FROM ZERO TO THOUSANDS
OF TARGET BLOG
SUBSCRIBERS IN 60 DAYS
Benjamin P. Hardy
Copyright © 2016 Benjamin P. Hardy
All Rights Reserved
www.benjaminhardy.com
Interactive PDF and cover design by FormattingExperts.com
Table of Contents
Introduction
Have You Passed Your Point Of No Return? . . . . . . . . . . . .
v
Chapter 1
Facing The Facts And Avoiding Convention:
You Need A Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Chapter 2
How I Used Medium.com To Get My First
20,000 Subscribers In 6 Months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Chapter 3
The Fundamental Tools You Need To Build
And Grow Your List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
Chapter 4
Make Good Art:
How To Get Editors And Publishers To Come To You . . .
35
Chapter 5
Strategies For Rapid Content Creation
And Psychological Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
Chapter 6
How To Become The Best In The World
At What You Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
58
Introduction
Have You Passed Your
Point Of No Return?
Are you sure this is what you really want to do?
If so, why?
If you’re not fully convinced this is what you want to do,
you should probably put this book down.
There is a pivotal moment all people must experience (multiple times) before they are ready to truly achieve their dreams.
The point of no return.
Have you crossed this point yet?
Is this your path in life? Or are you just testing the waters?
This book isn’t designed for people just testing the waters.
It’s for people who have passed the point of no return. They
are not turning back. This is their path. They will succeed no
matter the gruel and grind and failure it takes to get there.
I’ve asked countless people about their “point of no return”
experiences. In fact, my PhD research is completely focused on
this defining moment. In my research, I compare people who
are actually entrepreneurs with people who one day want to
be.
You’d be surprised how big a difference there are among
these two populations.
v
The people who are already entrepreneurs—almost
always—have passed the point of no return. Conversely,
the wantrepreneurs—almost always—have not had this experience.
Makes sense, right?
If the would-be-entrepreneurs had had this experience,
they’d be entrepreneurs—rather than just wanting to be.
So what is the point of no return? How can we define it?
The Defining Moment
Here is what some people I’ve interviewed (names not included
for confidentiality) say about that pivotal and essential moment:
“My whole entrepreneurial career over the last seventeen,
eighteen years has been a journey and I’ve gone through
‘the point of no return’ several times at different stages.
Most recently for this current business that I’m in, it was my
brother killing himself earlier this year. It was like I realized
how important what I’m doing is. How needed it is and
I realized that I just don’t have a choice. I have some skills
and some knowledge and some things that I can pass on to
parents and young people that can prevent that from ever
happening to someone else or another family and for me
there’s just no going back. I have to dedicate the rest of my
life to that.”
Another person’s moment looked like this:
“This all came through a crisis back in August when I was
like, “I can’t cope. I just can’t cope. I need to do something.
Writing is something that I can do.” I was scared to take
it on because it meant changing everything. It meant going
vi
on to LinkedIn and changing my profile. Changing entirely
what I do. The references I had would no longer be relevant
any more. It was big scary stuff. I was afraid to take it but
I found a site called, “make a living writing.” I actually sent
email to the owner of the site. She gave me some advice
and I followed it. I decided to go ahead with changing my
LinkedIn profile. After that I started learning more about
the world of freelance writing. I started doing it. Once I got
to a certain point, I was like, “I’m set, this is my path.”
Every person’s moment looks different. These moments can
be brought on by the death of a loved one. By failure. By success. By being incredibly sick of your corporate job. However,
the moment that surrounds the experience is far less important
than the experience itself.
Is It An Internal Thing Or External?
When I asked if the “Point of no return” is an internal or external experience, this is what people said:
“You know I’m tempted to say external but it’s really not.
For me everything is an internal experience even if it’s triggered externally. So something may have happened in my
life that was significant and emotional, but it was internally
I made a decision. I had an internal experience of myself
and my life in the world and I made a decision from that
point and so it’s definitely internal.”
Another person said:
“I think whether you get stuck or whether you find your
path it’s totally internal. External only matters a little bit.”
vii
And another:
“It’s all psychological. Life is a psychological game. Okay,
for example, how many psychiatrist does it take to change
a light bulb? It takes one, but the light bulb has to want
to change. You can put a person on a diet and they will
never lose weight unless they want to lose weight. You can
feed them whatever you want they are going to cheat, they
are going to do whatever they do, they’re going to slack
off on exercise, unless you want it. You are never going
to achieve it. I think the biggest point is either go big or go
home, either shoot for the stars and aim for Pluto but if you
hit the moon, you’re still doing a hell of a lot better than
most people. I think people don’t aim high enough.”
Far and wide, almost every person who had experienced
their own personal point of no return said it was an internal
thing. Yes, it can be triggered by external factors like crisis
or a lack of finances. But fundamentally, it’s a pivotal moment where a person changes how they see themselves and the
world. For those seeking to achieve their dreams, it is a selfinduced turning point that one never turns back from.
How Is A Person Different After This Moment?
As fascinating as this moment is, it’s even cooler to understand
what happens to a person after they’ve had this experience.
Here’s what some people said:
“Okay so I had the ability to get very focused. Not get distracted. And really I was happier because I was in charge
of my own destiny versus, you know, let’s say 400 people
that got laid off. That cannot happen to me.”
viii
Another said:
“There was no more of the sense that I wasn’t a writer.
Before this point of no return I would be like, “I’m an aspiring writer. I’m a freelancer want to be. I’m learning, I’m
a beginner.” Stuff like that. Once I reached the point of
no return, I was like, “You know what I’m a writer. I am
a freelancer because that is what I am doing; and because
that’s what I’m doing, that what I am.” There is no more
of this, “Oh I am a beginner, be gentle to me because I am
a little beginner and you shouldn’t be harsh.” Now I’m like,
“Just give me the criticism. I need to grow and learn. I am
writing, this is something I’m going to do.””
Another said:
“Yeah I would say my way of being about my business
transformed when I passed that point of no return. I got
more clarity. I got more passion. I should say I started
operating with more clarity, more passion, more momentum, more dedication, determination, discipline. You know
like all of the sudden I’m less scattered and much more focused. I’ve made a lot more progress since that’s happened.
Because I think once somebody makes a decision, I think
that’s really what you’re talking about like when you say
point of no return, it’s like decision—to cut off of any other
possible option and commit yourself a hundred percent in
the future. Once you’ve crossed that threshold you’re never
the same again in life. It’s like everything suddenly in the
universe just lines up with everything that you need all of
the sudden. Kind of like Neo in the Matrix. All the sudden
ix
you can see the bullets coming at you and move out of their
way and stuff like that.”
The most frequent responses to my question, “What
changed for you after you had this experience.” were:
• Increased confidence
• Increased feelings of control over your life and destiny
• Increased focus
• Increased commitment
• No longer being able to justify wasting time on pointless
stuff anymore
• Excitement
• Increased determination
• Increased faith and belief that things will work out no
matter what
Are You Committed?
Until you decide what you want to do, you’ll continue wasting absurd amounts of time. You’ll lack direction and motivation. Thus, you’ll never gain momentum and always continue
as a novice in everything you do. You’ll also fail to experience
the luck that strikes up those with purpose.
As William Hutchison Murray famously said:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance
to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all
acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth [that ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans]: that the moment one definitely
commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts
x
of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues
from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of
unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have
come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can
do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in
it. Begin it now.”
You need to find your path. That is perhaps the most important thing you can do in your life. Until you do, you’ll
always be floating. Until you do, you’ll never be able to make
the impact you were meant to have in your life.
Your life has a purpose. You have unique talents and
abilities—your own superpower. Once you figure out what
that is, you will become unstoppable.
The most successful people in the world know their “superpower” and they focus on that thing. There is a test called
the Kolbe A Index that can tell you what your superpower is.
It costs $50 to take though. I am not being paid by Kolbe to
share this. This test is recommended by some of the world’s
top entrepreneurs.
If you don’t want to spend $50, spend a lot of time reflecting on your life. Writing in your journal helps too. Prayer
and meditation are powerful ways to get personal insight and
revelation as well.
The Framework
In an interview with Josh Waitzkin, Tim Ferriss explained that
he helps people get to the top 5-10 percent of their industry
xi
within six months. Conversely, Josh Waitzkin is an expert at
helping people get from the top five percent to the top one
percent of the world (i.e., world-class). The path from the top
five percent to the top one percent is much longer than getting
into the top 5-10 percent.
Josh himself was a youth chess prodigy who went on to
become one of the best in the world before age 20. At 21, Josh
began to transition away from his early career in chess and into
the study of the chinese martial art, Tai Chi Chuan. Similar
to chess, he went on to become a national and international
champion in Tai Chi Chuan as well. Currently, Josh is focusing
on his third art: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In his book, The Art of
Learning, Josh explains the principles he applies in any domain
to become world-class. The principles are the same no matter
what skills or industry you hope to master.
The goal of this book—the one you are reading—is to apply
principles from both Tim Ferriss and Josh Waitzkin. Not necessarily the exact principles they use; but more so, to provide
concepts that will quickly get you into the top 10 percent of the
blogging and writing world. Then—if you desire—principles
on how you can go beyond the top 10 percent towards becoming among the best in the world.
xii
Chapter 1
Facing The Facts And Avoiding
Convention: You Need A Platform
Approximately six months ago, I got serious about my goal to
become a professional writer. I had written an eBook and was
anxious to know how to traditionally publish it.
I decided literary agents would be my best source of advice. After all, they know the publishing industry back-andforth—or so I thought. After talking to 5-10 different agents
about their coaching programs, it became apparent my questions would need to be answered elsewhere.
One particular conversation sticks out.
In order to even be considered by agents and publishers,
writers need to already have a substantial readership (i.e.,
a platform). I told one of the agents my goal was to have
5,000 blog subscribers by the end of 2015. She responded,
“That would not be possible from where you currently are.
These things take time. You will not be able to get a publisher
for 3-5 years. That’s just the reality.”
“Reality to who?” I thought as I hung up the phone.
1
Never Ask Advice From…
In his book, The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy said, “Never
ask advice of someone with whom you wouldn’t want to trade
places.”
As I pondered this quote, I realized I was asking the wrong
types of people for advice. I needed to turn to people who had
actually walked where I wanted to walk. Anyone can provide
nebulous theory. We spend our entire public education learning theory from people who have rarely “walked the walk.”
As Jack Black said in, School of Rock, “Those who can’t do,
teach.” Similarly, there is an endless supply of content being
published everyday by people who rarely practice the virtues
they preach.
Contrary to theory, which cannot get you very far in the
end, people who have actually been “there” provide practical
steps on what you need to do (e.g., here are the five things you
should focus on and forget everything else).
Why You Need To Know What You Want
“This is a fundamental irony of most people’s lives.
They don’t quite know what they want to do with
their lives. Yet they are very active.”—Ryan Holiday
Most kids go to college without a clue why they are there.
They are floating along waiting to be told what to do next.
They haven’t seen or thought enough to know what their ideal
life would look like. So how could they possibly know how to
distinguish good advice from bad?
Conversely, people who know what they want in life see the
world differently. All people selectively attend to things that
interest or excite them. For example, when you buy a new
2
car, you start to notice the same car everywhere. How does
this happen? You didn’t seem to notice that everyone drove
Malibus before.
Our brains are constantly filtering an unfathomable
amount of sensory inputs: sounds, smells, visuals, and more.
Most of this information goes consciously unrecognized. Our
focused attention is on what we care about. Thus, some people
only notice the bad while others see the good in everything.
Some notice people wearing band shirts, while others notice
anything fitness related.
So, when you decide what you want, it’s like buying a new
car. You start seeing it everywhere—especially your newsfeeds!
What are you seeing everywhere? This is perhaps the clearest reflection of your conscious identity.
The Magical Things That Happen When You Begin
Paying Attention
“How can you achieve your 10 year plan in the next
6 months?”—Peter Thiel
Wherever it is you want to go, there is a long and conventional
path; and there are shorter, less conventional approaches. The
conventional path is the outcome of not paying attention. It’s
what happens when you let other people dictate your direction
and speed in life.
However, once you know what you want—and it intensely
arouses your attention—you will notice simpler and easier solutions to your questions. What might have taken 10 years in
a traditional manner takes only a few months with the right
information and relationship.
3
“When the student is ready the teacher will
appear.”—Unknown
When I decided I was serious about becoming a writer, the
advice from the literary agents couldn’t work for me. I was
ready for the wisdom of people who were where I wanted to
be. My vision was bigger than the advice I was getting.
Around this same time and out of nowhere, I came across an
online course about guest blogging. It must have popped in my
newsfeeds because of my previous searching. I paid the $197,
went through the course, and within two weeks was getting
articles featured on multiple self-help blogs.
Within two months of taking the course, I wrote a blog post
that blew up. Tim Ferriss has said, “One blog post can change
your entire life.” This principle holds true of anything you
do. One performance, one audition, one interview, one music
video, one conversation… Thus, the focus should be on quality
rather than quantity.
Two months after being told it would take 3-5 years to have
a substantial following, I was there. When you know what
you want, you notice opportunities most people aren’t aware
of. You also have the rare courage to seize those opportunities
without procrastination.
Courage doesn’t just involve saying “Yes”—it also involves
saying, “No.” But how could you possibly say “No” to certain opportunities if you don’t know what you want? You
can’t. Like most people, you’ll be seduced by the best thing
that comes around.
But if you know what you want, you’ll be willing to pass
up even brilliant opportunities because ultimately they are
4
distractors from your vision. As Jim Collins said in Good to
Great, “A ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ is irrelevant if it is
the wrong opportunity.”
“Once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities (i.e., distractors) pop up
everyday. But the right opportunities will only start popping
up when you decide what you want and thus, start selectively
attending to them. Before you know it, you’ll be surrounded
by a network you love and by mentors showing you the fastest
path.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” This quote is
completely true. Once you know what you want, you can stop
taking advice from just anyone. You can filter out the endless
noise and hone in on your truth.
Eventually, you can train your conscious mind to only focus on what you really want in life. Everything else gets outsourced and forgotten by your subconscious.
Decide what you want or someone else will.
You are the designer of your destiny. What will it be?
If You’re Going To Be A Writer/Creator/Entrepreneur
You need a platform. You need an audience.
You can’t just write/create stuff and hope people will come.
They probably won’t.
I blogged for about a year and not even my wife wanted to
read what I wrote. It was obvious to her and everyone else—
even if it wasn’t obvious to me—that I wasn’t serious.
I hadn’t taken the time to become a good writer. I didn’t
know how to frame my writing in compelling and attractive
5
ways. My ideas were interesting, but they were irrelevant and
incomprehensible at best.
I was living in my ideas and was stuck there. No one got
what I was saying but me. It was incredibly isolating and frustrating. I didn’t know what to do. So I took a break and cleared
my head for a few months.
I have no idea why you’re reading this book. I don’t know
what your dreams are. You may want to become a writer, or
an entrepreneur, or a creative of some form or fashion.
Whatever the case, you picked up this book because you
now realize the need (and opportunity) of having your own
platform.
The internet is ruling our world. Every business needs to
be pumping out high quality content to thrive, and survive,
in today’s business world. If you’re not putting out content
and building a tribe of committed fans, your business probably
won’t last long into the future.
Involved in every company should include content creators
and social media experts. This is how you spread your message
to the masses. The scalability of good content is astounding.
A few days after writing one of my articles, it had been
read over a million times. That’s ridiculous. And that was
without a platform. That was done by leveraging social media.
As you grow your own platform, your reach will expand exponentially. Your ability to leverage your platform is based on
the trust you’ve built with those who believe in your message
and vision.
6
Building Your Own Platform… Fast
There are fast ways to build platforms, and there are slow
ways. The goal of this book is to provide you the best strategies and tools to build your email list fast. Specifically, my
objective is helping you get your foundation built. Kevin Kelly
famously said that all you need to make a great living as an
entrepreneur is 1,000 true fans.
With 1,000 true fans, you can make a great living. Here’s
the math:
If you sold one item at $50 per year, and 1,000 people
bought it, you could be making $50,000 per year.
If you sold two items per year at that same price, you could
be making $100,000.
But, you could also include higher tier items, like a $1,000
online course that 50 or so of your most devoted fans will buy.
There’s another $50,000.
So, before you get all excited about having a million followers, let’s build the foundation. Get your 1,000 true fans,
first. Then the rest will take care of itself.
This book is about how I found my 1,000 true fans in
30 days. But the process of developing that trust and relationship is a process that will last years.
Finding your people has never been easier. But don’t let
numbers be your goal. People are not numbers. In high school,
you were better off having a few close friends than a ton of
acquaintances. The same holds true with business. Take care
of the people who support you, and they will take care of you.
7
Chapter 2
How I Used Medium.com To Get My
First 20,000 Subscribers In 6 Months
I started blogging seriously in May of 2015. However, I didn’t
want to solely publish at my own blog, since literally no one
except my wife knew it existed. So every time I published an
article on my blog, I copy and pasted it into Medium.com and
published it there as well.
Medium is a popular and innovative platform based in Silicon Valley. The readers (and writers) at Medium are interested in entrepreneurship, self-improvement, cool ideas, good
research, interesting stories, and lots more.
At Medium, content really is king. You may have a huge
platform or be “well-connected,” but those things only get
you so far at Medium. Only the best content consistently gets
pushed to the top, regardless of your current following. This
is an enormous advantage as what you write is completely in
your control.
So, if you’re willing to write content “so good it cannot be
ignored”—hopefully every writer’s goal—you can use Medium
to launch your writing career and build your platform.
The remainder of this chapter will detail my story and
strategies—how in six months:
8
• I went from zero to 20,000 subscribers
• Had articles published on outlets like Huffington Post,
the Observer, and am now in works with TIME.
• Had influencers endorse my work
My Story: From May 2015 to January of 2016
Last May, I really started researching the publishing industry.
I had written an eBook and was anxious to know how to traditionally publish it.
I started looking at people’s blogs who I perceived to be
successful. One dominant theme was that many of these
bloggers referenced places their work was featured (e.g.,
Forbes). I made Huffington Post by December 2015 my goal.
I started by pitching articles to self-improvement blogs like
Addicted2Success.com and Purposefairy.com.
I also wrote a few articles on my own blog and republished
them at Medium. The image below shows my May and June
performance. Note, before May, I had never published anything on Medium. Before May, I had written five or so articles
on my own blog and a non-published eBook.
A few notes: the far left column is the title of the article.
The next column is the amount of views (i.e., clicks) each article received, followed by the number of actual reads, the percentage of reads compared to views, and lastly, the amount of
times that article was “Recommended” (similar to “Liked” on
Facebook).
9
As can be seen in the image, one of my articles in June
went viral. Honestly, I wasn’t at all prepared for the traffic my
website got when this happened. My website was extremely
crappy (like, the worst). More importantly, my website OPTIN (where you collect email addresses) was not center stage,
but small and on the right hand column.
While my viral article was getting the initial wave of traffic (approximately 200,000 clicks per day on Medium), I only
received 40 subscribers to my blog. Surely I should be getting
thousands of subscribers with this kind of traffic?
It dawned on me that I should be inviting readers to subscribe to my blog directly. Indeed, very few people would take
the time to click on my Medium profile or look up my website
on their own volition. So I edited the article in Medium and
added the following at the end:
10
After adding this simple “call to action” (i.e., Connect
Deeper), I jumped to 3,500 subscribers in just a few days. Unfortunately for me, this edit was done after most of the traffic had come and gone. So, I missed a huge opportunity, but
learned an important lesson.
And that’s where my subscriber-base would sit for the next
four months. The day my article went viral, I was contacted by
Business Insider, Huffington Post, and the Observer, all asking
if they could republish the article. My goal of two weeks prior
was abruptly achieved.
I was given my own Huffington Post blog and the Observer
said they’d like to pay me to write exclusively for them. I didn’t
know what I was doing, and it sounded awesome, so I agreed.
For the next four months (from the end of June to the end of
October), I published almost all of my work exclusively at the
Observer.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting very much traffic at the Observer, and my number of subscribers didn’t budge. Please
note, I wasn’t putting the “call to action” at the end of my articles at the Observer.
11
In late October, I transitioned back to having Medium as
my main platform for driving traffic to my website and building my reader-base. I immediately started to see a substantial
growth in readership.
Since returning to Medium in late October, I have increased
from 3,500 to 20,000 email subscribers. And in December,
I revamped my website, making it far more professional.
Progressively, my followers on Medium increased and I got
momentum. Although virility seems like a fluky thing—from
my experience, you can come to control and predict what will
do well. Here are my Medium stats from December:
12
And January 19, 2016:
As you can see, there are spikes and drops. However, on
Medium, when you have one article that’s getting a lot of traffic, it’s good to publish others. The traffic from one ripples into
the traffic of other freshly published articles—they can assist
one another.
Furthermore, the traffic from my newly published articles also brought attention back to my article published in
June, which rippled back into the newer articles—generating
more traffic and more subscribers. For example, the image
below shows three of my articles hitting the Top 5 Trending
on Medium, two published in January, one from the previous
June.
13
In truth, most of my subscribers have come in the months of
December and January. In the past two months, I’ve increased
by 13,000 subscribers.
The image below shows my current subscriber base as
found in my Infusionsoft management account. Note that 33%
were from the last 30 days.
14
From here on out, I’ll dig into my writing process and some
of my strategies for writing valuable material.
Strategy #1: I’m Just Trying To Have As Much Fun As
I Can
Our culture has become obsessed with working hard and being
busy while simultaneously we have trivialized the importance
of play. Indeed, “The only kind [of play] we honor is competitive play,” says Bowen F. White, MD, a medical doctor and
author of Why Normal Isn’t Healthy.
Despite the increasing disinterest in play among American
adults, Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play,
has studied the “Play Histories” of over six thousand people
and concludes playing can radically improve everything—from
personal well-being, to relationships, to learning, and to an organization’s potential to innovate. As Greg McKeown explains,
“Very successful people see play as essential for creativity.”
In his TED talk, Brown said, “Play leads to brain plasticity,
adaptability, and creativity… Nothing fires up the brain like
play.” There is a burgeoning body of literature highlighting
the extensive cognitive and social benefits of play, including:
15
Cognitive
• Enhanced memory and focus
• Improved language learning skills
• Creative problem solving
• Improved mathematics skills
• Increased ability to self-regulate, an essential component
of motivation and goal achievement
Social
• Cooperation
• Team work
• Conflict resolution
• Leadership skill development
• Control of impulses and aggressive behavior
My approach to writing is to have as much fun as possible. That’s what guides my writing process and my writing
progress. For me, it’s like snowboarding—if I’m too serious
about it, I’ve missed the point. So I’m just trying new tricks on
my snowboard and pushing my creative boundaries because
it’s fun. When it stops being fun, I take a step back and question my motivations.
Strategy #2: Experiment
Tim Ferriss doesn’t do what he thinks will make him happy.
He does what excites him.
Although his overarching vision remains consistent, Ferriss
doesn’t have long-term plans. Instead, he does short-term (e.g.,
a few months) “experiments,” which he puts all of his energy
into. He has no clue what doors may open as a result of these
16
experiments, so why make long-term plans? He’d rather respond to the brilliant and best opportunities that arise, taking
him in now unforeseen directions.
I’ve recently adopted Ferriss’ concept of doing short-term
experiments. This has changed my approach to work. For
example, a few months ago I stumbled upon a personal development article that had over 1,000,000 social shares. I decided to perform an experiment to attempt creating an article
that would also get 1,000,000 shares. The result was an 8,000
word article called, “50 Ways Happy, Healthy, And Successful
People Live On Their Own Terms.”
Although the article hasn’t been shared a million times yet,
the results were profound and unexpected. It drew the attention of an editor at TIME who asked if they could syndicate it at
the end of February. Additionally, the article attracted several
thousand new readers (including some of my favorite authors
& researchers) and subscribers to my blog. Lastly, it connected
me with a better web-developer and new coaching clients. All
from one short experiment that took a week to perform.
Experiments are a fun way to pursue goals because they
allow you to get innovative and bold. Experiments are shortterm—and thus relatively low risk. They are your “moon
shots.” Why play small? What’s the worst that could happen,
you waste a few weeks or months and learn a lot while doing
it?
Trying to get several articles into the “Top Stories On
Medium” simultaneously was another experiment I tried in December.
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Strategy #3: Frame My Goals As Quests
I believe most people fail at achieving their goals and resolutions because they perceive their goals to be drudgery. Instead
of traditional goal-setting—which is too serious and lacks the
whimsy of an epic adventure—I’ve framed my goals as a bucket
list.
Each item on my bucket list becomes an epic quest to
achieve. According to Chris Guillebeau, in his book, The Happiness of Pursuit, a quest has a defined beginning and an end.
It has various stages and levels, like a video game. It can’t
be easy. Challenge is the essence of adventure, and thus, the
essence of a quest. A quest must be attainable. For example, Guillebeau didn’t set out to visit every planet in the solar
system, but to visit every country in the world (which he completed). Lastly, it must be something pulling deeply at you. If
you didn’t do this thing, you’d regret it. Hence, the bucket list
informs the quests you undertake.
As an example, rather than trying to publish three articles
per week, I’m questing to get published on my favorite platforms. Instead of running four times per week, I’m training for
an ultramarathon.
This approach to goal-setting—and living in general—is
proactively designing your life around your highest ideals,
which is the opposite of what most people do. Most people
try to squeeze their dreams and highest ideals into the “margins” of their busy lives. As Stephen Covey explained, “If the
ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just
gets us to the wrong place faster.” Thus, pursuing your highest ideals as your top priority keeps you honest to yourself, and allows
you to not get caught up in other people’s agendas.
It also makes life a lot of fun!
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Strategy #4: Create Content That Is So Good It Can’t
Be Ignored
Every article is an opportunity. Don’t publish articles just to
hit publish. One blog post could change the entire trajectory
of your career.
I believe I’ve had success on Medium because my articles
are jam-packed. They aren’t fluffy. They’re dense—and often
need to be read and re-read several times. People regularly tell
me they’ve printed-out one of my articles and stuck it to their
fridge so they can read it daily.
When I write an article, I’m not concerned about how long
it will be. Instead, I focus on how good I can make it. I want
my art to leave people better than it found them, including
you.
Strategy #5: Quantity Facilitates Creativity
And Sometimes, Even Masterpieces
In the book Originals, Adam Grant explains that “originals”
(i.e., people who create innovative work) are not reliable. In
other words, not everything they produce is extraordinary.
And the same is true for you. In order to produce your magnum opus, you’ll need to create a high volume of work. You
have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince.
For example, among the 50 greatest pieces of music ever
created, six belong to Mozart, five are Beethoven’s, and three
Bach’s. But in order to create those, Mozart wrote over 600
songs, Beethoven 650, and Bach over 1,000.
Similarly, Picasso created thousands of pieces of art, and
few are considered to be his “great works.” Edison had 1,900
patents, and only a handful we would recognize. Albert Ein19
stein published 248 scientific articles, only a few of which are
what got him on the map for his theory of relativity.
I once asked Seth Godin and Jeff Goins how they each produce high quality work. Here were their responses:
• Seth Godin via email: “Plant a lot, harvest a few.”
• Jeff Goins via Twitter: “I keep shipping. I find that when
I stop producing, the quality goes down. A deadline
makes me do my best work.”
Quantity is the most likely path to quality. The more you
produce, the more ideas you will have—some of which will be
innovative and original. And you never know which ones will
click. You just keep creating.
So I ask: Are you creating a large volume of work?
Are you inputting or outputting?
If you like building, build more stuff. If you like writing,
write more stuff. If you like connecting, connect more. If you
like running, run more. Do stuff. Output. Do it more.
You give your ideas value by acting on them. A good idea,
not acted upon, only brings pain and fear. Conversely, action
brings confidence. Action is fun. Inaction slowly kills you inside.
Don’t wait to be moved by the spirit. Move the spirit yourself through action. There is no inspiration without action.
Action is inspiration. That’s how it works.
Faith is action, and thus also power. Faith and fear cannot
co-exist in the same person at the same time. Thus, action (i.e.,
faith) and inaction (i.e., fear) are opposites. Do what you love.
Do it more. Output all the time.
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Strategy #6: “Listicles” With Style
A comment on one of my articles:
I get messages all the time from people who say stuff like,
“Your articles aren’t like the normal listicle type articles. Yours
have more substance.”
Not every article should be in list format. But why neglect what works? People love articles written as lists. Consequently, I frame a large portion of my articles as lists. And
to be honest, those are the ones that consistently do the best.
The numbers don’t lie.
Within the flexible framework of a list, you have loads of
room for creativity. My “list” articles are packed with information and sometimes very long. There are no rules. Just
strategies that work or don’t work. Lists—if done well—work.
Strategy #7: Boost Your Opinion With Research And
Powerful Quotes
The following image comes from an article I published last
week about why I believe we should embrace, rather than
avoid, imposter syndrome.
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Having great quotes and using research gives you credibility. It also makes your writing more well-rounded and powerful.
Strategy #8: Surprise People
My two most viral articles included elements of surprise. For
example, my morning routine article told people they should
take cold showers in the morning. Although the rest of the
article was good (in my opinion), that one surprising element
was the tipping-point.
Similarly, another successful article started with, “Stop
Consuming Caffeine.” Although that turned many people off
I’m sure, it also startled and surprised a lot of people.
Add some shock-factor to your writing. Give people something that is either counter-cultural or something they haven’t
thought of before but which is relevant and important.
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Strategy #9: Syndication
“Your biggest problem is obscurity—other people
don’t know you and aren’t thinking about you.”—
Grant Cardone, The 10X Rule
Personally, I don’t care where my stuff is published. As long
as the reader is directed back to my website, anyone who asks
if they can republish my work can have it (including you). My
only stipulation is that they keep my Connect Deeper section
with links back to my website at the end of every article they
republish.
This may not be good for SEO purposes. And I may change
my strategy in the future. But for now, my goal is to “become
omnipresent” as Grant Cardone calls it. I want to increase my
odds of getting my writing in front of the right readers and
potential collaborators.
Conclusion
So there you have it. I did it. I’m doing it. And you can too.
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Chapter 3
The Fundamental Tools You Need To
Build And Grow Your List
If you’ve started an online business that creates content of any
form, you’ve probably felt weighed down by the enormity of
the learning curve. My goal is not to weigh you down any
further. Instead, I will share what I have done and let you use
my story in a way that makes sense to you.
I spent about a year learning about online marketing and
platform building before I mustered the strength to intentionally begin that process myself. Instead of doing activities that
would built a following, I wrote two books. Looking back, this
was just a way to keep myself from facing reality.
As expected—since I didn’t have a platform—no one read
my two books except a few family members and friends.
Writing a book is cool. But writing a book that people read
is much better.
In January of 2015, I wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t ready to
make an impact with my writing. So I hid behind my writing
and felt completely justified doing it. I could tell people I had
written two books. Who cares if no one had read them, right?
Wrong.
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Focus On Just A Few Things In The Beginning
When I became serious about writing and building my platform, I decided to focus on only a few things. There are
a million things I could do—all of which are important and
helpful—but I’m just one person. And as one person, in order
to succeed, I took the simplest approach.
I deleted my Instagram account.
I ignored Pinterest.
Please note, this is my strategy based on my objectives.
These social media outlets may be the only ones you focus on.
I got my domain name and a simple Wordpress theme.
I created a Twitter account and a Facebook author page.
My website would be my “home base.” Twitter and Facebook would be where I put my work out to the world.
Medium.com Is The YouTube Of Blogging
So, every time I published an article on my own website, I simultaneously published it on Medium.com. If you’re a writer,
you probably know what Medium is. If you’re not a writer,
you might not know about Medium.
Either way, Medium is going to be very important for your
business. It is like the Facebook of content creation. You create
a profile and publish stories on Medium. Those stories go into
newsfeeds and if they are good, they will spread. Medium is
very focused on facilitating the spreading of good content.
I’ve been published on like 20-30 different websites in the
past 4 months. Still to this day, none of my work spreads like
it does on Medium. As you read an article there, you can highlight sentences or sections and it allows you to Tweet or Facebook post those specific sections.
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The culture of people who read at Medium is to highlight
and share good content. So if you write something good, expect your Twitter notifications feed to explode.
If your business has a blog, you should be publishing your
blog posts on Medium as well. If your business doesn’t have
a blog, it should be posting content relative to your business’
mission on Medium.
If you’re not exclusively a writer, but a business in general,
you should be putting your content on YouTube as well.
Good Content Is Not Enough
When you publish on Medium.com, your own blog, or anywhere else, the title of your content is probably 90-95 percent
of the battle. If you can’t create catchy headlines, your content
won’t get clicked on. Once people get to your content, it’s far
more important that it’s useful than that it’s interesting. People
want applications, not theories.
I know lots of people who have published dozens of articles
on Medium and none of them have been successful.
Why?
Because the headlines are awful. They are not enticing or
appealing at all. At best, they are confusing. Even if the content is incredible, no one is going to see it.
In order for a title to be good, it must focus on what people
actually care about. Even more, it needs to target a specific
need they are literally obsessing over.
Here are the four types of titles that are most successful
according to Jon Morrow, who is one of the world’s most successful bloggers:
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• Desires that aren’t easily satisfied, or at least not satisfied
for long.
• Goals that that will take considerable time to fully
achieve.
• Fears that are never going to be completely eradicated.
• Frustrations that will never be completely eased.
Jon goes on: So when reviewing your content, ask yourself:
• What deeper desires does this post promise to fulfill?
• What future goals does this post help the reader achieve,
or use to lure them in?
• What deep-seated fears does this post amplify or offer to
cure?
• What familiar frustrations does it empathize with and
present solutions for?
My first super viral blog post was entitled: “8 Things Every
Person Should Do Before 8 A.M.”
This post did well because morning routines are all the buzz
these days. And productivity is a cultural obsession. So, people
couldn’t not click on this article.
Another important point with titles is that they should focus on the what, not the how. The how is what you write in
the article. The what is your audience’s obsession: What they
want (or don’t want). In order for it to be enticing, you need
to focus on the desired result. For instance, compare these two
titles:
• 5 ways to exercise your abs
• 5 simple steps to six-pack abs
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Which is more appealing?
Of course, the one focusing on the result, not the process.
The one offering a promise.
Thus, good titles offer a promise. For example, my article
entitled, “The Secret To Happiness Is 10 Specific Behaviors”
was shared almost 35,000 times. I make a promise to answer
the secret to happiness. The article fulfills that promise.
Getting Your Content To Go Viral
After you’ve written and published your article on Medium,
your own website, or somewhere else, do the following 20
things:
• Submit to Digg
• Submit to Reddit
• Submit to StumbleUpon
• Post on Forums in niche
• Post to Twitter
• Post to Facebook
• Post to Google+
• Post to YouTube (if applicable)
• Post to Pinterest (if applicable)
• Post to LinkedIn
• Directory submissions
• RSS directory submits
• Forum comments
• Relevant blog comments
• Refer to posts on Yahoo! Answers
• Refer to posts on LinkedIn
• Refer to posts on Quora
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• Link to our own past AND future blog posts
• Add to your next newsletter
• Request other bloggers to mention your post
Although doing these things doesn’t ensure your content
will be successful, it highly increases the likelihood it will.
Again, if your article has a catchy and relevant headline,
and it’s on all the right social channels, it has a good chance to
spread. Hopefully, you can get it in front of the right influences
as well.
Another thing I sometimes do, if I mention certain people
in an article (e.g., I quote Tim Ferriss), I’ll Tweet the article
to Tim and ask what he thinks. Most of the time, I get no
response. But who knows? Why fail by default?
Homebase
Most people believe you need to blog from your website. But
social media marketing guru, Gary Vaynerchuck, disagrees.
He argues you don’t need a website anymore. Your Facebook
or Twitter account are your mini-blog.
Although I like the concept, to me it makes sense to have
a homebase to bring people back to.
However, when you first start building your platform, don’t
blog primarily from your own blog. That is the slowest path to
growth. If no one is coming to your blog, why would you post
there? Your content will disappear into the internet vacuum.
You are far better off leveraging pre-existing platforms. No
matter the industry you are in, there are already platforms with
millions of targeted readers/followers you can utilize.
Because I’m in the self-help industry, I started out by pitching articles to outlets like Lifehack.org, Addicted2success.com,
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Purposefairy.com, Positivelypositive.com, and others. I didn’t
get rejected by any of these outlets with my pitches. Most are
quite easy to get published on.
You can Google blogs in your industry and get in touch with
the editors. Ask them if you can guest blog on the websites.
Send out as many pitches as you can. You’ll be surprised how
many people gladly publish your work.
This is how you drive thousands of target people back to
your website. Once people actually get to your website, there
are a few pivotal pieces that need to be in place.
About
Your about page is critical. This is where readers go next to
see what the blog is all about. This page should quickly and
clearly distinguish who the target readership is.
For example, Chris Guillebeau’s “About” page says:
“Welcome to The Art of Non-Conformity (AONC),
a home for unconventional people doing remarkable
things. I’m Chris Guillebeau (pronounced Gil-a-beau).”
Then your about page should make a promise. Again,
Guillebeau’s blog further says:
“The purpose of AONC is to share the story of how
to change the world by achieving personal goals while
helping others at the same time. In the battle against
conventional beliefs, we focus on three core areas: Life,
Work, and Travel.”
My blog’s About page says this (might be changed by the
time you read this):
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“Welcome! This blog is for readers who know intuitively that they are on the brink of something big.
They’ve worked consistently toward their dreams and
reached the inflection point of exponential progress. In
the next 3-6 months, their lives will be radically altered
for the better.
If this sounds like you, you’re in the right place.
The purpose of this blog is to help you get where
you want to be as quickly as possible by:
• Distilling what really matters
• Creating urgency, motivation, and accountability to keep going
• Challenging you to courageously take leaps
of faith
• Providing strategies to achieve flow and create opportunities (i.e., wormholes)
As you read this blog, you will be inspired and motivated to take huge leaps in your life. You will reach
your ambitions radically quicker than you thought you
would. You will finder deeper meaning and purpose in
your life.”
After the promise of the blog, it should have a clear introduction of you and perhaps even your story.
Content/Services/Products
Your homebase should also have easy to find links to your content, whether that’s your blog or links to your articles/videos
elsewhere. Further, your website should provide an easy way
to find the products and services you sell.
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Your website should also provide an easy way to contact
you. As well as provide links to your social media portals.
Aside from that, everything else is just fluff.
Social Media
There are people like Gary Vaynerchuck who are experts at
all social media platforms. But social media is what he does.
Unless you’re a social media expert, don’t lose focus by trying
to do them all.
Pick one or two social media platforms you want to CRUSH
IT at. Focus on those and forget the rest.
Doing this was extremely helpful for me. When I put my
attention on a few key places, I was able to focus more exclusively on creating content.
Although Pinterest, Snapchat, and Instagram would be
great for my business, I simply don’t have the time to focus
on them. Perhaps one day when I can hire someone to spend
40 hours per week running my social media, I’ll branch out.
But chances are, if you’re like most people trying to build
a list, you are doing a lot of this on your own. If not, you
wouldn’t be reading this book.
So, keep your strategy simple and sustainable. Be good at
a few things rather than mediocre at many.
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads have changed the marketing game. If you’re not
using them, you’re wasting a golden opportunity in the world’s
history of marketing.
For as little as $5, you can create a highly targeted ad that
goes into thousands of newsfeeds on Facebook. If you spend
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$1,000, you could get that ad into over 500,000 newsfeeds of
highly targeted people.
In order to use Facebook ads, you need a Facebook page
for your business. Then you can “Boost” your post and hone
in on your audience.
You can select the age group, where they live, and what
they are interested in (approximately 10 interests).
This book is a great example. You probably saw this book
in your newsfeed.
Here are the demographics I put into Facebook to market
this book:
Ages: 25-45
Location: USA
Interests: Entrepreneurship, Homebased business,
Small business, Infusionsoft, Mailchimp, AWeber,
Online marketing, Electronic mailing list, etc.
Chances are, if you’re reading this book, you have an interest in some of these things. Right?
So, for $1,000, I can put my Facebook Ad in 500,000 newsfeeds of people within these demographics.
Marketing = easy mode.
Marketing Isn’t “Selling”
However, getting your ad into the right newsfeeds isn’t the
hard part. It’s getting people genuinely interested.
As we’ve discussed previously, if you have a really good
title on your ad or content, people will click on it.
But what will they find when they get there?
People can sense a greasy salesman. I’ve been called one
by a now-unsubscribed previous subscriber of my blog.
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All marketing today is clearly and attractively explaining
the product or service you’re providing. It should include altruistic giving. For example, if you’re providing informational
products, your marketing should be giving away loads of high
quality content.
Then, after you’ve explained yourself and taught about
what you can provide, you invite those who are interested to
go deeper. “If you like what you’re hearing, you will highly
benefit from one of our products.”
There’s no trickery involved. People today want pure transparency about what’s going on. They want to know what they
are getting into. They don’t want to feel like they’re being
“sold.”
So don’t. Just give them great value, and come what may.
If they buy, they buy. If they don’t, at least you were able to
provide epic value to them.
Not obsessing about the outcome makes your work more
enjoyable and authentic. It allows you to create the work you
were meant to do, rather than the work that may get you the
most money. And dollars always follow value.
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Chapter 4
Make Good Art: How To Get Editors
And Publishers To Come To You
We’ve talked to this point about the tools, platforms, and
strategies. Those will only help you if you have incredible
content.
You may have the most compelling titles, but if your content isn’t incredible, no one will read or share it. And certainly
no one will subscribe.
Think about it for a second. Why do you follow certain
blogs?
Why do you care what certain people or businesses have to
say?
The Lie About Being An Overnight Success
Can you publish an article that goes viral during your first
30 days of blogging? Yes, but probably not.
Chances are, if you’re reading this book, you’ve been writing and thinking about your content for more than 30 days. No
matter where you are in your personal progress as a creative,
it doesn’t happen overnight.
It takes learning and failing a lot. Just like walking.
I love these words by Neil Gaiman in his 2012 commencement speech:
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“When you start off, you have to deal with the problems
of failure. You need to be thick skinned, to learn that
not every project will survive. A freelance life, a life in
the arts, is sometimes like putting messages in bottles,
on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find
one of your bottles and open it and read it, and put
something in a bottle that will wash its way back to
you: appreciation, or a commission, or money, or love.
And you have to accept that you may put out a hundred
things for every bottle that winds up coming back.”
I have two college friends, Kenzie and Harris. They got
married, dropped out of college, and worked hard to save
enough money to live on for a year. Then they quit their jobs
and spent that year posting Vines and Youtube videos of their
music.
For the first six months, they had little success. And they
were posting Vines everyday. But they kept posting. They kept
sending messages out into the world in their little bottles. Then
one day, they posted a Vine that blew up.
It blew up so big that it changed their lives. The day after
it was posted, they had close to a million Vine followers. They
were given professional contracts allowing them to now live off
their art. They were contacted by some of the biggest Viners
in the world to begin collaborations. One year later, they are
on a national tour.
Huge doors opened.
Because they kept going.
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This is why I’m writing this book. Because I want you to
have this breakthrough. I’ve experienced my own version of
this breakthrough as have many others.
You can have this breakthrough as well.
The cool thing that happens when you get serious about
your work is that eventually, you begin to find your voice.
You begin to get confidence in what you’re doing and saying.
And this happens by pumping out lots and lots of crappy work.
Quantity eventually leads to quality and uniqueness.
Here is more wisdom from Neil Gaiman in his 2012 commencement speech:
“The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that’s not a bad
thing. Most of us only find our own voices after we’ve
sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing
that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice,
your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw
and build and play and dance and live as only you can.”
The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart
and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too
much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to
get it right.
The things I’ve done that worked the best were the things
I was the least certain about. They always had that in common:
looking back at them, people explain why they were inevitable
successes. While I was doing them, I had no idea. I still don’t.
And where would be the fun in making something you knew
was going to work?
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The Need To Be Vulnerable
In his book, V is for Vulnerable, Seth Godin defines vulnerable
as:
“Vulnerable is the only way we can feel when we truly
share the art we’ve made. When we share it, when we
connect, we have shifted all the power and made ourselves naked in front of the person we’ve given the gift
of our art to. We have no excuses, no manual to point
to, no standard operating procedure to protect us. And
that is part of our gift.”
This is the requirement for making content that resonates
and matters. You need to stop sugar-coating your message.
You need to stop repeating what has already been said.
You need to stop mimicking the voices of other people.
You need to become completely transparent and naked in
front of your audience. It is only then that they can truly connect with you.
People don’t care about the shell of fears you’ve built
around yourself. They want you. And the only way to get
there is to be honest. To be sincere.
And this takes courage.
It takes courage and passing the point of no return.
This level of honesty is rare. Which is why good art is rare.
Which is why you can get into the top 5-10 percent of your
industry within 6 months. It’s why you can get thousands of
blog subscribers in 30 days. It’s why you can become among
the best in the world at what you do.
It’s why most people stop.
It’s why most people get a “normal” job.
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Making Your Art A Performance
We can learn a lot from musicians. When they perform their
art, it is an actual performance—a production. They lose themselves in the emotion of the experience.
When it’s a duet, the singers look into each other’s eyes.
They aren’t afraid to go ‘there.’ That’s when it becomes art.
I’m guilty of this myself. My writing is often dry and purely
factual. But when your art becomes a performance, and you
allow yourself to put your own unique touches and emotion
into it, then it has the power to move people. Then it has the
power to connect and transform.
Make your art a performance. Every blog post should put
out the energy you’re trying to match in your audience.
What emotion are you really trying to convey?
Sure, facts and information is important. And we are in
a world of finding the best “hacks.”
But those hacks have no meaning without emotion and
meaning. Why do they matter?
Why should we care?
How should we feel about it?
Convey that to us when you tell us.
Take us to that place.
What should we feel?
How should we see the world differently as a result of what
you’re trying to share with us?
Connect with us please.
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Pitching Doesn’t Really Work
When you start creating content at this level, you’ll start to get
noticed. Editors and publishers will come to you asking if they
can publish your work.
Although this seems intimidating, it’s actually liberating.
You hold the power, not them.
All you need to do is create what you were born to create.
To say what you feel you need to say. What only you can say.
In the most open and honest way you possibly can.
Consider my friends Harris and Kenzie, who posted the
Vine that went viral. Do you think they would’ve been able to
get contracts and collaborations with famous people by simply
pitching ideas to these people?
No.
Pitching sucks.
Pitching is the old way of doing things.
It’s giving power to the gatekeepers.
You don’t need to do this anymore. You are the gatekeeper
now. All you have to do is put your content in front of the
open market. Once you’ve made something that resonates, the
right people will come to you.
I rarely pitch articles to different outlets these days. Instead, every month I have multiple people from different outlets ask if I’d write for them. Most I actually turn down nowadays.
Conclusion
Make good art.
That is your quest. The world is your oyster. All you need
to do is be true to yourself. Be true to the God-given gifts
within you.
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Don’t hold back or hesitate on the path you feel inspired to
walk down.
Once you commit to that path, and take courageous leaps,
before you know it the doors you need will be opened for you.
The universe will conspire to aid you in your work.
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Chapter 5
Strategies For Rapid Content Creation
And Psychological Flow
The fear haunting all creatives is the same: the switch flips,
and suddenly you’re not able to produce high value work. It’s
the moment when you know you could produce something,
but nothing comes out of the faucet. It is—possibly second
to death, but maybe more than it—the worst fear for people
living a creative life.
In his essential book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield explains that writer’s block stems from “resistance.” To Pressfield, resistance is the story you tell yourself which pacifies you
into not doing your art. Resistance could be self-loathing, procrastination, chronic distraction, poor habits, or justification
for pursuing other aims. Resistance often plagues people for
decades, keeping them from their life’s most important work.
The regretful sentiments—“I wish I had…” and “If only…”—
are all too common.
According to Pressfield, in order to “do the work” you
should avoid resistance at all costs. But is he right? Seth Godin
argues resistance is to be embraced and pursued. How can that
be? For Godin, feeling resistance is a sign that you are on the
verge of creating something important. To Godin, embracing
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resistance is the first step to creating your most vulnerable and
important art.
Whether you consider resistance a friend or foe, one thing
is indisputable: Creative work is emotionally exhausting. It’s
easy to avoid and even fear it, to arrange your apartment, clean
your kitchen, polish your shoes…basically do anything other
than the work you know needs to be done.
So what’s a creative person to do? Try the following eight
strategies, which if applied consistently and honestly, could
bring about your best work. Let me go one step further: These
tactics could turn your relationship with resistance around, Let
me be clear, if you do these things, you will rarely, if ever,
experience creative blocks.
Throw Your Goals Away And Replace Them With
A Bucket List
Most creatives are goal-oriented, but goals, which can at times
inspire us to great action, can also bore us and make creating
art feel like a job. What’s more, goals can often be misdirected.
It’s all-too-easy to obsess over getting things done and forget
the reason you’re doing it. Goals can create tunnel-vision in
which you mistake the means for the end.
A bucket list, on the other hand, is something created with
thoughtful intent. What do I really want to do with my life? Thus,
the bucket list provides meaningful context for your goals,
putting them against the backdrop of a full life.
Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin, and Dave Lingwood dropped out of college in 2007 to pursue their list of
100 things to do before they die. This list includes such items
as playing basketball with Barack Obama, starring in their own
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TV show, writing a bestselling book, kissing Rachel McAdams,
smashing a guitar on stage, buying someone’s groceries, and
going to outer space. Although they haven’t completed all the
items on their list, they have completed most; and in the meantime inspired millions of others to pursue what they want to
do before they die.
While “goals” carry with them the weight of deadlines and
efficiency, “bucket lists” conjure up feelings of an epic quest.
Your bucket list becomes the various missions take make up
your life’s choose-your-own-adventure story.
I consider myself radically goal-oriented. My goals are the
wake up screen on my phone, I habitually reference them, and
spend ten minutes a day writing them over again in my journal. However, as I compared my goals to my bucket list, I was
profoundly troubled. What am I really trying to accomplish here?
Why did my bucket list keep getting pushed back in favor of goals?
Now, instead of pursuing my goals, I’m on a journey to
accomplish the things I feel define my mission here on earth.
Specifically, I’m now chasing items on my bucket list. For instance, instead of simply exercising five times per week, I’m
now training to be on American Ninja Warrior. Instead of writing three articles per week, I’m striving to get featured on my
favorite outlets. Although subtle, this shift in mindset allows
you to focus more on quality over quantity.
When you reframe your goals into the broader context of
a bucket list, you will find deeper meaning and fun in your
art. You’ll take bigger risks in your creative projects because
you’re attempting something you feel must happen before you
die. Your work will be more personal and vulnerable. Indeed,
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people are motivated far more by purpose than by projected
outcomes.
Work On Multiple Project Types
According to neuroscience research, novelty activates specific
brain systems, foremost among them the dopamine system
which makes you feel happy. So, when you perform the same
routine every day, your work can get stale, prompting—often
frequent—creative blocks. The novelty disappears. Consequently, working on multiple projects is an effective way to
experience novelty in your art, and thus, an enhanced flood of
dopamine.
Multiple projects not only make you happier, but research
finds multitasking can boost creative output, if done the right
way. Doing one activity for an extended period of time is less
effective for creative output than switching back and forth between creative tasks. However, switching back and forth between a creative task and a passive one (such as eating, talking,
reading, or watching something) generates the largest creative
outputs.
The mind can get stuck circling the same cognitive pathways over and over. When working on a single problem
continuously, you can become fixated on previous solutions.
Yet, when you step away from the activity, your mind releases from the fixation and the old pathways fade from your
memory. In the meantime, new possibilities are incubated
subconsciously—leading to ah-ha moments.
In light of this, I’ve been varying my creative projects.
Aside from my PhD research, I’m developing online courses
and doing journalistic writing. I’m also creatively invested in
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my family and church. My time away from each project is
essential to the completion of them all. When I return to a certain project, I see it with fresh eyes and take the current draft to
a higher level. My best work is never accomplished in a single
burst.
Design Triggers For Aggressive and Emotional Creative Bursts
Triggers set off memory tapes or flashbacks transporting you
back to an emotionally significant event or series of repeated
events. A trigger can be associated with any of the five senses,
smell being the strongest. For example, a smell can trigger
detailed memories of your grandmother; a song can trigger
feelings of being back in high school; a location can trigger
intense addiction cravings.
We all have triggers, many of which are completely subconscious. However, triggers can also be consciously designed
in the form of pre-performance routines. For instance, Michael
Phelps had a routine he did religiously before each swimming
event involving music. He’s not alone. Many athletes use
music before events to trigger relaxation from the pressure and
even to psych them up.
When asked by Time Magazine about his use of music prior
to races, Phelps said it kept him focused and helped him “tune
everything out, and take one step at a time.” When asked about
the kind of music he listens to, he answered, “I listen to hip hop
and rap.” Interestingly, research has found that high tempo
music like hip hop can create strong arousal and performance
readiness. Other evidence finds the intensity of the emotional
response can linger long after the music has stopped. So, while
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Phelps is in the water swimming, he’s still hyped from his hip
hop.
You can create triggers for literally anything. Lately, I’ve
purposefully crafted a trigger for our three foster kids when
we read scriptures in the morning. Just before we sit down
to read, I play a song called, Scripture Power, which the kids
love. This song gets them excited and in a good mood. Now,
they associate the song with actually sitting down and reading
scriptures as a family. What was once an arduous and distracted activity is now thrilling and engaging.
I’ve also developed a pre-performance routine for my writing. I’ve found intensive physical activity—particularly yard
work—opens huge wells of inspiration for me. I go outside to
work for a few minutes and have to run back in to jot down all
the insights I’m having.
According to Steven Kotler, there are 17 triggers activating
flow:
• Elevated risk (i.e., the stakes are high)
• A rich environment (is a combination novelty, unpredictability, and complexity)
• Deep embodiment (i.e., activating all bodily senses during activity)
• Clearly defined objectives
• Immediate feedback
• Intensely focused attention for long periods of time
• When the challenge/skill ratio is right (i.e., you’re challenged but not over-challenged)
• Social concentration when collaborating with others
• Shared, clear objectives
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• Good communication (i.e., lots of immediate feedback)
• Equal participation when collaborating with others
• An element of some form of risk (physical, emotional,
whatever)
• Familiarity with collaborators such as having shared language and knowledge base
• Blending egos, which is a form of humility wherein no
one in the group is hogging the spotlight
• A sense of control which combines autonomy and competence
• “Always say yes,” to create additive rather than argumentative conversations
• Creativity, which is a combination of recognition (the
brain’s ability to link new ideas together) and risk-taking
(the courage to bring those new ideas into the world)
So, if you’re getting creative blocks, try developing triggers
getting you into flow. The more emotional the trigger, the
more vulnerable and powerful your art will be.
Spend 5 Minutes Creating Outlines In Advance (This
Will Save You Hours)
In his book, Essentialism, Greg McKeown explains a method he
uses to save time and enhance creativity. Hours, or even days,
before jumping into a creative activity, he spends just 3-4 minutes creating an outline. Once the outline is built, he walks
away from it. When he starts into his project, the outline triggers a flood of information getting him quickly into the zone;
rather than having to mentally generate all the information he
needs from scratch.
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I too use this method in my writing. I design writing sessions for the sole purpose of creating outlines. With a pile of
outlines already structured, I can often return and write several articles in a single session. Without the outlines, I can
often lose motivation and focus after just one.
I’ve even used this approach in outlining the contents of
entire books. I take a blank sheet of paper and write all the
chapters that would be in a book. With that framework in
place, I can brain dump and get a solid first draft in no time.
Quit Taking Short-Term Gains For Long-Term Losses
When others (boss, friends, and acquaintances) know of your
creativity, opportunities will begin to flow. Sadly, many people say, “Yes” to projects they have no intrinsic interest in. Either they are too afraid to say, “No”, or take any project offered
them often assuming any opportunity is a good opportunity.
I’ve taken on project after project offered by my research
advisers that I had no genuine interest in because I feared responding, “No”. It’s a short-term win (the good feelings of saying “Yes”) for a long-term loss (feeling resentful or frustrated in
addition to being distracted from what really matters to you).
The short-term win just isn’t worth it. Don’t take gigs just
because they’re available. In his book, Good to Great, Jim
Collins explains that most opportunities—even once in a lifetime opportunities—are a waste of time. These “great opportunities” are additional forms of what Pressfield calls “resistance.”
Have the dignity and the courage to turn down anything
you don’t truly want to do. Be willing to take the short-term
loss in order to achieve the long-term vision.
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Be Uncomfortably Vulnerable and Truthful
If you’re getting blocked up in your work, chances are you’re
skipping rocks on the surface. When you dig deep into what
you really want to convey, creative outputs become more organic and less forced. The challenge, of course, is that being vulnerable and truthful is scary. It’s easier to hide behind
mediocre work than to publish something you feel strongly
about.
However, the more vulnerable and shameless you are with
your art, the more creative bursts you will experience. When
you are shameless, you stop worrying about what the masses
will think of your product. Everyone outside your intended audience is irrelevant. As your focus shifts away from your own
ego and onto the people you’re trying to serve, your creativity
will emerge from a genuine and authentic place. Your work
will be about them…from a deep part of you.
Take Long Breaks Away From Your Art
Since the early 1980’s, Bill Gates has gone into seclusion for
two, one-week “Think Weeks” each year. His family, friends,
and Microsoft employees are banned from these retreats. Gates
spends the majority of his time reading and thinking. Many
insights and innovations at Microsoft are the fruits of these
Think Weeks.
Similarly, every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister
closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh his creative outlook. In his captivating TED
Talk, he explains the massive overflow of innovative projects
were inspired during his time in Bali.
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Bill Gates and Stefan Sagmeister are only two among thousands (Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg) who rely on sabbaticals
for creativity.
In his landmark book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss
proposes what he terms, “mini-retirements,” which are a detox
from your routine lasting at least four weeks but preferably
three months or longer. “You want a complete removal from
your day to day routine and day to day reactions,” Ferriss says.
“One of the main purposes of a mini-retirement is acting as a reset
button.”
Sometimes it takes someone else to point out when you
need that kind of respite and renewal. At a time when I was
working harder than ever before, my wife decided we needed
a break. Per her suggestion, we spent a few months farming
on two organic farms in remote parts of Ireland. If you want
fewer creative blocks, abandon your routine for a time and get
some fresh air. I’ll admit: the first month of detox was painful,
but the second was life-changing. Get away, and you could
find yourself coming back more creative than you were when
you left.
Orient Your Life Toward Outputs Rather Than Inputs
For most Americans, the first thing our morning eyes see is
a digital screen…usually texts or emails. In spare seconds, we
check newsfeeds and tweets. We’re addicted to input. Or in
other words, we’re addicted to reactively being guided by other
people’s agendas. Instead of living a consciously organized life,
we relentlessly react.
On the other hand, Josh Waitzkin, author of The Art of
Learning, wakes up and immediately writes in his journal for
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30 minutes. He does this to process what his subconscious
mind has been brewing, scheming, problem-solving, and learning in the night. When Josh wakes up, he rushes to a quiet
place and engages in a burst of intellectual and creative flow.
Similarly, while Greg McKeown was writing Essentialism,
he wrote from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., during which time he didn’t
check his email, social media, or phone. He didn’t even receive
interruptions from his family until his workday was finished.
Creatives focus on outputs. In their free moments, creatives
utilize their subconscious breakthroughs. Their days are filled
with creative bursts, making them incredible at their craft. If
you want to have more creative flow in your life, stop compulsively checking your social media and email. Check them
once or twice per day. Detach from the addiction to numb
your mind and escape reality. Instead, get lost in the creative
projects you’ve always wanted to do.
How To Achieve Flow In Your Writing
Jeremy Piven, the actor famous for his roles in Entourage and
Mr. Selfridge, was recently interviewed by Success Magazine. In
the interview, he mentioned that, as an actor, the only way to
get work is to audition for specific roles. There’s just no way
around that tried and true ritual.
The challenge for most actors and actresses? They get in
their own way. It doesn’t matter how much homework they’ve
done for the audition. It doesn’t matter how talented they are.
If they are so set on getting a part, they fail at one of the key
aspects of auditioning: being present, which is the essence of
flow. Thus, they come across as desperate and scattered; and
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it manifests in lackluster performances before an auditioning
committee.
It was only when Piven quit worrying about the outcome
that he was able to audition successfully. He came across more
natural and spontaneous. He quit trying to be what he thought
others wanted him to be; and instead allowed his art to be a gift
without attached contingencies. If he didn’t get the gig, either
they didn’t “get it,” or it just wasn’t the right fit. He could
then move on to the next audition without over-analyzing his
performance. This shift in approach and motivation allowed
him to get the jobs he always wanted.
Piven is not alone. For the first six seasons of American
Ninja Warrior, not a single person completed all of the stages.
However, Isaac Caldiero recently became the first American
Ninja Warrior. In previous years, Caldiero said he put too
much pressure on himself to succeed. However, this year, he
just wanted to have fun and see what happened.
In a similar vein, trying to create a particular outcome
while showing affection to loved ones can pull you from the
now and comes off as inauthentic. People can sense phoniness,
especially when it comes to love.
As Leo Buscaglia, world renowned researcher and speaker
on love, has said, “Love is always bestowed as a gift—freely,
willingly and without expectation. We don’t love to be loved;
we love to love.”
It’s so easy to forget that the work we do—although enjoyable to us—isn’t completely about us. Our work is for and
about the people we are providing it for. As Seth Godin has
said, “A generous gift comes with no transaction foreseen or
anticipated.” Yet, Godin continues, “In most families, even
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the holidays are more about present exchange than the selfless
act of actually giving a gift.”
So, how do we live our lives without obsessing over a specific outcome? How do we live authentically and allow life
to unfold organically? And how do we let love, rather than
reward, be our primary motivation for everything we do?
Focus On Your Behavior And Not The Outcome
People often say, “If you want to be happier, lower your expectations.” Recent research supports this notion. I’ve always had
trouble with this idea; it always seemed to me to justify permanent mediocrity. I don’t think Jeremy Piven has low expectations for his acting. Nor do I believe Isaac Caldiero expects to
fail. Although low expectations may be related to happiness,
they are also related to low performance. Conversely, high expectations increase performance. Both of these expectations
form what appears to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
So how do we wrap our brain around these contradictory
suggestions? Do we forget the outcome, or do we set high goals
for ourselves? Research has found that expectations in one’s
own ability serves as a better predictor of high performance
than expectations about a specific outcome. In his book, “The
Personal MBA,” Josh Kaufman explains that when setting goals,
your locus of control should target what you can control (i.e.,
your efforts) instead of results you can’t control (e.g., whether
you get the part).
Expect optimal performance from yourself and let the chips
fall where they may. The organic output will be your highest
quality work—which is the true reward. Put most simply: Do
what is right, let the consequence follow.
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Move Beyond Self-Esteem
“Care about what other people think and you will
always be their prisoner.”—Lao Tzu
When people try expressing their creativity, their self-esteem is
often a reflection of the outcome of their work. Was it good? we
ask ourselves. If it’s not, we get down on ourselves. This is the
essence of self-esteem—our subjective evaluation of our own
worth. It is highly ego-focused and an unhealthy roller coaster
experience. Thus, when we experience difficulty or failure,
our self-esteem plummets. When we succeed, it skyrockets.
In this way, our emphasis on our self-esteem radically hinders
our ability to achieve flow.
The idea that self-esteem is important has become a dogmatic assumption by people in western and highly individualized cultures. But Roy Baumeister, one of the world’s most
prominent psychologists, argues self-esteem causes more problems than it solves, and a waste of time in the pursuit of health
and well-being, Baumeister argues.
Rather than obsessing about how you feel about yourself,
you can move beyond self-esteem into a state of self-acceptance.
To accept yourself unconditionally means to accept yourself
even if no achievements or approvals are met. There is no
rating of the self. According to psychological research, not
accepting yourself can result in embarrassment, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and depression. None of these feelings are
helpful to achieving flow.
Some may argue that self-acceptance means you’re okay
with mediocrity. On the contrary, you can accept who you are
while still striving for more. And that’s the entire point: self55
acceptance allows you to actually embrace where you are on
the path. You live in the moment because, come what may,
you are enough and you have enough. You are blessed beyond
measure.
Be Grateful For What Is
Self-acceptance and gratitude are similar concepts. Gratitude
is the appreciation and acceptance of what is, whereas ingratitude is an under-appreciation of what is and a longing for
what’s perceived to be missing.
Having a deep sense of gratitude not only allows you to live
in the moment, but can actually intensify and enhance the moment. For example, Dr. Robert Emmons explains that connecting more deeply with your body by seeing it as a brilliant gift
can help you be more present as you touch, see, smell, taste,
and hear—evoking enhanced consciousness and sensation.
For me, I use prayer, meditation, and journal writing to
deepen my gratitude and live more presently. Having done
this consistently for several years now, I’ve learned to see everything in my life as a gift. Every moment is gold. From this
space, I can enjoy the moment for what it is without respect for
what it might become. Thus, flow becomes natural and easy.
Flow
Flow is an optimal conscious state where you feel and perform at your highest level. You become completely absorbed
in what you’re doing—pure presence. Everything else in the
world falls away into utter insignificance as your sense of self
dissolves into a higher realm of connection. Every action you
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perform flows seamlessly into the next. You live 100 percent
unscripted, and in the moment.
To make flow a regular and fluid experience in your life,
let go of your attachments to specific outcomes. This does not
mean you don’t have goals or ambitions. Rather, these ambitions don’t define you. And more importantly, they don’t
consume your mind while you perform.
Flow is also facilitated by accepting fully who you are, and
the work you feel inspired to do. Hold nothing back. Be bold
and vulnerable. Take risks. Trust in your higher power with
whom you are fully connected.
Lastly, embrace gratitude by living fully. Feel and connect
to the moment. This moment is priceless. Don’t waste it by
wishing it was something else. It is a gift. It is your moment.
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Chapter 6
How To Become The Best In The
World At What You Do
It can feel impossible to move toward your dreams. You know
exactly what you want to do, but there are endless obstacles
in your way.
There is so much competition—thousands or millions of
people competing to do exactly what you want to do.
How do you get out of the rat race?
How do advance quick enough to not have your dreams
smashed into submission by society and imploded by “reality”?
How do you make the needed leaps to move beyond the
masses vying for a similar position?
After all, you have bills to pay and tons of other responsibilities. You only have a limited amount of time each day.
After work and everything else you’ve got going on, it’s easy to
justify waiting until tomorrow. Even if you have the raw energy to do your work, you may feel guilty breaking from your
relational obligations.
It truly can feel hopeless and overwhelming. There’s so
much to learn. It can be easy to doubt our own abilities. Maybe
we should just give up and accept reality for what it is?
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The Truth Is…
Most of the competition are not hard to surpass. They’re dealing with the same existential and practical challenges you are.
Their life isn’t structured for optimal creative expression. They
are the primary obstacle in the path. Most will quit long before
they ever really begin—always remaining mediocre at what
they do.
With a few tweaks, you’ll quickly drop through a wormhole placing you in the top 5-10 percent in your field. The
challenge then becomes to move from there to the top—which
movement is the real contest. Getting to the top 5-10 percent
merely requires a change in lifestyle. Getting to the top 1 percent requires a fundamental change in your being.
This post is a framework to quickly get you into the top
5-10 percent of your field so you can begin the real quest of
becoming the best at what you do.
Phase One will get you to the top 5-10 percent of your field.
Once you’re at this level, you are getting paid enough for your
art to live on. This is key, as Paul Graham has said, “Once you
cross the threshold of profitability, however low, your runway becomes infinite.” He calls the lowest tier of profitability, “Ramen
Profitable,” which means a startup (or business of any sort)
makes just enough to pay the founders’ living expenses.
Infinite runway means you can now dedicate all your
“work” time to your work. You are no longer moonlighting
or squeezing time in the margins of your life. You can pay
your bills and eat Ramen. This is where Phase Two begins,
and is really the beginning of your artistic journey—becoming
the best in the world at what you do.
Let’s begin:
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Phase One: Getting To Ramen Profitable
(Or Sustainable)
Start As An Amateur
Kenzie and Harris were recently married. They had both
dropped out of Brigham Young University and were working at
the Apple store in downtown Salt Lake City. On the side, they
were recording music covers and posting them on YouTube
and Vine.
They had enough money in savings to live on a year, so
they quit at Apple to make a run at becoming professional musicians. Every day, they would post Vines. For several months,
their work went mostly unnoticed. They had a few thousand
followers tops.
Then, everything changed. They posted a Vine that immediately went viral. The next day, they were contacted by some
of the top Viners as well as agents who gave them contracts.
They were now Ramen Profitable, had amazing connections,
and on their way to making an amazing career as musicians.
Kenzie and Harris wouldn’t have had their breakthrough if
they didn’t start as amateurs. They had some raw talent. But
more than anything, they were willing to put themselves out
there over and over and over. Quantity became quality. And
then they put something out that people loved.
Very few people have the humility to start as amateurs.
They procrastinate doing the work they want in the name of
perfectionism. You know these people. The one’s who have
been saying for years that they’re going to do something but
never do. Yet inwardly, they’re terrified of what other people
will think of them. They’re caught in a state of paralysis by
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analysis—too busy calculating and never reaching a state of
flow. Rather than doing work their own way, they do what
they think will be well-received—being merely imitators of
what is already popular.
Get Coaching/Education
Take your dreams seriously. Most people don’t. Take them serious enough to become amazing and move beyond mediocre.
Get education and coaching.
“When the student is ready the teacher will
appear.”—Unknown
Ever since returning from a two-year mission trip, I’ve always
known I wanted to be a writer. However, my dream remained
a figment of my imagination until I became serious enough to
get a mentor.
I’ve had two mentors that have changed how I write. One
of my mentors was a young professor who taught me more in
three months than I had learned in the previous four years. Actually, he taught me more about academic writing and research
in three months than most people learn through an entire PhD.
With his help, I was easily able to get into the graduate school
of my choice.
I started blogging about six months ago. Knowing this is
something I’m serious about, I decided to get coaching. However, this time, I did it in the form of a virtual online course.
Within two months of taking the course, I wrote a blog post
that was read over five million times across multiple outlets
and in several languages. This course was not the reason for
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my success; but it was an important part of the progression
I would inevitably get one way or another.
You’ll know when you’re ready for the next level when you
attract the right teacher to help you get there.
Stop Living The Broken Rules Everyone Else Is Living
If it’s popular it’s wrong. Most people are mediocre at what
they do for a reason. They’re playing by rules that halt optimal
performance. They are climbing traditional ladders intended
to slow them down and keep them average.
When everyone else is zigging, that’s when you zag. Darren
Hardy says you should run “toward the thing everyone else is
running from” in order to stand out from the crowd.
As Peter Diamandis says, “The day before something is
a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.” If what you’re doing doesn’t
seem slightly crazy to you, and very crazy to other people,
you’re probably following the safe path.
Instead of following the rules set by society, create your
own rules. Restructure the game to automate your success.
Dismiss the haters, convention, and conformity. Follow your
heart and the voice inside you encouraging faith and forward
movement. In order to be happy, you must build a lifestyle
around being true to yourself. If you’re true to yourself, good
things will follow.
Be Consistent Until You Have A Break Through
Patience.
If you haven’t had your big break yet, keep going. Consistency is the most fundamental virtue to becoming the person you want to be. Almost everyone can sprint for a while.
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But most burn-out and quit. Everything meaningful in life is
a marathon—meant to test your commitment and will.
If this is what you love doing, you’ll do it regardless of
the outcome. In fact, obsession with a particular outcome will
keep you from attaining your desired results. Your work will
be forced rather than organically lived.
There is a natural law known as the compound effect. If
you invest a small amount of money consistently, eventually
compound interest takes over and growth becomes exponential. The same holds true for any habit, whether good or bad. If
you do something long enough, compounding will take effect,
momentum will surge, and you’ll begin to experience exponential results.
If you want it bad enough, you will do whatever it takes to
make it happen. If you don’t, you won’t. You’ll be willing to
reduce time with friends and hobbies, forego sleep, make big
asks, take risks, find a mentor, get educated, and look foolish.
You’ll be surprised how quickly you become Ramen Profitable
when you take your work seriously.
Phase Two: Becoming The Best In The World At What
You Do
The person who succumbs to temptation knows far less about
its power than the person who resists it. Experience is key.
Knowledge only becomes wisdom when it’s properly and consistently applied. Thus, the importance of learning from people
who have actually been there, as opposed to sideline spectators. Never take advice from someone you wouldn’t want to
switch places with.
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Getting to the top 5-10 percent in your field can be done by
following principles taught by other people. However, in order
to become the best at what you do, at some point you leave it
all behind. You become an innovator. A pioneer. An artist. In
order to get to the top 1 percent of performers, you must come
up to the razor’s edge—the brink of disaster—where probability of failure is high. At this point, everything you’ve been
taught is opposed by what you feel you should do. But your
institution is operating at a higher level.
Structure Your Entire Life To Optimize Your Performance
Entering the realm of the best in the world requires becoming
holistic about your art. Everything you do matters. Every moment of your life either contributes to or takes away from what
you’re trying to accomplish—the food you eat—activities you
do—people you spend time with—and how you spend your
mornings and evenings.
Most people’s lives are structured in a reactive way. The
first thing they do in the morning is check their email or social
media. They may even read a good book. But all of these
things are highly addictive inputs.
In order to become a creative master, you must focus
your efforts on outputs by leveraging your subconscious mind.
While you’re away from your work, like sleeping, spending
time with friends, or other activities, your subconscious is
working through and mulling over the problems you’re trying
to solve.
The first thing to do when you wake up is output. This may
be in the form of writing in a journal to capture all the work
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your subconscious has been doing while you were sleeping. Or
immediately getting to the project you’re working on. When
you get out of a meeting or finish any form of activity, rather
than going directly to your email or other input, maximize your
subconscious by going directly to output—your work. Creative
and insightful eruptions of intellectual inspiration will flow.
Being healthy and free from physical pain is also crucial for
enhanced performance. In his book, The Great Pain Deception,
Stephen Ozanich wrote, “Pain and other chronic symptoms are
physical manifestations of unresolved internal conflict. Symptoms
surface as the instinctual mechanism for self-survival. They are
messages from the inner self wanting to be heard, but ego takes
center-stage, and hides the truth within the shadows of the unconscious mind: which is the body.”
In the 1990’s neuroscientist Candice Pert, Ph.D., shared
her discovery that the body, not the brain, is the subconscious
mind which communicates via neuropeptides. Indeed, human
beings are holistic. Our body and mind work in unison. When
we have unresolved tension in our lives, this tension is generally manifest in physical illness. When we clear ourselves of
this tension, we allow our body to naturally and organically
heal. When our bodies are healthy, we’re far more prone to
inspiration.
Allow Time For Recovery
Less is more. When you focus on results, rather than being
busy, you’re 100 percent ON when you’re working and 100
percent OFF when you’re not. This not only allows you to be
present in the moment, but allows you the needed time to rest
and recover.
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Your ability to work at a high level is like fitness. If you
never took a break between sets, you wouldn’t be able to build
strength, stamina, and endurance. However, not all “rest” produces recovery. Certain things are more soothing than others.
Recovering from my work generally consists of writing in
my journal, listening to music, spending time with my wife
and kids, preparing and eating delicious food, or serving other
people. These things rejuvenate me. They make my work possible, but also meaningful.
Have A Pre-Performance Routine That Gets You In
Flow
Josh Waitzkin is a genius when it comes to learning and optimal human performance. He was a Chess prodigy as a child—
he won five National Championship titles in Tai Chi Chuan—
and is now focusing on becoming world-class at Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu. He takes the fundamental principles of learning from the
ground up and applies them laterally to different disciplines.
In order to “get in the zone,” Josh recommends a PrePerformance routine. The goal is to reduce stress and anxiety
so you can be present. These routines often take 20-60 minutes to put you in the zone. However, Josh recommends incrementally reducing the routine time to the point where simply
thinking about it clicks you into the zone.
What activities facilitate your highest mindset and inspiration?
Mine are working in the yard while listening to an instructional audiobook followed by a cold shower. If I want a flash
of inspiration, this is all I need to do. The more intense the
yardwork, the more subconscious breakthroughs I get.
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Embrace Fear And Suffering
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing,
but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing,
fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.”—Cus
D’Amato
The idea of fearlessness is a false concept that is imposed by
spectators. True performers feel fear and experience suffering.
However, they learned to settle-into it like a yoga stretch.
Cycling is a sport notorious for the amount of suffering required. As Tyler Hamilton has said, “I discovered when I went
all out, when I put 100 percent of my energy into some intense,
impossible task—when my heart was jack-hammering, when lactic acid was sizzling through my muscles—that’s when I felt good,
normal, balanced.”
Cyclists often refer to “the pain cave,” which is a mental
place they go deeper and deeper into as they’re competing.
“I went deeper than I thought I would.” “I was at the limit.” “I was
totally pinned.” You often hear phrases like these in interviews
after a cycling race.
“Mental resilience is arguably the most critical trait
of a world-class performer, and it should be nurtured continuously. Left to my own devices, I am
always looking for ways to become more and more
psychologically impregnable. When uncomfortable,
my instinct is not to avoid the discomfort but to become at peace with it. My instinct is always to seek
out challenges as opposed to avoiding them.”—Josh
Waitzkin
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When you begin feeling uncomfortable, that’s when you start
feeling good. That’s when you’re growing. No pain no gain.
That’s your happy place. That’s where most people stop. But
not you.
Do It Because Of Love
In the end, there’s nothing more important than deep connection with humanity. The love you feel for other people is an
experience that eclipses all others in life.
So much of training and personal progress is
introspective—focused on the self. However, moving outward
and focusing on the needs of others provides new meaning for
your work. Become the best at what you do, not because of
the legacy you’ll leave, but because of the lives you’ll bless.
There is a four stage hierarchy of motivations.
At stage one, you are motivated by fear. Everything you
do is to avoid punishment or negative outcomes. According to
decision theory, this form of motivation is prevention focused.
At stage two, you are motivated by reward. Everything you
do is to get what you want. If you are religious, you follow the
commandments solely for the blessings it provides. If you are
in business, you do only that which you believe will get you
ahead. Thus, you are promotion focused.
Both stage one and stage two demonstrate extrinsic motivation, which is far less powerful than intrinsic motivation.
At stage three, you are motivated by duty. You’re going to
do what you believe you should whether you receive a reward
or not. You have no fear of punishment. You are intrinsically
motivated. But there’s a lack of passion. There’s a lack of life
that will take you beyond human ability and reasoning.
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At stage four, you are motivated by love. You have moved
beyond worry for your own needs. Your aim is to bring as
much joy to each individual as you possibly can. Your love
transcends human reasoning. It drives you to do things most
would consider crazy. You no longer live by conventional rules
or wisdom. You are directed by the highest and purest power
in existence.
Conclusion
You can quickly get to the point where you do what you love
for a living. This will require hard work, sacrifice, and consistency. However, what got you here won’t get you there.
Becoming the best involves transcending guidelines and following your instinct.
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