How To Profit From Solving Your Own Problems - Dan Koe

Chances are that the inward pull — where you will find your purpose — is painted over with layers of societal opinions, beliefs, and other projections that have been hard wired in your brain over years of unconscious living.

• That inward pull, for those that may not understand, can go by many names.
• Some call it your higher voice. Some call it your calling. Some call it the universe.
• For now, we will call in The Pull.

You increase the strength of The Pull by peeling back the layers that are suppressing it.

That means working from external to internal.

From superficial to profound.

Surface level to the core.

Tip of the iceberg to the bottom of the ocean.

Don’t let the depths scare you off, there’s a reason it isn’t crowded.

What problems are begging to be solved in your life right now?

Do you have self-esteem issues? Hit the gym.

Do you have money problems? Get a better job or start a low-risk business.

By working your way up Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs, you reveal the way inward toward your deepest purpose.

It is the most foundational human drive that modern distractions have hijacked.

You have the Library Of Alexandria staring you straight in the face.

It will take some digging, of course. You will not find all of the answers after a few days of research.

Your problems will get better.

You will see the futility in surface level external pursuits.

You will have a (good) desire to explore the depths of your being.

You will adopt and shed macro and micro purposes for a lifetime until you uncover your life’s purpose.

Adopt a writing habit.

Why?

The foundation of media is an impactful message.

An impactful message starts with an idea.

If that idea is not fleshed out for the sake of understanding through the written word; it will remain just that, an idea. Thrown in the trash with the millions of other “million dollar ideas” that have been piling up throughout your life.

By not writing, you are preventing yourself from discovering new mental pathways to go down.

One written word can change the direction of your life.

Writing is how you execute ideas as fast as possible so they don’t get lost in the depths of your mind.

The greatest skill one can develop is decreasing the time between idea and execution.

If you want to take part in any form of online business, media is your foundation.

• Educational content
• Newsletters and articles
• YouTube video scripts
• Sales and product pages
• Social media

The list goes on. Media is the front end of the internet and if you don’t plan to learn to code… better get started writing.

Creative, persuasive, and individual media houses (personal brands) cannot be phased out.

Big corporations can be automated, but society is losing trust in them.

We are transitioning into an age of authenticity.

People are losing trust in:

• – The media
• – Big corporations
• – Flashy sales gimmicks

People are gaining trust in:

• – Independent sources
• – Value-driven communities
• – Clarity and human connection

Only the curious will survive.

Authenticity stems from living through the energy generated from your purpose.

Finding purpose stems from solving your own problems.

Writing is the vessel for pursuing your curiosity, understanding yourself, and creating solutions for your problems.

Media is how you document the process, teach others what you learned, and get paid for doing so.

• Full control over who you work with, what you work on, and when you work.
• The ability to live by the laws of nature, work 2-4 hours a day, and dedicate time to other important areas of your life (like rest!)
• Getting paid for doing what you love, even when people say it is impossible.
• Self-reliance, sovereignty, and personal freedom that comes with a lack of money problems.
• Most if not all of this is impossible through employment.
• Employment is still a great option for increasing your income.
• At the same time, employment comes with a cap and distorts others’ perceptions of money.

That’s what business is… problem solving. That’s all it is. Money is the result of value exchange. Offer to solve someone’s problems for money in the areas you know best.

The limits that come along with employment cease to exist when you start taking the internet seriously.

Most of us “online business folk” refrain from talking about making a lot of money because that’s what most people’s lives revolve around.

More people need to talk about money. Normalize it. Condition people into believing that they can earn as much as they want doing what they want. As cheesy as it sounds, self-belief is the first step in almost anything.

A thought comes before action.

• Forget about finding a niche. 
• Choose 2-3 curiosities to pursue that have the potential to solve your own problems.
• Immerse yourself in an informational and social environment conducive to solving those problems.
• Read books, follow people online, and eliminate everything else that has the potential to distract you.
• Treat your Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn account as a place for sharing your discoveries.

That is your niche. YOU are your niche. YOU, at this very moment, are interested in a select few things that intersect. That intersection is where your audience is built.

People are interested in more than one thing.

Those that are interested in health can also express interest in spirituality or learning to code. That’s where the fun comes in — it’s on you to craft a persuasive argument for the interests that will help others solve their problems.

As you evolve, your content and brand will evolve.

That means you will move on from what you are currently talking about and selling.

You will desaturate the market beneath you.

The creator economy is impossible to saturate, otherwise, it’s not the creator economy (one-person businesses).

Human connection cannot scale.

If you want to build a billion-dollar company, then yes stick to one thing, but that’s not what I want… and I would argue 99% of people don’t actually want that.

Give me $1M a year and complete personal freedom. I’ll be good.

At the moment, the creator economy + one-person business model seems to sustainably provide this.

How do you evolve? By solving your own problems.

All of this is so simple. It just takes people a bit of time trying to find the complex answer before they realize it.

•  the best thing you can do is build leverage by writing online.
• Get out of the B2B space if you are dead set on living a life of self-reliance, fulfilment, and meaning.
• Join the C2C (creator to creator) space that is continuing to grow, almost exponentially.
• Flow with the current that few can see without being in the space.
• Flow with the shift from societal constructs and big business to individual education systems (social media and authentic products) and one-person businesses with media (writing) as the backbone of your success.

Like a crappy job posting that you feel unqualified for:

You need experience to start, but you gain experience by starting.

Most of what you are told you can’t do is an illusion. You take it as law and impose limits on yourself.

Use Twitter:

• Post your thoughts, ideas, beliefs, likes, and dislikes
• Speak to yourself. Give your current self the advice it needs to here and your past self advice it wish it had heard.
• Study your curiosities and share what you learn
• Actively improve your life and share the lessons and insights you came across

You will have many mental battles. Write your way through them.

You will have many personal battles. Write your way through them.

But what else would you expect?

A comfy, limited, job handing you a paycheck every 2 weeks in exchange for 80% of your waking hours?

No thanks. Sounds even more difficult than the former.

Your survival-wired psyche will thank you with good dopamine by pursuing your vision, goals, and hunting for its survival on a daily basis.