Control your income control your life

You take technology for granted.

It’s become ubiquitous and we expect others to magically create a better life for us.

This puts you in a state of mind that everything should come as easy as a two day Amazon shipment.

Those who consume more than they create lose control.

Those who create more than they consume have the control.

Control your income control you life

I’ve watched business owners that have taken an idea and brought it into reality through force of will.

They attract others who don’t know how to do the same or don’t want to try. They sell someone elses product and cap earnings and potential.

This is the path society has charted and been training you for. A cog in the wheel of another’s creation.

I’m not saying that all jobs are bad, and have no place in your journey. One of the best ways to gain new skills is through a job or apprenticeship.

The problem is life starts to get more serious and obligations begin to pile up.

• Marriage

• Kids

• Mortgage

• Debt

The “security” afforded by your day job x your age = one more reason not to start selling your own product.

The shift of opportunity

There is cosmic shift happening:

Freelance work has increased by 10% from 36% of the workforce to 46% since 2020.

The creator economy is predicted to nearly double from $250 billion to $480 billion by 2028.

That shift is moving power back to you the individual.

Instead of selling a product for a business you work for you must create your own (physical or digital).

Traditional education is a $2 trillion dollar market. Formal education is declining at 6% a year (2 year and 4 year degrees).

Online education and E-learning is a $200 billion dollar market and increasing by 20% year over year.

A flood of people are now looking to gain skills outside of the traditional path.

You can capture some of that demand.

Sell your own product

There will always be places where people gather. It started around a fire and now exists on social media.

To gain control of your life you must develop a product that others value and gain attention on social media.

The game will be won and lost with your ability to create digital leverage.

Getting more out than you put in.

Working to sell someone elses product is anti-leverage.

Here’s the good news:

• You don’t need seed capital

• You don’t need a massive following

• You don’t need to worry about saturation

• You don’t need a degree or years of experience

• You aren’t constrained by traditional business overheads

At the opening I said that you take technology for granted, since it magically creates more convenience for you. For many this creates dependence rather than leverage.

Technology should be a point of leverage for you not distraction watching Tiktok pranks.

Creating leverage

You have ideas, inspiration, and plans.

High performers greatest point of leverage is the time between idea and execution.

If you’ve built a habit of pushing off action you know you should take two things are happening.

1. You’re training your mind to only consume

2. You’re mind will stop giving you ideas. Use it or lose it.

No amount of tactics that I share are going to have an impact until you master this powerful leverage.

Control attention

It’s become a cliche now but you are in the attention economy. In order to gain freedom you must learn how to attract attention.

Not the attention your teenage self starved for.

Attention that is won from providing value to people of value.

If you want to make your journey easier identify an audience that has money with problems you can solve. They pay better and on time.

Solve rich people’s problems get paid rich people prices.

Check out a previous write up I did on how to build a content idea engine.

An audience that you own the distribution to is your next great point of leverage.

Advertising costs are only going up, which means your ability to capture leads and distribute information cheaply through owned channels like email, communities, newsletter, text etc. will give you a massive advantage.

Here’s how to do it:

Deep Niche Focus

• Go ultra-specific with your niche to build a rabidly loyal tribe

• Example: Alex Hormozi focuses on business owners

Omnipresent Content Repurposing

• Recycle one piece of pillar content into dozens of formats/platforms

• Video, audio, written, graphics, social snippits, etc.

• Seth Godin repurposes blog posts into books, speeches, workshops

Cohort-Based Courses/Communities

• Build paid online courses with a community engagement element

• Students go through the material together as a "cohort"

• Provides accountability, networking, and creates superfans

Cohort-Based Courses are the next big unlock for online education.

Value-First Free Content

• Provide overwhelming free value upfront through newsletters, social media posts, etc.

• Build audience's trust and expose them to your premium offerings

• Neil Patel gives away millions in free traffic/SEO tools

Personality-Driven Marketing

• Lean into your authentic personality and storyline

• Creators like Russell Brunson and Alex Hormozi are masters at this

• Build a cult-like following of fans, not just customers

Build a product

Build a product

The path to true freedom starts with creating your own product or service that provides value to others.

Identify your unfair advantage:

• What skills or experiences do you have that others don't?

• What unique perspective can you offer?

• What problems can you solve better than anyone else?

Your unfair advantage is the foundation of your product. It's what will make people choose you over competitors.

Do your research:

• Who is your target market?

• What are their pain points and desires?

• How can you solve their problems or fulfill their wants?

Data is power. The more you understand your audience, the better you can serve them.

Build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product):

• Start small and get something to market quickly

• Get feedback from real customers

• Iterate and improve based on that feedback

Don't get caught up in "analysis paralysis." Ship something imperfect, then make it better.

Market relentlessly:

• Leverage social media to build your audience through writing

• Engage with top creators in your niche

• Join and contribute to communities of your peers

The path is difficult, but the rewards of controlling your destiny are immense.

Embrace the creator mindset, trust your unfair advantage, and start shipping.

TL:DR

• Consume less & create more to gain control.

• Shift to selling your own product, the creator economy is growing.

• Develop your own product, leveraging social media.

• Identify niche, provide value, build a loyal audience.

The internet game is not zero-sum. You can win at this with unlimited upside. This game is about the freedom to do what you want, when you want and with who you want.