The creator economy is estimated to be worth half a trillion by 2027

That's a 400 billion jump in less than 4 years

This is officially the perfect time to start

But it isn’t that simple

There is more to creation than slapping some words on a page and clicking post. 

Many start off this way and slowly lose the passion to create. 

Creation becomes a chore for them - it becomes a binary value. 

Either you hit post or you save it as a draft to hit post at some later time. 

That’s what many people do and call themselves creators.

These are the same type of people that never realize that what they create is a product of what they consume…

“When your intention is clear, so is your way” - Alex Cohen

Everything you consume leaks into the content you create.

Books.

Articles.

Podcasts.

And to be a good creator…you need to be a good consumer.

What does that mean?

It means you need to be intentional with what you consume by putting a purpose behind it.

As you consume content - there should always be a goal behind it.

Otherwise what's the point of it?

By aimlessly consuming you bring out bad habits

As you blindly keep scrolling you waste hours of your day and make no progress on your goals. 

This is the biggest problem most creators face - the ability to structure their thoughts

The Creator Sequence

Whether it's writing, public speaking, or DJing…all creators go through the same 3 step process.

This 3 step process determines the quality of what they produce whether its books, speeches or music.

The sequence goes like this:

Thoughts -> Ideas -> Identity

Every single part of this sequence is crucial to build an identity behind your brand - with even one piece missing your brand will fall apart before even starting

Thoughts

Think of thoughts as free floating bubbles of information

At any moment you can pop that bubble and consume that information

These bubbles come in the form of many things:

Music

Shows

Conversations

They are free floating pieces of information that you selectively consume and build off. 

The thoughts you have are built off ideas that belong to someone else, you have no claim over them (at least for now).

Talking about these thoughts like you own them is another elaborate form of plagiarism - this is why so many people call themselves “fans".

It's these same people that build their identity around someone else's ideas - in a sense their identity is their thoughts.

This is  by far the most important part of the sequence.

If you aren’t able to source your thoughts correctly you will never be able to build the identity you want.

Thought generation should come from a few people that you trust and want to emulate. 

The first place to start is understanding what you want your identity to be known for - this is simpler than you think.

Pick one core interest and a few sub interests. Your sub interests will funnel into your core interest.

Your core interest is the vehicle by which your brand runs and is the primary source of income that you hope to achieve from your brand.

Your sub interests fuel that vehicle and keep it moving.

My core interest is writing

My sub interests include

-> Science

-> Spirituality

-> Philosophy

I funnel all of these sub interests into my core interest to build my unique brand identity.

All that you consume should be from topics related to these sub interests - these sub interests already exist within you.

Everything you already consume is part of a larger interest, you just need to identify it and consume it intentionally.

By picking a few mentors to consume from you are able to sit with their ideas longer and build connections with the thoughts that appear. 

Over time these connected thoughts from these set of mentors become structured and tied to you. 

Ideas

Ideas are structured thoughts.

By being able to consume from a variety of sources you can cross reference them and form your own perspectives.

It's these perspectives you form that allow you to transfer the ownership of thoughts to yourself - you’re no longer plagiarizing… you’re creating

Start by asking yourself many different questions on someone’s ideas.

Who?

What?

Where?

How?

Attack it from every angle and make sense of it in your way.

This is how you begin setting yourself apart from other people that simply spit out other people’s ideas as their own.

Expect ideas to change and morph over time, the more time you spend with them the more clarity you find.

This clarity between your ideas is what forms your identity.

Identity

Your identity is the connections made between your ideas.

It's the essence by which you make decisions to live your life a certain way that differs from others.

It's the culmination of pre-existing ideas mixed with your own experiences - these ideas make up your identity.

Everything that you’re known for is based on external actions made by ideas that form your internal self.

This is why it's so important to build a unique identity.

Think of it like this:

Every single famous person has left a legacy that stemmed from their ideas and experiences.

Sigmund Freud left his legacy with the developments he made in psychoanalysis through his theory of the psyche.

Thomas Hobbes left his legacy of the idea of social contracts and sovereignties through this book “Leviathan” 

Do you get it?

Your ideas lead to a unique identity which leads to a legacy for others to follow.

By zooming out, your ideas will continue to exist for centuries to come, and the identity of a creator becomes a way of life.

Your thoughts are bubbles of information you consume, your ideas are connections between experiences and information, your identity is the connection between all your ideas.

Once you begin to think of being a creator in this way you’ll never struggle with standing out.

The Thinker

No one takes the time to think. When one task is done we start the next one, and then the next one after that. 

What's the point?

We’re hamsters on a hamster wheel - thinking we’ll find some fulfillment from completing an endless amount of tasks.

This is so ingrained in society that it's seen as weird to stop and do nothing. To sit there: no tv, no communication, no work. 

It's weird to be at peace with your own thoughts.

But that's exactly what you need to be able to do.

We don’t know much about the brain, but we know it's powerful. There's loads of hidden gems within our own skull, yet we look outside of it to find inspiration. 

It's time to move away from short form media.

Not just minute long videos, but even short story books. 

To really understand how someone else see’s the world you need to explore it.

What does that mean?

It means diving in their literature without the intentions of writing about it, but with the intentions of understanding it - maybe even attacking it.

It means consuming their ideas over long periods of time and understanding it from every angle.

Because, in the end, all of our ideas aren’t original. Our inspiration is from the ideas that have been passed down for centuries.

This is what it takes to be a creator.

And it's not for everyone, but it's an opportunity that everyone has.

Talk to you soon

Jay