The Beginner Playbook
The Beginner Playbook
The Beginner Playbook
The Beginner Playbook
If you’re starting out on your own, follow this playbook
If you’re starting out, you’ll have zero skills, zero network, and zero traction.
This is the playbook:
Start learning a hard skill. Not one that’s hard to learn…one that is technical (paid marketing, coding, content creation, video editing, etc.) The more in-demand it is, and the less people that can do it, the better. In my case, I picked content/storytelling. Do not pick a soft skill that everyone can learn (like management or communication). These are not skills, these are traits. If you have only these, you will not have leverage in the marketplace.
Practice that skill obsessively. If it’s content, make a ton of content. If it’s coding, build and ship projects. Hunker down and do the thing obsessively for a year without getting distracted
At some point (between 1-5 years in), you will become .01% in the world at that thing. If you have natural talent, it’ll be on the faster end. If you don’t, it’ll be on the slower end. But regardless, it will happen because few can stay focused long enough to compound this much learning into a single skill
Find others that need this skill (the higher leverage skill you picked, the more that will need it; and if you do it for long enough in a visible way, they will find you). Rent some of your time to them for a high wage. Spend the rest of your time continuing to compound learning of that skill doing your own stuff (very important, do not stop doing your own stuff or you will stagnate and you skill will slowly decay).
Use the income from your rented wage to pay other specialists to do the things you are bad at (for me, these are things like design & coding). This helps you complete the circle and lets you build and ship a full product of your own. Some are good enough at all skills where they can do it all themselves. Most will need to pay.
Once you ship a full product, you will begin to earn revenue that is independent from your time. You can now stop renting your time for money (unless you enjoy it) and spend all of your time applying your skill for your brand (e.g., if your skill is paid marketing, you’ll run the marketing for your brand). You’ll probably still need to hire specialists to work on your brand, but now the product revenue can cover it.
Now you have a fully sustainable product, that can cover its costs, leverage your differentiated skillset, and operates independent of your time. You are free.
Continuing compounding and repeat forever
To reflect, I was a management consultant, which effectively meant, I had no hard skills (aka low leverage in the market).
I know this because I tried to leave and get a job based on my credentials and no one would hire me after a certain level.
This is not to say management consultants have no skills. It’s to say that most of their skills are softer which makes it harder to differentiate in the market outside of consulting.
I’ve since built the content/storytelling skill, which imo, is the highest leverage one you can develop, because you can generate attention at will. Every brand in the world has a never ending need for more attention/clicks/eyes/buys.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.
If you’re starting out on your own, follow this playbook
If you’re starting out, you’ll have zero skills, zero network, and zero traction.
This is the playbook:
Start learning a hard skill. Not one that’s hard to learn…one that is technical (paid marketing, coding, content creation, video editing, etc.) The more in-demand it is, and the less people that can do it, the better. In my case, I picked content/storytelling. Do not pick a soft skill that everyone can learn (like management or communication). These are not skills, these are traits. If you have only these, you will not have leverage in the marketplace.
Practice that skill obsessively. If it’s content, make a ton of content. If it’s coding, build and ship projects. Hunker down and do the thing obsessively for a year without getting distracted
At some point (between 1-5 years in), you will become .01% in the world at that thing. If you have natural talent, it’ll be on the faster end. If you don’t, it’ll be on the slower end. But regardless, it will happen because few can stay focused long enough to compound this much learning into a single skill
Find others that need this skill (the higher leverage skill you picked, the more that will need it; and if you do it for long enough in a visible way, they will find you). Rent some of your time to them for a high wage. Spend the rest of your time continuing to compound learning of that skill doing your own stuff (very important, do not stop doing your own stuff or you will stagnate and you skill will slowly decay).
Use the income from your rented wage to pay other specialists to do the things you are bad at (for me, these are things like design & coding). This helps you complete the circle and lets you build and ship a full product of your own. Some are good enough at all skills where they can do it all themselves. Most will need to pay.
Once you ship a full product, you will begin to earn revenue that is independent from your time. You can now stop renting your time for money (unless you enjoy it) and spend all of your time applying your skill for your brand (e.g., if your skill is paid marketing, you’ll run the marketing for your brand). You’ll probably still need to hire specialists to work on your brand, but now the product revenue can cover it.
Now you have a fully sustainable product, that can cover its costs, leverage your differentiated skillset, and operates independent of your time. You are free.
Continuing compounding and repeat forever
To reflect, I was a management consultant, which effectively meant, I had no hard skills (aka low leverage in the market).
I know this because I tried to leave and get a job based on my credentials and no one would hire me after a certain level.
This is not to say management consultants have no skills. It’s to say that most of their skills are softer which makes it harder to differentiate in the market outside of consulting.
I’ve since built the content/storytelling skill, which imo, is the highest leverage one you can develop, because you can generate attention at will. Every brand in the world has a never ending need for more attention/clicks/eyes/buys.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.
If you’re starting out on your own, follow this playbook
If you’re starting out, you’ll have zero skills, zero network, and zero traction.
This is the playbook:
Start learning a hard skill. Not one that’s hard to learn…one that is technical (paid marketing, coding, content creation, video editing, etc.) The more in-demand it is, and the less people that can do it, the better. In my case, I picked content/storytelling. Do not pick a soft skill that everyone can learn (like management or communication). These are not skills, these are traits. If you have only these, you will not have leverage in the marketplace.
Practice that skill obsessively. If it’s content, make a ton of content. If it’s coding, build and ship projects. Hunker down and do the thing obsessively for a year without getting distracted
At some point (between 1-5 years in), you will become .01% in the world at that thing. If you have natural talent, it’ll be on the faster end. If you don’t, it’ll be on the slower end. But regardless, it will happen because few can stay focused long enough to compound this much learning into a single skill
Find others that need this skill (the higher leverage skill you picked, the more that will need it; and if you do it for long enough in a visible way, they will find you). Rent some of your time to them for a high wage. Spend the rest of your time continuing to compound learning of that skill doing your own stuff (very important, do not stop doing your own stuff or you will stagnate and you skill will slowly decay).
Use the income from your rented wage to pay other specialists to do the things you are bad at (for me, these are things like design & coding). This helps you complete the circle and lets you build and ship a full product of your own. Some are good enough at all skills where they can do it all themselves. Most will need to pay.
Once you ship a full product, you will begin to earn revenue that is independent from your time. You can now stop renting your time for money (unless you enjoy it) and spend all of your time applying your skill for your brand (e.g., if your skill is paid marketing, you’ll run the marketing for your brand). You’ll probably still need to hire specialists to work on your brand, but now the product revenue can cover it.
Now you have a fully sustainable product, that can cover its costs, leverage your differentiated skillset, and operates independent of your time. You are free.
Continuing compounding and repeat forever
To reflect, I was a management consultant, which effectively meant, I had no hard skills (aka low leverage in the market).
I know this because I tried to leave and get a job based on my credentials and no one would hire me after a certain level.
This is not to say management consultants have no skills. It’s to say that most of their skills are softer which makes it harder to differentiate in the market outside of consulting.
I’ve since built the content/storytelling skill, which imo, is the highest leverage one you can develop, because you can generate attention at will. Every brand in the world has a never ending need for more attention/clicks/eyes/buys.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.
If you’re starting out on your own, follow this playbook
If you’re starting out, you’ll have zero skills, zero network, and zero traction.
This is the playbook:
Start learning a hard skill. Not one that’s hard to learn…one that is technical (paid marketing, coding, content creation, video editing, etc.) The more in-demand it is, and the less people that can do it, the better. In my case, I picked content/storytelling. Do not pick a soft skill that everyone can learn (like management or communication). These are not skills, these are traits. If you have only these, you will not have leverage in the marketplace.
Practice that skill obsessively. If it’s content, make a ton of content. If it’s coding, build and ship projects. Hunker down and do the thing obsessively for a year without getting distracted
At some point (between 1-5 years in), you will become .01% in the world at that thing. If you have natural talent, it’ll be on the faster end. If you don’t, it’ll be on the slower end. But regardless, it will happen because few can stay focused long enough to compound this much learning into a single skill
Find others that need this skill (the higher leverage skill you picked, the more that will need it; and if you do it for long enough in a visible way, they will find you). Rent some of your time to them for a high wage. Spend the rest of your time continuing to compound learning of that skill doing your own stuff (very important, do not stop doing your own stuff or you will stagnate and you skill will slowly decay).
Use the income from your rented wage to pay other specialists to do the things you are bad at (for me, these are things like design & coding). This helps you complete the circle and lets you build and ship a full product of your own. Some are good enough at all skills where they can do it all themselves. Most will need to pay.
Once you ship a full product, you will begin to earn revenue that is independent from your time. You can now stop renting your time for money (unless you enjoy it) and spend all of your time applying your skill for your brand (e.g., if your skill is paid marketing, you’ll run the marketing for your brand). You’ll probably still need to hire specialists to work on your brand, but now the product revenue can cover it.
Now you have a fully sustainable product, that can cover its costs, leverage your differentiated skillset, and operates independent of your time. You are free.
Continuing compounding and repeat forever
To reflect, I was a management consultant, which effectively meant, I had no hard skills (aka low leverage in the market).
I know this because I tried to leave and get a job based on my credentials and no one would hire me after a certain level.
This is not to say management consultants have no skills. It’s to say that most of their skills are softer which makes it harder to differentiate in the market outside of consulting.
I’ve since built the content/storytelling skill, which imo, is the highest leverage one you can develop, because you can generate attention at will. Every brand in the world has a never ending need for more attention/clicks/eyes/buys.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.