You Have $100,000 of Knowledge Trapped in Your Brain

On the 19th of November 2022 podcaster, writer, and solo entrepreneur Dan Koe published this newsletter.

In the last couple of years, I’ve seen the word solo entrepreneur pop up more and more.

It is a new type of business model that leverages the low- (or no-) cost tools of the internet to build a business.

People use media (podcasts, videos, blogs, and social media platforms) to sell their unique knowledge or skill.

Because of the low cost of producing media and learning unique knowledge, anyone can do it.

In the world of information, everyone should become a solo entrepreneur.

All you need is an internet connection and a willingness to learn.

A New Path To Freedom

I have no clue what to do in life.

You have no clue what to do in life.

Yet, we both dream about a different life.

A life where you get to do what you want when you want, with whom you want.

It is something we all inherently dream of.

The path there seems impossible.

You need to win a lottery ticket, literally or metaphorically.

Or, at least that is what you believe.

You might have stopped dreaming of a life like this altogether.

As if it is impossible to reach and so having it as a dream seems counterproductive.

But, I am here to tell you that you are wrong.

You have some knowledge that you know would benefit thousands if not millions of people.

There are tens of thousands of people out there that took their unique obsession and made it a business.

After years of putting themselves and their unique knowledge out on the internet, they made it into a business.

Take Ben Patrick AKA KneesOverToesGuy as an example.

He was a failed basketball player ridden with knee injuries.

Doctors told him he’d never be able to play basketball again.

He chose to not believe this.

Determined to prove everyone wrong and to get back to playing the game he loved, he dove into the research.

Over years and years, he developed a rehab and exercise system to “bulletproof” his knees.

Soon enough he was back playing and playing at a much higher level than before.

With success, he started coaching high school teams and implementing his system.

Finally, he decided to put his knowledge out into the world leveraging social media.

Within a couple of years, he gained millions of followers and helped tens of thousands of people gain back their movement again.

From young athletes getting back to their sport to grandparents being able to play with their grandkids.

He used his unique knowledge to build a business to solve real-world problems.

Now he gets to do what he loves every single day.

There are thousands of examples like this, and you are no different.

There is a business trapped in your brain that could help a lot of people.

The idea that you have to walk the normal path, go to school, get a degree, get a good job and build a career does not apply anymore.

You Are In A Unique Time In History

We live in the age of information.

You are unique, and this makes you valuable to the market.

All you have to do is find what knowledge you have gained that could help people and then spread the message wide and far.

Even if you don’t become wealthy it doesn’t matter.

You will help people along the way.

You will increase your knowledge within an area you are already interested in.

You will create a positive feedback look of meaning.

Dopamine is the “molecule of more”.

It is the molecule of motivation.

If we link dopamine to creating value for others Flow emerges.

Flow is the mental state in which we perform and feel the best.

The more time we spend in Flow, the happier we are.

Why?

Because humans derive meaning from progress.

And progress is an increase in complexity across time.

With this in mind, you’ll do this in two verticals.

1. Your unique knowledge base

2. Your ability to provide value to others

You do this by:

• exploring things you are interested in

• sharing what you learn with the world

• get feedback

• repeat

Over time you will become an expert within your chosen knowledge domain.

And most importantly you will have fun along the way, meet interesting people and have an incentive structure that pulls you forward.

Step 1 – Pick The Right Game To Play

What are you uniquely interested in?

There are three main areas that all humans want to progress in.

1. Health

2. Wealth

3. Happiness

Your job is to figure out how you can provide unique value to any of these.

The level of specificity does not matter.

What matters is your interest in a given problem you want to solve for others.

Either you already have unique knowledge, or you at least have a unique interest in which you can develop unique knowledge.

What we are going to do is play the game of creating value by leveraging media.

This may sound complex, but it isn’t.

There are two main creative outputs.

• Entertainment

• Education (solutions to problems)

Usually, a mix of both is best.

First, you need to pick a creative output method.

• video

• writing

• speaking

• photography

You do not have to limit yourself to one.

Secondly, you need to pick the media that you will leverage.

• Blog

• Podcast

• YouTube

• Streaming

• Social Media (TikTok, Twitter (X), Instagram, LinkedIn, etc).

Again, you do not have to limit yourself to one.

Let’s use me as an example.

I am deeply interested in health broadly (which includes happiness).

I have chosen writing as my creative output method.

And, I have chosen to create content mainly for Twitter, and a blog/newsletter (which you are reading right now).

Now, do it for you.

• What will your creative output be?

• What method will you use to create content?

• & what media will you leverage to get the content out there?

Once this is done we need to gain clarity on the process of creation.

How do we create content consistently across long periods of time?

Step 2 – Set Aside Time For Your Creative Work

The creative output method can be seen as the fundamental process upon which everything else rests.

It is the activity that you will be spending most of your time on.

For me, it is writing this newsletter.

For you, it might be creating videos, which includes creating scripts, filming, and editing.

Define the processes that are fundamental to the content you want to produce.

Now, set aside 1-3 hours every day for those activities.

Or, plan them in during the week as you see fit.

The point is to have a given amount of time each week you spend on these high-leverage activities.

I spend 1-3 hours every morning writing.

That is my fundamental task.

Step 3 – Understanding The Phases Of The Game

To make this time fun for you, you need to understand Flow.

Flow is a concept coined by the godfather of Positive Psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

He describes it as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

It is linked with a massive boost in happiness, creativity and productivity.

Flow is the place of maximal insight in a game that bears relation to your identity and status.

It is when your skill in a game is perfectly aligned with the challenge of a given task within that game.

Anything that has progression embedded within it can be viewed as a game.

Like becoming stronger or smarter, starting a business, learning an instrument or jiu-jitsu.

Flow is a limited resource which is why we need to be careful with what games we play.

If we want to become good at something while also enjoying it, we need to link flow to the activity.

The Beginner Phase

When you start a new “game” you are a beginner.

This phase is usually boring, frustrating and hard.

It feels as if the game is stacked against you, and it can be very discouraging.

You’ve probably been here if you learnt any new skill or got good at any video game.

Here you have to learn the rules of the game and understand what actions you can do, and what actions you should do.

It is the phase where most people quit when trying something new.

The Intermediate Phase

After The Beginner Phase comes a phase where we have learnt the rules of the game.

We understand the basics of what we should do in a given circumstance.

We start to be able to actually play.

And sometimes we get into that illusive Flow state where we are totally present.

Here is where the fun starts.

The Pro Phase

The last phase is where you get once you have mastered the fundamentals.

You understand the game so well that you can become creative.

You can “break” the rules of the game in successful ways because you are so familiar with them.

Here, you reach the flow state almost every time you engage in the game.

The game, whatever it is, has become a huge part of your identity.

Partly because you are really good at it but also because you have spent an outrageous amount of time playing the game.

This is where the pro musicians, sportspeople, writers, actors, surgeons, etc play.

Depending on the game you are playing the time in each phase differs.

When it comes to creative pursuits like creating content it takes a long time to become a pro.

It also takes a long time to get out of The Beginner Phase.

There is an inherent lack of feedback which is really important to induce flow.

You are not directly playing against someone which also makes it difficult to “dance”.

When it comes to writing, the dance partner is the language you are writing in and the structure of what you are writing.

This is not to discourage you, but instead tell you that the first phase won’t be glorious.

In the long run however, I promise you that it is worth it.

Step 4 – Play The Game Long Enough to Win

The great thinker and entrepreneur Alex Hormozi often talks about just playing the game long enough to win.

He tells us this because whatever we are doing we are competing with others.

And, most people quit before they reach The Pro Phase.

As long as you keep going (despite how long time it takes) you will win against the competition.

This makes a lot of sense when viewed through the lens of flow.

The creative output game that you will be playing should be enjoyable to you at the start.

Even though we begin at The Beginner Phase the frustration needs to feel worth it.

Let’s say you find a creative output method you enjoy even in The Beginner Phase.

Imagine how much you will enjoy it in The Intermediate Phase.

Once you reach The Pro Phase, nothing can stop you.

The Five Principles of The Value Creation Game

Principle #1 – The more you play, the more fun it gets

As you move along the different phases the more time you will spend in flow and the more enjoyable it will be.

Principle #2 – The more you play, the better you become

Quite self-evident, but it’s worth pointing out.

Principle #3 – The better you become, the faster you progress

The more time you spend in flow the more creative and productive you are.

Principle #4 – The better you become, the more value you can produce

The more you play, the better you get, and the better you get, the more value you can produce per unit of time.

Principle #5 – The more value you produce, the more money you will earn

Value equals money.

As you become a value-producing machine you will make the world a better place (hopefully) and start earning money (if you want to)

Step 5 – Become Undeniable

Again, we are in the business of creating valuable content for other people.

People pay money in direct proportion to the amount of value a product gives.

If you play a value-generating game, the longer you play, the faster you can produce value and the more money you will earn.

Value-generating games are exponential vehicles of earning potential.

You start by earning nothing.

You play the game.

Over time you become better at producing value per unit of time.

The more value you produce, the more money you can earn.

It is an infinite game that has no cap.

All you have to do is pick a game of value creation you enjoy and start playing.

The goal of the game is to get exceptional at producing value for others.

At some point, you will become undeniable.

This is where you would quickly gain back what you have even if you lost everything.

This is where the pros of value creation hang out.

If Mr Beast (the largest creator on YouTube) lost his channels and his fame, he’d be able to gain it all back in a heartbeat.

Why?

He has played a specific value creation game for so long that he is one of the best in the world at it.

He is ranked number 1 in the game of YouTube.

If started over again it would be like a pro gamer smurfing to get to the highest rank again.

Instead of taking years, he’d do it in a matter of months.

It’s all about knowledge (and skill).

Alex Hormozi has something he calls a knowledge tax.

He asks us,

“What does not knowing how to make $1,000,000 per year cost you?”

The answer is $1,000,000 per year.

This is the tax you pay for not having the knowledge or skill to earn that amount.

Link Creative Output & Information Input

Value creation is a skill.

A skill is something that is developed.

We live in the information age.

This means your unique value can be spread to the entire world at almost no cost.

You need to pick,

1. A unique knowledge domain

2. A creative output method

3. & the media of leverage

Set aside some time each week for your fundamental tasks.

Once you start you’ll go through three phases.

1. The Beginner Phase

2. The Intermediate Phase

3. & The Pro Phase

Then all you have to do is play the game long enough to win.

At some point, you will become undeniable.

You will have the knowledge and skill that you can leverage to start earning money.

Your uniqueness will now be valuable to the market.

The value you create will help people to the point where it is worth a lot of money.

This, however, is not the point.

Humans are creative beings.

We need to engage in both information input and creative output.

If we link them magic emerges.

If you already love learning (which I assume is true if you are reading this), then start creating.

Link what you are learning to something you are creating.

It will give meaning and purpose to your exploration of knowledge.

Start today, do not stop, and at some point, you will have helped the world become a better place while doing what you love.

Isn’t that something we are all aiming at?

Don’t forget, until next Sunday, do what makes your future self proud.