If you want to listen to a life-changing podcast, this interview I did with Michael Jr. may do the trick. After seeing one of his videos in 2015, we recruited Michael to be one of our keynotes for Content Marketing World in 2016. He came back with one of the highest ratings ever.
To quote Michael Jr., “If you understand your why, you have a lot of options for what. But your why never changes.”
For example, he says, “My why is to comedically inspire people to walk in purpose. But my ‘what’ looks like doing stand-up comedy, writing more books, doing more TV shows, doing more touring… I have a lot of options for ‘what,’ but my ‘why’ doesn’t change. So if you understand your ‘why’ your ‘what’ has more impact. The key is to understand why you are putting it out there and whether it connects with your why or just a why.”
Michael Jr.’s words explain a lot about the state of content right now. So many companies are creating articles and podcasts and social media posts; but is there a clear why behind the ‘what’ they are creating? Sadly, most businesses don’t have this. They just run to the ‘what’ first.
Michael always asks, “What is your why? Or are you too busy jumping from ‘what’ to ‘what’ to even ask or answer that question?”
Well, are you? Do you know the “why” behind your content? Or are you jumping from article to podcast to video without truly understanding the purpose for creating it?
You have to remind yourself of this all the time. I know I do. This came up recently. We had an opportunity at The Tilt to create a piece of content that would have generated a good chunk of revenue. The problem was, it wasn’t quite within our mission, and I didn’t think it was valuable enough for our audience. So we decided not to do this.
Maybe in your situation you are asked to create content to drive immediate sales…but you know in your heart and soul it’s not serving the customer or audience. While these activities might help short term, they will kill you long term. We have to learn to say no.
Here’s what I ask of you: Right now, stop creating all the “whats” and really put some thought into your “why.” Find a “why” that has purpose for you as well as a deep purpose and meaning for your audience. Once you find that, all the “whats” will easily present themselves.
The Superior Money
Here is a fantastic article on Bitcoin. It’s worth the read.
There are a couple of sections worth focusing on. First, why is Bitcoin superior money?
“It perfectly performs the three functions of money:
It’s the perfect store of value because I know exactly how much I have in relationship to the whole, and I know that it cannot be diluted or altered.
It’s the perfect medium of exchange because I can send what I want, to whom I want, whenever I want and there is no power in the universe that can stop me from doing so.
It’s the perfect unit of account because it’s infinitely divisible and I can thus measure all other goods and services in it. As its purchasing power grows, one can continue to sub-divide the units to measure smaller goods and services, forever.”
And finally, one cannot “invest” in Bitcoin like you can stocks or real estate.
“One does not ”invest” in a superior form of money.
In the same way that the person who holds the Zimbabwean dollar or bolívar doesn’t “invest” in USD, but flees to it as a superior money that has a better guarantee, people who understand Bitcoin are moving out of traditional government-issued currencies not as an investment but as a migration to superior money.”
My friend Jim and I were talking about this in front of a group of four other people last week. After the first two minutes of conversation, every one else left (yes, it was one of those conversations).
I think most people are overwhelmed by the concept of Bitcoin. When they become this way, I just reiterate –
It’s not controlled by any government or entity.
It will never be diluted or changed in any way.
I can do whatever I want with it and never need anyone else’s permission to do anything with it.
I believe that, in my lifetime, it will be the world’s currency. Mind you, there will be a million other currencies simultaneously, but Bitcoin will be the standard.