Do what you love, but study psychology, human behavior, and persuasion so people actually care about what you do enough to pay you for it.

"the creator economy is a giant ponzi scheme" thedankoe.com/letters/the-cr…

5 things i'd tell my 18-year-old self

Most people's lives are determined by how they choose to cure their boredom.

The best routines can only be created by you, for your specific goals, through never-ending self-experimentation. Routines are systems to achieve your goals with efficiency. If you didn't set the goal, the routine isn't helping you, and you aren't living your own life.

social media changed my life

If you aren't willing to suck at something: You'll probably never be great at anything. You'll probably have a very difficult life. You'll probably struggle to find meaning. Stop expecting to lift a mental, physical, or financial 315 pounds on your first day in the gym.

Build your own thing for the first hour every day. See where it takes you. Commit to it. Produce something of value that you weren't forced to produce to pay the bills or because your parents or teachers told you to. Your future self is begging you and I know you hear that voice.

Learn a lot of stuff. Build a lot of stuff. Identify problems. Solve them. Discover new paths. Take them. Reflect on the journey. Do it better the next time. Stay aware of distractions. Don't turn on autopilot. Take risks. Make mistakes. Fail, hard. Bounce back. Win. That's it.

You can do everything, actually.

You can learn marketing, writing, design, programming, video editing, lead generation, social media, or any other skill people tell you to learn... but they all fall short if you don't stack it with this one: (It's only unethical if you're unconscious) thedankoe.com/letters/the-gr…

The perfect time to start was the last time you said you were going to but got distracted. The next best time to start is right now because if you're not pursuing what you want, the only option is to be distracted, and it should be obvious how that only leads to bad things.

If you're a beginner creator that was told to learn a marketable skill just to get shit on for selling to creators (aka businesses), this is for you youtu.be/ROEBdWJhYto

The most dangerous threat to your potential is to stop learning once you've stopped being forced to.

A closed mind is the worst trait you can have. You can't see opportunities passing you by every second (yes, every second). You don't think you can improve your situation (absolutely false). You're a slave to negative emotions. And worst of all, you don't even realize it.

You struggle to come up with new ideas because you're stuck in survival mode. You're trapped in the same old boring routine and your mind can't access thoughts or ideas outside of it. Let go. Take some rest. Embrace chaos for a bit. The ideas will come.