15% off an annual Membership. We rarely do discounts. So take advantage.
Podcast version of this post
Members, click the button below to set up your Member podcast feed. Note: It’s best to do this on your phone.
Here’s the new podcast page, and here are links to today’s episode:
The post
Roughly two months ago, Two Percent left Substack for another publishing platform.
We made the change for simple reasons: The other platform was significantly less expensive to run, offered different design options, and, by all visible measures, was basically the same.
But in all my work and travels, I’ve learned that the unmeasurable, unquantifiable stuff is what really matters.
I was naive when I started this project. I viewed it as me writing a newsletter to you.
I quickly learned it isn’t that.
The comments sections of Two Percent posts filled with all of you sharing your experience—whether it be tactics for living better, book and fitness recommendations, smart questions, or just letting us all know what was happening in your life.
Two-Percenters met up in the real world. Some even recognized each other while—wait for it—taking the stairs at an airport (true story!).
I realized that this project is actually us writing, thinking, and creating together. Together as a community of Two-Percenters—that wild and strange fraction of people who are willing to embrace short-term discomfort to improve over the long haul.
Your comments and emails began guiding Two Percent and what we cover. Your thinking changed my thinking. Your stories, questions, and interactions sharpened and inspired me.
We have the best health, wellness, and mindset community on earth.
On Substack
Before we left Substack, I contacted our point person there and told him thanks for our time on the platform but that we were on our way out.
I also briefly explained why we were leaving: I want all platforms to win and improve so the internet becomes a better place.
He told me he was “gutted … and completely blindsided”—his language, not mine.
Because here’s the thing: Substack realizes the value of the Two Percent community.
You’re the wonderful part of the internet—the type of people the world needs more of. Smart, funny, kind, well-read, and dead set on betterment.
Substack apologized for “dropping the ball”—again, their words, not mine—by letting us live on an island without assistance that would have built and strengthened our community.
We were doing great, but they realized they could have helped us do even better. There were resources we could have used and levers we could have pulled to make Substack a uniquely great home for Two Percent.
My Substack contact asked me if I’d take a meeting. So we jumped on a Zoom call. They expressed regrets and asked what it would take to get us back.
And so it was that Substack began to lay out a plan to help us make Two Percent better.
On the Two Percent community
But back to those immeasurables.
After about a month on the new platform, I noticed something I didn’t like: Comments and community engagement had gone down. We had fewer comments and conversations. Some of you told me commenting on posts and moving around the Two Percent site was harder.
The newsletter started to feel less like “us” and more like me writing at you. I missed the community vibe.
Substack offered us some great resources to come back—they’re helping us pull new levers to make Two Percent better for everyone.
They have many sage media and tech minds in the building. They’re also building and launching new ways to enhance our content and community.
We’re going to leverage the everliving hell out of them to keep moving forward. Always forward.
So I accepted.
Well, “we” accepted. And so, in the immortal words of the Blues Brothers, “We’re putting the band back together … we’re on a mission from God.”
The future of Two Percent
Many good things are happening.
The podcast will be seamless.
Those who listen to the podcast know that having two feeds—one for Members and another for free subscribers—can be a bit confusing.The solution: Substack will allow us to have a single feed where free episodes are open and free, but Member episodes are locked. This will all happen seamlessly in your preferred podcast feed. The system will automatically recognize Members.
You can listen on your preferred podcast player: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, whatever.
Members, click the button below to set up your Member podcast feed. You’ll only need to do this once, and it’s best that you use a mobile phone.
We’ll have more video.
Like the above! We’ll begin experimenting with more videos. We’re even going to beta-test a new live video feature for Substack (watch out for that in July).A question: What do you want to see on video? Gear Not Stuff seems like a great candidate. Perhaps the AMAs can also be on video? Let me know!
We’ll bring in more outside voices.
Cool, smart experts approved by Two Percent.We even look a bit different.
How about that new logo?
The future is open and infinite.
Got an idea for Two Percent? Drop it in the comments.
Thanks for riding along for the transition.
Have fun, don’t die, and get excited—because we’re putting the band back together …
-Michael
Sponsored by GORUCK
When I decided to accept sponsorships for this newsletter, GORUCK was a natural fit. Not only is the company's story included in The Comfort Crisis, but I've been using GORUCK's gear since the brand was founded. Seriously. They've been around ~12 years and I still regularly use a pack of theirs that is 11 years old. Their gear is made in the USA by former Special Forces soldiers. They make my favorite rucking setup: A Rucker 4.0 and Ruck Plate.
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Sponsored by Momentous
Momentous made me feel good about supplements again. Over 150 professional and collegiate sports teams and the US Military trust their products, thanks to the company’s rigorous science and testing. I don’t have the time or desire to cook perfectly balanced meals that give me all the necessary nutrients and protein I need (let’s face it, few of us do!). So I use their collagen in the morning; Recovery protein during hard workouts; essential multivitamin to cover my bases; creatine because it’s associated with all sorts of great things; and Fuel on my longest endurance workouts on 100+ degree days here in the desert (because Rule 2: Don’t die). And I also love (love!) that Momentous is researching and developing women-specific performance supplements.
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Sponsored by Maui Nui Venison
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