yann girard - rethinking the now

The one thing you really need to succeed as a writer (that no one ever talks about)...

Is money.

Money is the one thing you really need to succeed as a writer.

It might be even more important than talent.

Because essentially there’s no such thing as talent.

There’s just putting in the work, time and effort to get better at what you do.

It’s a patience game.

And money can buy patience.

At the end of the day it’s all about patience and consistently putting in the work.

Here’s the truth about writing (and pretty much everything else in life)…

Getting better what you do takes time.

A lot of time.

And that takes money.

And the more time it takes, the more money you’ll need.

Because life is expensive.

Really expensive.

And here’s where it gets tricky…

The more time you’d spend writing, the less time you’d have to make a living.

And the less time you’d spend writing, the longer it would take you to get better at writing.

And consequently the longer it would take you to succeed as a writer.

And whenever money is tight, you’d be super stressed out and you’d have to focus on making money instead of writing.

Even if you really loved writing and are really passionate about it.

So it’s a constant up and down and up and down.

And you’d never be able to focus on writing. 

So you’d never succeed as a writer.

Or anything else as a matter of fact.

So what do I suggest?

First of, don’t try to make money writing.

Because that moment might never come. 

And if that moment comes it might take you years and years and years.

I made less than a cleaning lady for almost three years.

And even today I still don’t make money writing.

I do a lot of other things at the same time.

A few years ago I even wrote about how blogging is dead.

So if you’re REALLY serious about writing and maybe even love it, then I’d suggest this…

Try to find a way to cover your basics first.

Maybe you work an “easy” job.

Maybe you keep your day job.

Maybe you have a few side hustles.

I don’t know.

But if you want to succeed as a writer, you’ve gotta find a way to cover your basics first.

Or else you’d never be able to really focus on writing and getting better at it.

Even the famous Joanne K. Rowling rags to riches story misses an important point that no one ever talks about.

She had her basics covered…

Sure, she was on welfare.

Which probably wasn’t really all that great.

But she could focus on writing books (which was her only way out, which might also have been a big part of the reason why she succeeded).

She probably wrote dozens of unpublished and unfinished books before she published her first bestseller.

She had time… 

As a matter of fact, time was probably the only thing she had. 

The one thing that most of us don’t have anymore. 

And time is absolutely essential to get better at your craft. 

No matter what your craft is.

So if you want to succeed as a writer, make sure you’ve somehow got your basics covered first.

And that’s the one thing you really need to succeed as a writer (that no one ever talks about)…

How to be a thought leader

By saying what you really think instead of saying what everybody else is already saying...

And if no one agrees with you, you're at least leading one person's thoughts.

And that might be the most important person out there.

And that person is you...

And that's already a really good start.

Lead your own thoughts.

Don't let them be lead by someone else.

And that's the first step to becoming a thought leader.

It all starts with you...

Do you sell the shovels or buy the shovels?

There are two ways to benefit from a goldrush.

You can either sell the shovels or you can buy the shovels to dig for gold.

Just like you can create a platform or you can use a platform to benefit from it.

Just like you can teach what you know or you can apply what you know in the real world.

Offering the tools to help others dig for gold is usually the safer bet.

Because you don't have to get your hands dirty and you don't have to get into the risky and completely unpredictable business of digging for gold.

You outsource the really hard work of digging for gold to others. 

On the other hand it's also a lot harder to get to the point where you can start offering the tools to others.

It usually takes a lot more time, money and resources to get into the business of selling shovels.

Or building platforms. 

Or becoming a teacher.

Or building any kind of business.

So which one is better?

Selling the shovels or buying the shovels?

Being the teacher or being the student who applies everything in the real world?

Being an entrepreneur or being an employee?

In most cases the best thing to do is to do both at the same time.

By being a gold digger yourself and using the shovels to dig for gold you'll be able to better understand what kinds of shovels are really needed. 

You'll know a lot more about shovels than anybody else who's just in the business of selling shovels.

(And most people are in the business of selling shovels only.)

Just like your best bet is to be the teacher and the student at the same time.

To constantly go from teacher to student and from student to teacher. 

So you'll know a lot more about what students really need to survive out there. 

Just like your best bet is to be an entrepreneur and an employee at the same time.

And that's how you ultimately find the biggest pot of gold and become the most successful shovel seller on the planet...

Abundance

We have so much information at hand that we don't know which information is the one to act on.

We're so inspired but intimidated at the same time that our stuff won't be good enough compared to the stuff we see every single day.

We're so motivated that we start hundreds of things at the same time but never finish any of it.

We live in a world of abundance.

Where everything is available 24/7.

Information.

Advice.

Inspiration.

Motivation.

Opportunities.

Partners.

And it never stops.

Which is exactly why we never start.

And never finish...

How to create a blockbuster

Successful film studios know that maybe one in a hundred movies will be a really big hit.

Just like successful investors know that maybe one in a hundred investments will be a really big hit.

Just like successful authors know that to write one really successful book, you probably need to write dozens of unsuccessful and unpublished books.

Just like you need hundreds of ideas to have one really good idea.

Just like you'll probably need dozens of unsuccessful relationships for that one really "successful" relationship.

And that's the secret.

The secret to what?

To pretty much everything...

It's almost impossible to "un-believe" the things you believe in

There's this thing called selective perception.

That thing that makes you only see, read or hear the things you want to see, read or hear.

That's what makes it so hard to convince someone of an opposing opinion, even if it's clear that what he or she believes in is just not the right thing.

Whether there's a right or wrong thing is a whole different story. 

What makes matters even worse is that these days there are so called "smart" algorithms that show us more of the things we want to see. 

But the problem is that the things we want to see, read or hear aren't necessarily always the things that we have to see, read or hear.

They are almost never the things we need to see, read or hear.

So these so called "smart" algorithms will only increase our selective perceptions and create mini bubbles.

No matter if these ideas and ideologies are right or wrong.

And this is what makes the whole thing so dangerous...

Technology gives us what we want, which is very often not what we really need...

The most important skill in the 21st century

Is probably about being able to deal with all kinds of different people.

Because it's very likely to be the only thing that will be left once everything else will be done by algorithms, AI or whatnot.

What will make this skill even more valuable is the fact that this is the exact same skill that technology has helped us to unlearn over the past couple of years.

So how do you learn it?

You can't really learn it.

Especially not in a class room.

The only way to learn it is probably by trial and error.

And to then learn from your mistakes.

Which will make it even more valuable...

How to change things you can't change

There are many things you just can't change. 

Like politics for example.

So it doesn't really make a lot of sense to focus on these things.

And it makes a lot more sense to focus on the things you can change right now.

The things that are more realistic. 

The things you have an impact on right now.

No matter how big or small.

But just in case you really want to change something you can't change, then it might make sense to think about this right here for a second...

Try to do something that no one else is doing.

Try to get experiences in fields that no one else in your field has.

But at the same time, be aware of how to navigate your field.

Know it inside out.

Because that's the only way to find the loopholes.

If you want to master a game, you've gotta know the rules of the game. 

That's the only way to win a game.

Any game...

So if you want to get into politics to change things, then the last thing you should probably do is to become a politician.

Because if you do what everybody else is doing, then you'll end up thinking like everybody else.

You'll end up having the exact same ideas that everybody else already has. 

You'll end up talking about and discussing the same things that everybody else already is.

And you'll end up having the same internal and external barriers.

This doesn't apply to politics only.

It applies to pretty much everything in life.

Initiating and bringing real change is almost impossible when you're having the exact same point of view that everybody else already has..

The cost of being one minute late

Seems to be close to zero.

But when you look at the grand theme of things the potential damage that can be caused by being just one minute late is basically unlimited.

People could miss their flights.

Lose their jobs.

Lose their lives.

Not meet the love of their lives. 

And on and on and one.

Just because you were one minute late.

On the other hand, being right on time, doing your job, and taking it seriously helps a lot of people do their jobs.

It might maybe even help to save lives.

Or help some people to fall in love.

And on and on and on

Everybody and everything counts.

No matter how big or small the contribution might seem.

No matter how significant or insignificant it might seem.

And that's great news.

Because the world needs you.

We need you.

I need you...

This whole thing wouldn't be working if you weren't doing exactly what you're doing.

If you weren't taking yourself and what you do seriously.

No matter how important or unimportant it might seem to you.

So thank you for doing what you do.

Thank you for taking yourself and what you do seriously. 

Thank you for not being late.

Because if you were, then this whole thing just wouldn't be working anymore.

And I would never have been able to write this right here.

Or anything else I ever wrote.

Nothing really matters.

Just like everything really matters...

Everything in life takes time.

Build your network before you need a network.

Look for a new job before you need a new job.

Build an audience before you need an audience.

Everything in life takes time.

Time for those seeds to grow into a strong enough tree.

Plant your seeds before you need the tree…

Technology...

Technology gives us what we want, which is often not what we really need...

In class...

You don't learn how to start a business, you learn how to pass a test about starting a business.

You don't learn a language, you learn how to pass a test in a certain language.

You don't learn how to program, you learn how to pass a test about programming.

If you really want to learn how to start a business, you have to start a business.

If you really want to learn a language, you have to speak that language

If you really want to learn how to write a software, you have to write that software.

Because you won't learn it in school.

Or university...

Decision fatigue

There's a limited amount of decisions we can make each and every day.

And no matter how big or small the decisions you make, they will equally take away some of your decision power.

That's why it's so exhausting to go online and look for a hotel room in a city you've never been before and know exactly nothing about. 

Or finding a place to eat at in a city you've never been before.

Because there are just too many options.

Too many things to take into account.

Too many unknown variables.

Unless of course you go for the cheapest.

Or the one with the best ratings.

So at the end of the day it doesn't really make that much of a difference how big or small the decisions were you had to make during the day.

Small decisions take away almost as much decision power as big decisions.

And many small decisions with many unknown factors deplete your decision account just as much as big decisions.

So the key here is to put rules and strategies in place that help you to eliminate or even to avoid having to make all those small decisions.

So that you're able to focus on the big decisions and get the big decisions right...

You don't learn...

You don't learn how to swim by reading books about it. Or by watching videos about it. Or by discussing about how to swim. The only way to learn how to swim is to get out there into the water. The same holds true for everything in life. You've gotta get out there...

Self awareness

The only way to learn self awareness is to take 100% responsibility for your actions.

To be the CEO of your actions.

To be the only one to blame.

Because when you're the only one to blame, then you'll try to figure out what you could have done differently when things went wrong.

And at the same time you'll try to figure out what you did when things went well..

So self awareness really is about taking 100% responsibility for all of your actions.

Positive and negative ones. 

It's just like raising a child.

No matter what goes wrong, it'll always be your fault.

Even if it might seem like it isn't.

Especially, when it seems like it isn't...

The biggest productivity killer out there

Is fear.

- Fear of failure.

- Fear of making mistakes.

- Fear of making a fool of yourself.

- Fear of being misunderstood.

- Fear of being laughed at.

- Fear of not being taken seriously.

- Fear of not being good enough.

- Fear of negative consequences.

So how do you deal with that fear?

I don't know.

But here's what I try to do...

I try to expose myself to possible failure and the things I'm afraid of as much as I can.

That's the only way to get used to it.

That's why I write every single day.

And put it out there.

No matter how good or bad I think it is.

I put it out there because it helps me to get better at dancing with my fear....

What's the ROI?

What's the ROI of a job?

You trade 40–50 years of your life (50-60 if you include education) for a small break of 10–15 years in freedom.

Seems like a pretty bad deal to ME...

Why not?

You’ll never be free because you use your money to buy yourself stuff you don’t really need, just to reward yourself for doing things you don’t really enjoy. So why not invest all that money in yourself, in skills, in ideas and in buying yourself some freedom?

If you're afraid of the risk, hedge it...

There are some things we just can not control or influence.

And these are usually the scariest things out there. 

Because they're totally out of our control.

And we can do nothing about them.

Things like innovation, disruption, the stock market, the job market, the economy and on and on and on.

But there's something we can do about these things.

We can hedge our risk.

So if you're afraid that the Chinese (replace with any other nation that's currently in the news) are going to take over the world, buy stocks from Chinese companies to hedge your risk.

If you're afraid that you're going to loose your job, build a business (or multiple businesses) on the side to hedge your risk.

If you're afraid that your skills aren't needed anymore over the next couple of years, learn the skills that will always be needed.

I've repeatedly talked about these skills in the past. You can read about them again here.

But whatever you do, doing nothing is the worst thing you could do.

Sure, doing nothing is easy.

And doing something, anything is hard. 

It always is. 

Because doing requires a lot of work.

But the less you do about your fear, the more it'll paralyze you.

And the more paralyzed you are, the less you'll do.

And the less you'll do, the bigger the risk.

So if you're afraid of the risk, hedge it...

The Ultimate Guide To Getting Started Writing Online (10+ min read)

Writing online is tough.

Especially if you don't know how to get started.

Or don't really know why exactly you're even writing in the first place.

And most people skip either one or both of these question.

Because these are hard questions to answer.

To be able to answer the first one (how to get started) you can spend weeks and weeks researching with close to zero progress.

There are millions of blogs out there that want to teach you how to get started.

And each and every one of them recommends other tools or platforms to get started.

So we get stuck.

We get stuck before we even started writing a single word.

And there are millions of roadblocks like these along the way.

Crushing comments on your blog.

No one even noticing.

Zero likes.

Technical issues.

And on and on and on.

And it's tough to get past those dips.

When no one seems to care.

When nothing seems to be working out.

When others get hundreds of likes while you get nothing.

Sometimes it feels like this whole thing impossible.

Sometimes it feels like you're pushing a car uphill.

That's at least how I felt when I was getting started.

Maybe that's just me.

I don't know.

But what I do know is that getting started is hard.

It's almost as hard as not giving up along the way.

That's why I've put together a quick guide on how you can get started writing online.

This is the stuff that has helped me to write more than 1000 blog posts and 10 books in the past 5 years...

# WHY DO YOU WRITE?

There are many different reasons why people want to write online.

Maybe you just need an outlet to express your thoughts and ideas.

Maybe you want to build your brand or want to acquire new customers for your business.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter why you want to write.

What matters is to define your why.

The reason why you're even writing.

Because if you don't define your why, then you won't be able to measure your success.

And then it'll always feel like you're pushing that car uphill.

Not only this, but if you don't define why you're writing, you'll probably just quit at one point.

Usually sooner rather than later.

Here's the thing...

A lot of people want to start a blog or want to write because they want to make money.

Nothing wrong about that.

But you need to be aware of the fact that writing will most likely not lead to any income within the next couple of years. Maybe even decades.

So if the only reason is to make money, it's probably not enough.

Because that money might not come when you need it.

Maybe it'll take one year. Maybe two years. Maybe three years. Maybe even more. No one knows...

The truth is that making money blogging or writing online just doesn't work anymore.

Ads don't work anymore.

Just like self publishing books doesn't work anymore (for unknown authors).

So not only do you have to write, but you'd also need your own product or service to be able to keep writing.

Essentially you'd need to start a business on top of your blog so you'd be able to keep writing.

Most people write to make money.

But the truth is that you'd need to be able to somehow make money to be able to keep writing.

And creating a product and then trying to sell it is a whole different story than just writing stuff online. 

And writing a book and uploading it to Amazon won't pay the bills either.

The average ebook generates $300 in sales.

And it's probably a lot less than that.

Because the average also includes the bestselling author who sold millions of copies.

So the median ebook probably generates something like $100 for an (unknown) author.

Why do you write?

[Related: How To Start A Profitable Blog In 2018]

# WHO ARE YOUR READERS?

If you don't define that, you'll most likely never be able to answer the next question...

# WHERE TO PUBLISH

Everywhere your potential audience hangs out...

# WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT

The more general topics you write about, the harder it'll be to build an audience.

And the more narrow your topic, the easier it'll be to build an audience.

Just think about it....

If you're the guy or gal who's writing about coffee all day long, you'll be the coffee guy or gal.

If all you do is to write about cricket in India all day long, then you'll be that cricket gal to go to. You'll be the cricket expert. Or the coffee expert. Or the tea expert...

And then people will visit your blog, watch your videos or listen to your podcast whenever they need coffee advice. Or tea advice. Or chocolate advice. Or whatever advice. You'll be the one to call when there's someone needed to give a talk. When someone is needed to go on TV to be interviewed. Because you're the coffee guy...

On the other hand if you decide to write about many different topics (just like I do), it's going to be a lot harder to build an audience.

Simply because people will have a really, really hard time to figure out what you stand for if you write about all sorts of different things.

So what are you?

Who are you?

Are you the coffee guy?

Or the marketing gal?

Or that travel gal?

When you write and create content on many different topics it's all about the person. And not the topics itself. And when it's all about the person (you!), you'd need to build up credibility first. Because why would someone even read or listen to someone they don't know? Someone who hasn't achieved anything yet?

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's just a lot harder.

Just think about it...

If you're the gal writing about coffee all day long, then people will find you on Google by searching for coffee related stuff.

And when people click on that link and end up on your site and you consistently write about coffee, then people will read a lot more stuff on your website. After all they were looking for information about coffee.

And because they can find a ton of information about coffee on your site, they'll end up spending a ton of time on your site. And the more time people spend on your site, the more traffic Google will send to your site.

It really is that simple. That's all you need to know about how to get traffic from Google. That's all you need to know about how people will find out about you.

On the other hand, no one is likely going to google your name when you're just getting started. Because no one knows who you are. And in case you get lucky and for whatever reason one of your posts is ranked high in Google and Google sends traffic to your site, they're probably going to leave again quite soon as you're writing about tons of different things...

Here's the thing...

The more you write about one specific topic, the better you'll rank in Google. And the better the information you share on that topic, the more people will end up on your blog. And the more time people spend on your blog, the more traffic Google will send you way...

I didn't write about one specific topic. And I still don't. And I can still remember that for the first years I was writing online, I was trying to get 30 views on my blog a day. On the weekend I tried to get 50 views a day. Needless to say that I failed pretty much every single day.

It was tough, really, really tough. No one really cared about what I was doing. I was losing money every single day. And nothing seemed to be working out.

But after a while people started to notice. People realized that I wouldn't disappear just like most of the other people. They realized that I was probably here to stay. But it took me a few years of putting out stuff and showing up as much as I could. And for the past 2.5 years I've shown up each and every single day. I published one post every single day for more than two and a half years...

That's what it needs to get noticed...

Be consistent, have something smart to say (every once in a while) and be around longer than anybody else. That's the secret sauce...

So even though I haven't achieved anything remarkable in my life yet (I didn't make millions, I'm not an uber successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur or a famous venture capitalist) people started to notice.

Because I showed up longer than most people. And now people read my stuff because I'm the guy who keeps showing up. That really is the only reason...

If you want to write about a very broad topic, then you've gotta be willing to eat a lot of dirt for quite a while. Because what you're signing up for is to essentially build your brand from the ground up.

But once you've succeeded, once you went from nobody to somebody you can write about pretty much whatever you want to.

Who are you?

# KNOW YOURSELF

When you're thinking about whether to create content on a very specific topic or on a broader topic, it pays off to know yourself.

Are you the kind of person who's passionate about one thing and one thing only or are you interested in many different things?

If you're like me and are interested in many different things it might make sense to write about all sorts of different things instead of writing on one thing and one thing only.

But make no mistake, this will probably take A HELL LOT longer to build an audience and credibility, especially if you're starting totally from scratch, are a complete nobody and have pretty much zero credentials.

That's how I got started. And it took me many years of blood sweat and tears to get to where I am right now. Wherever that might be...

Because at the end of the day this question will pop up over and over again:

"Who is this gal and why should I even listen to her?

Why does his point of view even matter?"

On the other hand if you're the guy who knows a hell lot about coffee, ping pong, or whatever, because that's what you're doing all day long, then it's a lot easier to establish credibility.

But remember, it's probably harder to switch to something else once you're that coffee gal. Or that wine guy.

It's tough, but not impossible.

Gary Vaynerchuk went from being that wine guy to being that social media phenomenon.

Nothing is impossible.

You just gotta know what game you're playing...

Are you playing the long game or the short game?

#WHAT'S YOUR THEME

Even though it might seem like Seth Godin is writing about whatever he wants to, he has a theme.

It's hard to find that theme, but he has one...

"Seth Godin's riffs on marketing, respect, and the ways ideas spread."

And if you take a look at this theme, you can easily see that pretty much all his stuff falls into this category.

What's your theme?

# WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT

Write about the things you know.

This is probably where most people are making a huge mistake.

Most people write about things they don't know nothing about.

And when you don't know nothing about a topic, then all that's going to happen is that you're going to run out of ideas sooner or later.

Or people who know a lot more than you are going to crush you.

Be an expert in the things you know and want to write about.

Be an expert in yourself...

Or be at least so passionate about your topic that you want to know everything about it and could see yourself creating content about it for the next 5 years or so...

That being said, if you're extremely curious and interested in many different things, you could also write about the things that you're trying to learn.

You could document your progress and make it accessible online.

There are tons of people out there who've successfully done that.

Tim Ferriss being one of them...

# HOW TO STAND OUT

Consistency. Knowledge. Expertise. Authenticity. Experience. Humor. Originality.

Those are probably the ones I'd pick.

And you'd probably need at least three of them I'd say.

I didn't have most of the above when I was getting started.

And the one I've worked on over the past few years is consistency.

Simply because the more often you show up, the more people will start to notice.

It's simple math.

And it really is as simple as that...

If you write one piece of content a week most people are not going to see it.

But if you write 7 pieces a week, then it's very likely that most people have seen at least one piece you wrote.

And the more often people see you or consume some of your stuff, the more they'll trust you.

And the more people trust you, the more they'll buy your stuff, recommend your stuff to their friends, colleagues, bosses and on and on and on.

Here's the truth...

All of the above items involve hard work.

Really, really hard work.

But the good news is that you can learn all of them while you're writing and creating content.

So how do you learn them?

By doing...

So it's not a necessity to already be an expert in what you do when you're just getting started.

Simply because no one will even care about you and what you do when you're getting started.

People don't care about you when you're a nobody.People care about somebodies...

And people will only start to notice once you show up over and over again.

Because showing up over and over again is what makes you a somebody.

So use the time while no one watches to become better at what you do and learn more about the things you talk about so that when the day comes and you're the next big thing everybody is talking about, you're at the height of your game....

# WHAT ABOUT QUALITY?

Quantity leads to quality.

The more often you do something, the better you'll get at it.

It's as simple as that.

Saying you're not talented or not skilled enough is just an excuse.

An excuse for not putting in the work to get better at what you do...

# HOW TO GO VIRAL

The only way to go viral is to already have an audience and a backlog of content that helps you to go viral.

Because if you don't, then all that's going to happen is that you'll be a one hit wonder.

And after that one hit nothing is going to happen, other than you trying to engineer past successes.

And whenever you're trying to hunt down the past, you're going to be late to your future.

So instead of trying to go viral, try to work on building a backlog of content and an audience.

So when that big wave comes you're prepared and ready to ride that wave all the way to the shore...

# HOW TO BUILD AN AUDIENCE

The only way to build an audience is to be everywhere.

Especially where your potential readers are.

And then of course, to do the things that I mentioned above that help you to stand out from the masses.

Because if you don't stand out, you'll be competing with everybody else who's competing with everybody else.

And when you're competing with 7 billion other people out there, you're always going to lose.

P.S. If you're interested in building and growing your audience online, I've put together a report for you. CLICK HERE to check it out.

# MAKING MONEY WRITING ONLINE

There are millions of ways to make money writing online.

And none of them involves getting paid directly for your writing (unless someone hires you, which you probably don't want because if you did, then you'd already be working for that someone).

Here's the thing...

You can't make a living just by writing on a blog. Or by writing books.

You've gotta create products and services around your content.

Around your blog.

So your writing is essentially just a way to get people interested in everything else you're offering.

Just look at all the folks you're following online.

Almost all of them have multiple streams of income.

Why?

Because just doing one thing and one thing only doesn't work anymore...

# AVOID ROADBLOCKS

Whatever you do when you're getting started, try to avoid as many roadblocks as possible.

Try to minimize potential friction as much as you can.

And instead focus on building that habit.

Focus on building the habit of consistently putting out your art.

That in itself is already tough enough.

So you want to avoid all other roadblocks along the way.

When I was getting started I simply started posting my updates inside Facebook.

I didn't know how to setup a blog.

It was all too complicated for me.

All of this FTP, uploading, theme and whatever stuff was just way too much.

Now of course these days it's a lot easier.

But when I was getting started five years ago it was all different.

So I decided to just post my stuff inside of Facebook.

In a safe and friendly environment where I was surrounded by all of my friends with basically zero (technical) roadblocks.

And once I was comfortable enough and built some momentum I started figuring out how I could start my own blog.

But I was still so clueless that I just started using the same service Seth Godin was using.

And I still use it to this day. Not because I think it's so great (it isn't), but because I'm just lazy... and don't want to loose all the links that are pointing to my blog that sends me tons of traffic from Google...

Another thing I did on my blog when I was getting started was to disable comments.

I just didn't want to have to deal with anonymous trolls that would write stupid stuff that would only hold me back from doing what I really wanted to do.

And that was writing and not having to deal with comments from folks who only comment because they're anonymous...

Eliminate roadblocks and friction as much as you can, so you can focus on getting better at your craft and building your audience...

# SMALL WINS

Are the most important thing out there.

They help you to build momentum.

Big wins just don't work.

Simply because they don't exist.

Because big wins are the result of many small wins that added up over time...

# WHEN TO PUBLISH

It doesn't really matter what day you publish.

Or what time of the day.

All that matters is that you do your thing, create it and ship it.

And the best way to consistently put out stuff is to have some sort of schedule.

So maybe you decide to write every day.

Maybe every Monday and every Thursday.

But whatever you do, you've gotta have a schedule.

And stick to it.

If you don't, you'll stop. Sooner or later.

Because there'll always be things that are more urgent.

Not more important.

But more urgent...

[Related: How To Start A Profitable Blog In 2018]

Leaving the factory

I'm a factory worker.

You're a factory worker.

We're all factory workers.

For decades we've been trained to do the things we're good at.

Over and over again.

To become better at them.

To be more efficient.

So we can get more work done is less time.

So we're used to being efficient.

We're used to getting more stuff done in less time.

Because that's how we think we'll keep getting our bananas.

And that's exactly why it's so hard to leave the factory floor.

Because to be able to leave the factory floor we'd have to do the exact same opposite of what we've done for all of these years.

We'd have to experiment.

We'd have to figure out what works and what doesn't.

We'd have to create our own map instead of following a map.

We'd have to waste time.

And we'd have to do things we've never done before.

And all of these things are highly inefficient.

Especially in the beginning.

What makes matters worse is that we won't get anything in return.

No bananas...

For an unpredictable amount of time.

And that's why it's so hard to leave the factory floor.

Even if we wanted to.

Because we'd have to trade efficiency for inefficiency.

Safety for danger.

Stability for fragility. 

Bananas for no bananas.

But sometimes it's worth leaving the factory floor.

Even if it's just for a short while.

Even if you'd have to live on fewer bananas for a while.

Just to see what's out there.

Just to see what's possible and what's not.

Just to get out there and into the light.

And enjoy the sun.

Just to see what it would be like if you'd be kicked out of the factory.

Because that's what's going to happen sooner or later anyway.

So use the time you have and try to build your own little factory...

We all have the ability to make things better...

... we're just not using it...

Don't ask for it

Don't ask for directions, give directions.

Don't ask for help, give help.

Don't ask for love, give love.

Don't ask for forgiveness, give forgiveness

Because that's how you find your own way.

How you help yourself.

How you will be loved.

And forgiven.

By giving first.

Instead of taking first.

The reason is not that you suck...

... it's that you're too lazy to put in the work it takes to suck less.

If no one reads your stuff, it's probably not because you suck, but because you're not putting in the work it takes.

If no one watches your videos, it's probably not because you suck, but because you're not putting in the work it takes.

If no one buys your stuff, it's probably not because it sucks, but because you're not putting in the work it takes.

I think you get the idea.

There are actually two things at play here...

The first one is that no matter what you do, you're probably going to suck for the first couple of years.

We all suck when we're starting something new.

That's the first big chunk of work you'd have to put in to succeed.

Putting in the work and showing up to become better at what you do.

To suck less. And to become one of the best.

The second big chunk of work is that just being really, really good at what you do isn't enough anymore. 

Even if you do it each and every day, even if you show up for many years.

It's just not enough anymore.

The Internet, every niche out there, heck, pretty much the entire planet is just way too crowded. 

That's why just showing up, just putting yourself out there and doing your thing isn't enough anymore. 

You've also gotta master tons of other micro skills.

Micro skills that you can only learn by doing.

And not by reading about them.

And that is the real reason.

For what?

For everything...

If you want to help people, do this...

Find a way to somehow make money.

Because money is the only way you'll ever be able to keep helping people.

It's the only way to have an even bigger impact and to reach even more people.

No money means very limited to no resources.

And very limited to no resources means that you can't keep helping people.

After all, we all got bills to pay, right?

So instead of trying to help other people, help yourself first.

Find a way to somehow make money.

And then keep doing your thing.

That's the best way to help as many people as possible...

There are no big decisions

A marriage usually doesn't end because of one big decision.

Just like you're usually not getting fired because of one big decision.

Just like you're not quitting your job because of one big decision.

Or drop out of college because of one big decision.

Or get married because of one big decision.

Or become successful because of one big decision.

It usually ends (or begins) because of many small decisions (positive or negative) that happen each and every day.

Small decisions that inevitably lead to that seemingly big decision or big bang.

Act accordingly...

 

The market.

You don't have to think like the market or agree with the market.

But it usually pays off to know and understand how the market thinks.

Even if that's not what you think.

Especially when it's not what you think...

The creative problem

Creatives think that they are creatives and nothing else.

But the problem is that creatives aren't really creatives.

And instead creatives are salespeople, marketers and networkers.

And if they aren't, then they can't be creatives.

It's as simple as that.

Because if you master none of the above, then you'd always have to be working for someone else.

And then you'd always have to follow orders.

And that's (in most cases) the exact opposite of being creative.

So whatever you think you are, you're probably something else entirely...

The problem with things that aren't your job

Is that they are probably not going to work out.

That idea you're thinking about working on, is probably not going to work out.

That book you're thinking about writing, is probably not going to be a success.

That video you're thinking about shooting, is probably not going viral.

Just like that blog post you're thinking about writing, is probably going to be read by no more than 10 people.

But that's ok.

Because that's what doing things that aren't your job is going to be all about.

Probably 9 out of 10 of these things are not going to work out. 

But over time you'll figure out what works and what doesn't.

And that's what this is really all about...

The Ultimate (And Realistic) Cheat Sheet To Working And Living Anywhere

I'm not going to lie to you.

It's difficult.

Very, very difficult.

It's difficult to work, live and explore new places at the same time.

It's almost impossible to do all of these things at the same time.

It took me many years to get there.

Many years of trial and error...

Over the past 5 years I've started 20 websites.

Maybe even more.

Some of them generated a little bit of money.

But most of them never generated anything.

And none of them exists anymore today.

I've written more than 10 books.

And none of them was a bestseller.

I started creating content online.

I've now written more than 1000 blog posts.

But none of them went viral.

Overall more than 3 million people consumed my stuff online.

And over the years I've somehow figured out what works and what doesn't.

By following a simple but very time consuming approach.

Trial and error...

As of writing this I have multiple streams of income ranging from online shops and online courses and affiliate deals to a little bit of investing.

Some of these things generate a little bit of money.

And some of them generate more money.

I haven't had a real job in five years.

I've visited and lived in dozens of countries.

I've stayed in apartments in Manhattan that cost more than $3000 a month (which I luckily didn't have to pay for) to apartments in Bangkok for $100 that only had a mattrace on the floor and a desk in it.

All I really need is a laptop and internet access.

That's pretty much it.

And today you can even get proper Internet access in Myanmar, a country that was still closed to the outside world just a few short years ago.

All you need is to get a local SIM card for your phone for 10 bucks with 10GB and you can connect your laptop to your phone's WiFi. And this is in Myanmar... and not some super developed country.

And that's exactly what I did when I was there back in 2016.

It really doesn't get any simpler than this...

But again.

It wasn't easy to get to that point where I could live and work wherever I wanted to.

I had to work my ass off.

I had to do it all by myself.

Sometimes I was working more than 16 hours a day.

Because I didn't have a lot of cash to pay someone else to do the things for me.

I had to learn it all from scratch.

And then I had to figure out what works and what doesn't.

And sometimes the only thing I did was to get up in the morning, walk to a coworking space and then get home at around midnight or so.

And then do the same thing again the following day.

But I loved it.

Because I knew why I was doing it.

I did it for my freedom.

Freedom of living where I wanted to.

Freedom of doing what I wanted to.

Freedom of working on things that matter to me.

But again, it wasn't easy.

It was really, really difficult.

But don't get me wrong here.

I'm not saying this to scare you.

I'm just telling you the truth.

Because not a lot of people tell the truth.

A truth that's hidden under layers and layers of "faking it until you make it."

So what's the truth?

I don't know.

This is my truth.

It's no rocket science.

As a matter of fact most of this stuff is common sense.

But these days common sense is not so common anymore.

So here's what has worked for me...

# STAY AT HOME

And don't go anywhere.

I know this might sound a bit counterintuitive.

After all this post is called "The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Working And Living Anywhere".

But the truth is that you've gotta do your homework first.

You've gotta get the basics right BEFORE you leave to live and work anywhere.

If you don't have anything going for you back home, then it's very likely that you won't have anything going for you anywhere else.

So use the time while you're still in your homecountry to get the foundation right.

So what's the foundation?

The foundation is a network of possible clients, partners, customers, a reputation and skills.

And don't underestimate the time it might take you to build that foundation.

Sure, you could also try to build your foundation while you're abroad.

But the problem is that a network abroad won't help you that much.

After all, in most countries you aren't even allowed to work with local companies (when you're also physically staying there).

To do so you'd need to have a local company.

And the only way to start a local business as a foreigner is to become a permanent resident.

No matter which country we're talking about...

And this is a pretty hard thing to do.

Not impossible, just really, really difficult.

But then again, why would you even want clients in a country where you'd get paid maybe 1/5 of the income you'd get if you have a client from back home or any other relatively well off Western country?

Right, it doesn't make any sense.

So use the time you have at home to work on your foundation first....

# DON'T QUIT YOUR JOB

Now one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is to not quit your job.

To keep your job for as long as you can.

But why would you even do that?

Very simple.

Because a job is the easiest and fastest way to make money.

Just think about it...

Maybe you're now making a few thousand dollars a month.

Give or take a little bit or a little bit more (depending on where you live).

Here's the thing...

Have you ever thought about how you're going to make the equivalent on your own when no one is going to send you a paycheck at the end of the month?

Probably not.

But let me tell you this...

It's pretty damn hard.

A LOT harder than just showing up in the morning, doing a few things here and there and then getting your paycheck at the end of each month.

So whatever you do, keep your job for as long as you can.

And try to save as much as you can.

Why?

Because you're going to need that money to buy yourself some time and freedom.

Some time and freedom to learn new skills and to create things that generate future income...

Yann Girard: "The only way to strive in the 21st century is to create multiple streams of income..." I haven't had a real job in 5 years. I've built dozens of websites, online shops, wrote more than 10 books, created dozens of online courses and invested in tons of different things. Most things didn't work out. But some did. And I've now put together a report with some of THE most important ways of making money online in the 21st century (without having to quit your day job). And you can get it for free today! All you'd have to do is to CLICK HERE to download the report now, (it's free, for now)

 

# LOW FIXED COSTS

One of the biggest myths is that the only way to have more money is to make more money.

 

Which in itself is true. But it's easier said than done. And it misses an important point.

 

It misses the point that whenever you want to earn more, you've gotta invest some time and/or money into that idea, business or project.

 

These days it's almost impossible to get anything off the ground with zero upfront investment.

Even if you don't need to invest any money, you'd need to invest a lot of time.

And time equals money.

Because life is expensive. And you have to pay rent, the bills and on and on and on.

So whenever you work on something that doesn't generate any income, you'd still have to be able to somehow cover your expenses. Maybe you'd even have to invest some cash to get that thing off the ground.

That's why you need to lower your fixed costs as much as you can while trying to make as much as you can at the same time.

So instead of living in that fancy apartment, move to a cheaper apartment.

Instead of taking the car to work, sell that car and take the bus.

Try to keep your fixed costs as low as possible so you can invest more money into projects and ideas that have the potential to generate more revenues in the future.

I know. Easier said than done.

But the title was called the ultimate (and realistic) cheatsheet...

You know what one of the main reasons was for me to move to South East Asia after I've worked on #1 and #2?

Super low fixed costs...

I could get an apartment for $100 a month.

I could get healthcare (from my homecountry) for any country in South East Asia and for most of Europe for $60 a month, instead of $600.

And I didn't have to go to the "normal" hospitals.

I could go to the clinics that all the expats go to...

And you know what I did with all the money I was able to save?

I invested it.

I invested it in ideas.

In trying things out.

In figuring out what works and what doesn't.

In myself.

In other people.

And in buying myself some time and freedom...

# LOW EXPENSES

Don't buy all of this stupid stuff. And instead, try to keep your expenses as low as possible, put the money you save in your freedom fund, to then invest it in yourself, in ideas and the projects you work on.

# EARN MORE

And of course, after you've cut your expenses and the money going out of your pocket you've gotta start working on creating more revenue streams.

So how do you build up more revenue streams?

By spending the money you've saved to buy yourself some freedom.

Some freedom to work on things that are probably not going to work out.

But that's ok. Because that's why you're spending less.

So you don't have to freak out when some things don't work out.

Because most things won't work out.

Maybe 9 out of 10 won't work out.

But over time you'll figure out what works and what doesn't.

And to be able to afford working on things that might not work out (and all of the things that aren't a job are likely not going to work out), you'd need to be able to cover your expenses.

And that's why the first step is to lower your fixed costs and expenses.

And to build up your freedom fund at the same time.

Which you can then use to buy yourself some time and freedom to work on your ideas.

That's exactly what I did.

I kept my job for 18 months, I cut my expenses and fixed costs, built up my freedom fund, started working on some of my ideas and once my freedom fund was big enough, I quit my job and moved to a country that had some of the lowest cost of living on this planet while still offering a life that was even more convenient than my life back home.

And then I started investing in myself, my skills and I started working on many different things that all had the potential to generate revenues in the future.

So what could you do to get started earning some more?

What could you invest your time in that might generate future income?

Here's a free PDF with 10 things you could do.

# INVEST MORE

Invest more in yourself, your skills, people, your network, opportunities, your confidence and doing.

But most importantly invest more in doing.

Invest more of your time, energy and resources in doing.

Because doing is the only investment of all of the above that will automatically nurture all of the other areas at the same time.

Doing is the only thing out there that will help you to invest in yourself, your skills, people, your network, opportunities and your confidence all at the same time.

Invest.

More.

In doing...

And then once you've done all of the above, then you're ready to go.

Then you're ready to work and live anywhere.

Or do whatever you want to.

And go whenever you want to.

There are millions of other ways out there.

That's just how I've done it...

Invest more.

Invest more in yourself, your skills, people, your network, opportunities, your confidence and doing.

But most importantly invest more in doing.

Invest more of your time, energy and resources in doing.

Because doing is the only investment of all of the above that will automatically nurture all of the other areas at the same time.

Doing is the only thing out there that will help you to invest in yourself, your skills, people, your network, opportunities and your confidence all at the same time.

Invest.

More.

In doing...