Things I liked, learned from, thought about, or laughed at today - 8.22.24
Maybe you'll do the same
Read a great article about how to build an audience (link). Takeaways:
Do the things that are fun for you.
The internet is massive. Your obscure collection of interests may make you a 1-of-1 in your real life circles, but on the internet there's thousands like you.
Quality > quantity. You'd rather the right following than a big one. General Motors sells 2.6M cars a year and the company is worth $50B. Ferrari only sells 13,000 cars a year but the company is worth $80B.
He calls it a Binge Bank. I think about it as creating a Body of Work. While it may not have the reach you want now, someday it will. And you have to create that body of work for excited readers who want to go down that rabbit hole after discovering you
Focus on the feelings you convey to the readers. Feelings/emotion are everything. Feelings will take you farther than a product ever will. People buy where they feel good (e.g., souvenirs on vacation)
Just focus on getting better every day. Do that long enough you will get very good. From there, people can't ignore you.
Be bad at it first. Joe Rogan’s first podcast episode:
Career (and life) Advice: do the things you’d be jealous of if someone else did them first
You get what you lead with
Social media has hacked (ruined) our brains making us opt for short-term rewards. While they feel good for a second, they dont do good long-term. No surprise loneliness, anxiety, disconnection, etc. are at all time highs and getting worse.
I’ve been thinking about this as it relates to content. I am well aware my stuff is long (I got things to say !). I am also aware that most people are mindlessly scrolling, not paying attention, and definitely not wanting to read an essay !
So, do I play the game of hacking attention spans with things focused on short-term hits? Might perform better..
But better on what goal?
You get what you lead with…
If I were to just do shallow, dopamine hit type content, then that’s the people I’d get. While good for #s, are those the people I would be excited to get on a call with to learn about them? Not really…
My writings are pretty nuanced and thoughtful. Definitely drawn out as they’re on complex topics. Requires a bit more mental horsepower to get it. and that’s the point! I leverage content to do the leg work to connect me with the people I’d want to connect with.
You get what you lead with.
Culture is getting incredibly dorky and shallow. There’s basically no culture left anymore
Every song sounds the same
Everyone vacations in the same spots
You know, the places that are now famous destinations were once a cool groups’ secret hideaway. Then it got blown up, the masses came, and that group went onto the next. Lesson in there…
Everyone copies the same trend of the moment
Wears the same clothes others wear
Honestly, f that. Detach. Do what you think is cool. That’s what makes it cool - cool to you at least and that’s what matters. Ironically, that’s what starts all the trends - until the masses catch on and the trendsetters go elsewhere
Credit to the legend Matt Cruz for this:
We’ve lost the ability to connect
Working from your apartment, food delivered to your door, emotions determined by how strangers on the internet react, etc.
It’s getting bleak out there ! No wonder there’s a movement away from dating apps and to run clubs or whatever the fuk lol. People are seriously craving connection so deeply they’ll do whatever it takes.
Connecting with strangers is a lost art. People still want it (run clubs !), but are afraid to do it. You’d rather talk with someone online than go up to them in a coffee shop and introduce yourself ! What a weird time to be alive lol.
We’ve lost the special place of the “3rd home.” There used to be places to go when you weren’t at home or working. In many ways, it used to be the gym, but that’s been ruined because of workout classes. Coffee shops and restaurants are too transactional - they’d rather you order ahead so you can leave. Better for profits ! So where do you go?
I love to be out and about in public. I’ll go for runs and walks around town just to see who I see. The only problem with that or going to a restaurant/bar to hang by yourself is no one else is there. If they are, they’re on their phones, AirPods in.
YET, we all CRAVE connection…we love meeting people…it’s all any of us want to do…yet we don’t really do it or have places to do it. An interesting conundrum.
Back I go to typing things into a keyboard to post online in hopes it connects me to other interesting people :)
Make decisions for yourself
Mistake a lot of people make is wanting others to make decisons for them. Really costly long-term. You see, you have to train your gut instincts. You can only do that by doing the work yourself. You don’t get stronger from watching someone else workout.
I’ve made a lot of bad investments that I’ve lost money on. But, it’s fine because I learned from those mistakes. I recall why I made those investments - what I thought was going to happen and why I thought it was a good idea. Now that they didn’t pan out, I learned where I went wrong. Hopefully, I won’t make the same mistakes next time.
Had I let someone else manage my money for me, I wouldn’t learn first-hand.
Learning is what matters. Because really all you have is your ability to make decisions. You have to call the shots in your life and you have to get them right. Your decisions are everything from the investments you make to the person you marry to what you do for work.
Gotta get your hands dirty!
It’s all in your hands.
Something I remind myself constantly. Just be scared. It’s fine. Just do it anyways.
The thing you’re afraid to do won’t be any less scary tomorrow
Loved doesn’t even cut it
Unbelievable gold from my mate JT
