Excerpts from maybe Dan Koe (this links to an external link at x.com)
1. The tribe
We are the most social creatures on the planet.
Art, books, startups, and everything we create have a fundamental purpose: To contribute to society and evolution.
We’re hard-wired to care what people say, to be curious, and to compete.
Twitter changed my life. I found people I admire and people I could compete against. It created a powerful and healthy desire to grind.
You don’t have to build an audience (although it helps). Subreddits, Telegram chats, and Discord communities let you connect with like-minded people to leverage our social drive.
2. The system
You can trick the brain into working hard, but we’re still monkeys. We expect our efforts to bring results, quickly.
I have no clue how much I’ll earn next week, or how many followers I’ll get.
But I know exactly what I’ll achieve:
- 1 YouTube video
- 1 newsletter issue
- 1 feature (or startup)
With a short deadline and controllable goals, I always fulfill my expectations, and quitting is not an option.
3. The carrot
I lived like a cockroach with $1,000/month for 5 years. No one cared about my work.
Family, friends, and random people became curious when I started to earn $50,000 per month.
I don’t care what money buys (I didn’t even get a new surfboard). But I care for my work to be recognized.
Money gets attention. And attention drives motivation. Get paid for your work (ditch free plans). It’s a powerful drive to get things done.
Throughout my life, I’ve quit countless times — because one of these 3 drivers was missing.
It took 2 years to understand what pulls me to work. This issue summarizes it.
PS: I won’t ship startups for 3-6 months. I’m working on a project that’s important to me. I’m a bit scared, but it’s the right thing to do, I guess.