Good morning,
Two weeks in a row feels like a big win. Getting the wheels turning. Again, 4 recommendations on content, 1 deep item (research/intellectual/thought provoking), and 1 personal piece.
4 Recommendations
1. Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans
If you’re an independent creative, have wild ambitions, and have the desire to achieve something, this article is for you. This article is the topic of my personal piece below.
2. General Mattis’ piece on the meaning of service
An incredibly inspiring op ed from Mattis on why we should be proud to have served our country.
3. Podcast - Tim Urban speaking with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
This easily landed in my top 10 favorite podcasts of all time. Tim Urban brings a thoughtful discussion on what he calls ‘gollums’ and ‘genies’ which represent a scale of individuals/groups in regards to how they handle and respond to ideas that fly in the face of what the group believe. Gollums represent much of what the ‘social justice’ movement has consisted of - exiling if you don’t agree with what the mob wants. Conversation closes with encouragement that refusing to voice disagreement to crowd consensus perpetuates gollum behavior and why we shouldn’t be scared to speak our minds.
4. Designing a lifestyle business
This is a new Substack I subscribed to this week. This lifestyle business way of thinking is more and more what I find myself attracted to in designing a job to fit your life rather than the other way around.
1 Thing Deep
Kevin Kelly’s piece on 1000 true fans is iconic in the world of entrepreneurship. The idea that you can form your entire life around 1000 people willing to support your work makes it not only tangible, but attainable.
Last week I wrote on this strange crisis I felt speaking with a woman about to retire. After revisiting Kelly’s piece this week, it made me wonder why pursuing a lifestyle business isn’t pursued by more people. Is it too difficult? Too opaque?
A common phrase I hear when striking out into the world is playing to what your unfair advantage is. What do you have the knowledge, skill, or connections that most people don’t have. If we were solely relying on that as inspiration to all become micro entrepreneurs, I can see why more people don’t - I sure don’t feel especially equipped. We all do have access to one incredible tool though that rests on our very fingertips reading this. The internet.
I have an episode coming out in a few weeks with someone I’ve looked up to for years. His name is Justin Mikolay. Former submariner in the Navy and speech writer for General Mattis, General Petraeus, and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. This is one of the lines he spoke during the conversation.
Makes you feel small, doesn’t it? But that, in the case of looking to design small personal businesses, is very good for us. Amongst those groups and subgroups are people looking for something that you can offer.
Many of these discussions hinge around finding something we’re uniquely qualified for or something only we can do. I used to, but not sure I still fully believe in that anymore. While I believe that there are certain individuals who possess the knowledge and experience required to truly think differently than others, I think it’s much less common than most Twitter influencers would have you believe. Perhaps a more apt phrase is -
What are you willing to do that no one else will?
Most people are willing to do very little beyond the scope of what our existence requires. Born. Go to school. Go to college. Get a job. Contribute to your 401k. Come in early and stay late to impress the boss. Work hard and find pride in your work. Retire. Finally have the time and money to do whatever you wanted to do your whole life. Die.
If you want something different than what everyone else has, its time to start doing something that nobody else does.
Miss this week’s episode?
I had a great episode with Tony Nash, host of the Got Your 6 podcast. We talk about self mastery, a very stoic, principles based conversation that is sure to get you off the couch and into the arena.
1 Personal
I continue to be wow’d by the scale of the internet.
My dislike of the short attention span economy hasn’t prevented me from dipping my toes in the water with video shorts. As I overhaul the back catalog of episodes to be put onto Youtube, I’ve been compiling some of greatest segments that are worth sharing for impact or takeaways. Response has been better and already worthwhile.
Two of the first three short ‘reels’ up on the channel had >1200 views.
This is great because it widens the funnel for more listenership on the podcast. 1200 views is around 10x the amount of views a long form podcast episode will generate. While the views aren’t equivalent, it’s able to stir interest for more content.
Seeing the scale of reach validates the rise of the ‘creator economy’. Sure there’s the dopamine rush of getting likes on the internet, but if you’ve got something interesting, unique, or funny to say, one video, blog post, or podcast can quickly fast track a job of making content online.
When it comes to podcasting, I see that Youtube has the most clear path to monetization. With enough subscribers, you’re able to allow Youtube to place ads and provide a revenue share consistent with the amount of views you receive. While I’m not in a huge rush to make money from this content, the thought of being able to do stuff like write this newsletter and record podcasts for a job is exciting and I think would perfectly exemplify the solopreneurship path I’ve been rambling about.
You can check out the Youtube channel here.
Talk next week.