Books for the Win
During the Eagles/Packers game last weekend the camera caught Eagles receiver AJ Brown reading a book called Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy. Within hours, the book went from number 523,497 on Amazon to number one.
Speaking of amazing books, my friend Justin Moore developed an amazing resource for content creators called Sponsor Magnet. The TDLR? – if you want to sell more sponsorships or create brand partnerships, this is your resource. Preorder a copy today.
NOTE: Sponsor Magnet is another amazing book published by Tilt Publishing.
Following this year’s Golden Globes awards, The New York Times did an interesting expose on celebrity side hustles.
Selena Gomez, with two GG nominations, is now valued at billions through her popular makeup company, Rare Beauty. Ariana Grande has a cosmetics brand. Ryan Reynolds created a gin and a mobile company. Naomi Watts has a menopause company. Jessica Alba sells baby stuff. Brad Pitt, George Clooney and The Rock. The list goes on and on.
Why is this happening, you may ask?
The article states one key reason: to diversify away from the unpredictability of being an actor.
But that doesn’t go deep enough. The real reason is that the hardest part about launching a company is the marketing, and with celebrities being able to build their own audiences through social media, podcasts and more, it opens all sorts of opportunities for commerce.
For celebrities, building an audience is relatively easy compared to non-celebrities. If you become known through a song or a movie, people will follow you. From there, you build out the playbook.
But what about regular people? Can this be done?
For those people who truly want success, I think this sort of strategy is a must.
But before I give you an idea of how to do this, think about Demi Moore. Moore won a Golden Globe for her performance in The Substance. This was the first major award of her long career. In her words, “it’s the first time I’ve won anything as an actor.”
In the acceptance speech, she said that those people who made films told her that she was a “popcorn actress” and nothing more…meaning, good for a fun watch but not a super talented actor. And, for years and for many roles, she was dismissed.
Can you imagine having your whole career in the hands of other people?
Well, most of us should, because most of us have.
Before my wife and I started our business, my success was based on what a few people in the organization thought about me and my work. My pay, my title, my benefits, and my goals were either completely or partially in the hands of others. I hated this so much that I finally broke free and launched a business.
But many people, for one reason or another, can’t or won’t leave their jobs.
Enter the side hustle.
Much like the actors we just discussed who have dipped their toes into different businesses, so must we all. If for anything else, to protect ourselves.
If you work for someone else, now is the time to build an audience around something…anything where you can open up more opportunities for yourself and your family. This could be through a newsletter or a YouTube series or a Podcast or whatever.
It will take time, but once you build an audience (even a small one) that knows, likes and trusts you, you can develop a product or service they will want to purchase.
This is not as easy for us as it is for celebrities. We don’t have followers just waiting around to follow us. But if you have an interesting angle on a topic important to a few, you can start to build something.
When I launched a content marketing blog in April of 2007, I literally had zero readers. In two years time, almost 10,000 people subscribed to that blog. Five years later, it was over 200,000. With persistence and time, this model works. Most people will give up, but not you.
Give it some thought.
The Brain & Trying New Things
A few months ago I talked about dementia. I think about it often and continuously research the disease.
Recently, I learned about neuroplasicity.
Neuroplasicity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. Unfortunately, neuroplacisicity doesn’t just happen.
The brain won’t grow if you don’t stretch and work it.
Think about running a marathon. It’s not possible without months and months of short runs to give you the ability to do a longer run. Or lifting weights. You have to start at a small weight and continually grow muscles over time.
The brain works the same way.
This means you have to continually do things differently. Even small things.
For example, what is your dominant hand for brushing your teeth? For most people it’s the right hand. So, every other day, use your left hand. Do that, and the brain will start firing in completely different ways.
Here’s some other examples:
- Learn to play an instrument
- Start doing yoga
- Try learning a new language
- Journal your thoughts
- Read books outside of what you do for a living
There are all sorts of benefits to this, including an increase in dopamine levels and the ability to be more creative, but the number one reason to do this is to reduce cognitive decline.
Every member of my father’s side of the family suffered from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. There is nothing more tragic than watching someone you love lose themselves in front of your eyes.
I believe, by working your brain out in new and different ways, we can combat cognitive decline.
So in your daily or weekly habits, include something that works your brain out.