September 2, 2023: Greetings from Taipei! Let’s get into it. There are no gatekeepers anymore. You can just do things. But we pretend like this is not true. Lots of people have said that they want to write a book. You can write a book in Microsoft Word, format it on Reedsy, and then print and ship it on Amazon for less than $5. This is incredible.
Hey Paul.... I love the “don’t ask for permission”. When we last saw each other I was asking for my own permission. Then I got angry and made my platform for me... or for businesses that make promises to people like me.
I recently watched Raza's video, and I found it incredibly inspiring and liberating. The bravery he displayed in creating this special empowers creators like me immensely. It's disheartening to realize how powerful the internal voices can be, the ones that tell us we need to "achieve something" or "become someone" before pursuing our true desires. I struggled with these thoughts for a long time, questioning who would be interested in my articles and what I had to offer.
Interestingly, overcoming a severe illness (like yourself) helped me rise above these fears. After that experience, I couldn't fathom why I would want to squander my life by putting on a facade, going after a career that seemed meaningless, and most importantly, hiding my true self.
Thanks for the timely motivation! Raza is great, just watched part of that comedy clip.
And, indeed, this same logic is what drove me to just start building from scratch a community / space around discovering and intentionally developing our respective mindsets of abundance. I’ve been brainstorming its structure since just before the pandemic, painstakingly and cautiously, until at one point it hit me that there are no gatekeepers, so I’m now just forging ahead. Grateful to the folks who expressed themselves in interviews so far, and looking to grow the space precipitously over the next year! Anyone who wishes is welcome to become an integral part of the process.
I enjoy your writing and the perspectives you are sharing for several years now.
When reading this post I had a nagging voice in my head. What if:
- you don’t have the financial means to just say bye to your job and go do whatever you want?
- what if you are the sole carrying parent to several kids?
The thought was triggered by “leaving a cozy tech job”. Sounds tough. But what about leaving your job that “barely makes enough money to get your family through the month to do something crazy/new”?
This isn’t a critique against those who are doing it. It’s a critique that for some more than permission is needed. You need capital to do the step, financial and social (and I’m unsure which one is more important).
No worries. Maybe what's needed is more examples? Or more specific example? Or maybe in the case that you talked about he would have done it even if he wouldn't have had a cozy tech job?
There is this idea of job crafting, creating the job you want to have. This is easier for those higher up in the hierarchy as they have more autonomy. That concept gets the same criticism. But one of the most impactful paper on this topic is researching how cleaning staff in a hospital are crafting their job to enjoy it more.
Financial capital makes it easier to just do whatever you want to do. Social capital also makes it easier. But your personality also plays a role. It's the interplay between the three. If you don't have one, one of the other needs to be stronger.
Lastly about (near) poverty and creating change in your life, I think there is a level where you're life is so crap that you are willing to take big risks to create change. And then there is the level where it's really fucking hard, but the risk of doing a big change is too big. You're spending all your cognitive and emotional energy staying afloat, but as you are not yet drowning you are not ready for doing crazy stuff.
Wow, that was a long reply to a short reaction 🤣 It's for sure on my mind
Agree with your comment, Katerina. I applaud the concepts of not waiting to be chosen and not asking permission, and both have given me hope as I delve (almost) full-time into my Substack writing. But poverty, or near poverty changes thing—I know that first hand.
Hah I should've read this comment before I made my own of a very similar bent. It can get frustrating if you read advice aimed at extremely successful people in finance/tech/consulting and then have to realize over and over it doesn't apply to people without a huge financial cushion.
It's unfortunate, but that's the way the world works. I still think on balance it's better for the world if more of those folks in cushy high-paying jobs leave and do their own thing, though.
from what ive found, the people in high-paid jobs are the ones that don't leave. from the hundreds of people ive talked to it leans non-american and people with non-traditional parents, and-or places without a robust knowledge economy
Interesting. I could see how the opportunity of writing a substack and scaling it up would be much more attractive to folks that have a lower cost of living than somewhere in the Western world. That's a good point.
That being said, a lot of your posts talk about corporate burnout, no? Wasn't that your story? (Assuming you were pretty well paid, have no idea)
I was well paid for a few years. But didn’t crush it to any level of financial independence due to sick leave from health issues and grad school debt. I had about $50k in savings when I quit and then broke even with income and spending for 3-4 years.
I agree. You offer a very refreshing perspective on the gatekeepers. Ultimately it also depends what you want. If you want fame and fortune then the work will be harder because the reward is high. Perhaps we need to change the value of rewards. For me, writing, paying for editing and design, then publishing on Amazon and finally seeing my hard work in print is everything for me. What I would have to do in order to make money from them does not sound appealing. Do yeah, screw the gatekeepers, do the work you love.
I have been working for myself for several years running a recruiting business and started writing online to satiate a creative itch. I took Write of Passage earlier this year to kickstart the process. Your work came up with some frequency and this post was recommended to me through the Substack Reads email.
I'm not sure this advice is good for most people. Nor do I think it's entirely true. Here's what I mean:
Sure, anyone can "open Microsoft Word and write a book," or create their own comedy special...this has been the case for at least a decade (if not more). But is "if you build it, they will come" such a keen strategy? You obviously know the answer to that and am sure you have written about these challenges at length.
Further, gatekeepers absolutely do exist, they just come in different forms:
1 - Traditional Gatekeepers -- there are fewer of them because of industry consolidation (thanks in part to the internet) and they are increasingly focused on existing IP or driven by motives other than "finding the best work to back." But they're still there.
2 - Social Media Algorithms -- instead of dozens of viable traditional media outlets, we have a handful of social media algorithms. Call them what you want, but these act as digital gatekeepers that need to be fed with great frequency.
3 - Expertise -- the algorithmic gatekeepers reward niche expertise and consistency. And how do you gain expertise? Typically through a top percentile level of knowledge in an area of interest or a hobby. Or through an interesting career.
And for creative work, it's become something of a race to the bottom in terms of quality (just look at the most viewed content on YouTube - literally Mr. Beast putting a Lamborghini through an industrial shredder while he laughs with his friends.)
The issue people face, including genuinely talented people, is the reality that "making it" creatively has become an absolute and total grind. It's not enough to entertain, you must do so with great consistency across multiple platforms. You must "play the internet game."
This can absolutely be done, and there are a lot of folks who have done it. But the reality of the situation is far more complex than "no gatekeepers."
I'll end on this - maybe the old gatekeepers were actually good? For instance, Michael Crichton got his start by writing novels "to pay for furniture and groceries" during his time at medical school and submitting them to publishing houses. If he came about today, he'd probably scrap The Andromeda Strain and instead spend his days posting variations of "5 Tips to Crush the MCAT from a Harvard Med School Student" across social platforms while trying to sell a course.
Scratch that. He'd probably just be a Doctor and we'd all be worse off for it.
Paul, I'm sure you get this question a lot and I don't mean to be rude, but do you change your advice at all based on whether someone has a realistic vision?
Before getting too critical - your writing helped me launch this substack, so thank you! I appreciate your motivational writing and it has helped me be a bit more ambitious with my side hustles, but for instance, I would love to quit my job and write a book right now. I've been working on it, have lots of thoughts, etc. But the problem is I'm just not a very good writer yet. I need practice.
On top on that, I have a family I need to help support. So I think that while your advice is great for a small subset of really successful people who have financial safety nets... I worry that many will take your advice before they have a realistic plan, and crash and burn.
You don't! And I'm hoping to at least work on it while being employed full-time. But when you add up taking care of the house, the family, the pets, doing the job, having a social life, etc it becomes difficult.
I suppose I'm saying that while I like your vision and push for motivation, it should be clear to people that creating anything as serious as a book takes sacrifice. One of the reasons I struggled so long to get started writing is that I was trying to have it all, I didn't understand that if I actually wanted to be a writer I would have to give up other parts of my life.
Dont Wait to be CHOSEN. CHOOSE YOURSELF. Got it.
Hey Paul.... I love the “don’t ask for permission”. When we last saw each other I was asking for my own permission. Then I got angry and made my platform for me... or for businesses that make promises to people like me.
I hope Taiwan is treating you well.
Andrew
Nice to hear! Coming through Taiwan next couple of months??
I recently watched Raza's video, and I found it incredibly inspiring and liberating. The bravery he displayed in creating this special empowers creators like me immensely. It's disheartening to realize how powerful the internal voices can be, the ones that tell us we need to "achieve something" or "become someone" before pursuing our true desires. I struggled with these thoughts for a long time, questioning who would be interested in my articles and what I had to offer.
Interestingly, overcoming a severe illness (like yourself) helped me rise above these fears. After that experience, I couldn't fathom why I would want to squander my life by putting on a facade, going after a career that seemed meaningless, and most importantly, hiding my true self.
Thanks for the timely motivation! Raza is great, just watched part of that comedy clip.
And, indeed, this same logic is what drove me to just start building from scratch a community / space around discovering and intentionally developing our respective mindsets of abundance. I’ve been brainstorming its structure since just before the pandemic, painstakingly and cautiously, until at one point it hit me that there are no gatekeepers, so I’m now just forging ahead. Grateful to the folks who expressed themselves in interviews so far, and looking to grow the space precipitously over the next year! Anyone who wishes is welcome to become an integral part of the process.
I enjoy your writing and the perspectives you are sharing for several years now.
When reading this post I had a nagging voice in my head. What if:
- you don’t have the financial means to just say bye to your job and go do whatever you want?
- what if you are the sole carrying parent to several kids?
The thought was triggered by “leaving a cozy tech job”. Sounds tough. But what about leaving your job that “barely makes enough money to get your family through the month to do something crazy/new”?
This isn’t a critique against those who are doing it. It’s a critique that for some more than permission is needed. You need capital to do the step, financial and social (and I’m unsure which one is more important).
Shared with love
i dont have good answers! luckily there are many more people sharing than me :-)
No worries. Maybe what's needed is more examples? Or more specific example? Or maybe in the case that you talked about he would have done it even if he wouldn't have had a cozy tech job?
There is this idea of job crafting, creating the job you want to have. This is easier for those higher up in the hierarchy as they have more autonomy. That concept gets the same criticism. But one of the most impactful paper on this topic is researching how cleaning staff in a hospital are crafting their job to enjoy it more.
Financial capital makes it easier to just do whatever you want to do. Social capital also makes it easier. But your personality also plays a role. It's the interplay between the three. If you don't have one, one of the other needs to be stronger.
Lastly about (near) poverty and creating change in your life, I think there is a level where you're life is so crap that you are willing to take big risks to create change. And then there is the level where it's really fucking hard, but the risk of doing a big change is too big. You're spending all your cognitive and emotional energy staying afloat, but as you are not yet drowning you are not ready for doing crazy stuff.
Wow, that was a long reply to a short reaction 🤣 It's for sure on my mind
Agree with your comment, Katerina. I applaud the concepts of not waiting to be chosen and not asking permission, and both have given me hope as I delve (almost) full-time into my Substack writing. But poverty, or near poverty changes thing—I know that first hand.
Hah I should've read this comment before I made my own of a very similar bent. It can get frustrating if you read advice aimed at extremely successful people in finance/tech/consulting and then have to realize over and over it doesn't apply to people without a huge financial cushion.
It's unfortunate, but that's the way the world works. I still think on balance it's better for the world if more of those folks in cushy high-paying jobs leave and do their own thing, though.
from what ive found, the people in high-paid jobs are the ones that don't leave. from the hundreds of people ive talked to it leans non-american and people with non-traditional parents, and-or places without a robust knowledge economy
Interesting. I could see how the opportunity of writing a substack and scaling it up would be much more attractive to folks that have a lower cost of living than somewhere in the Western world. That's a good point.
That being said, a lot of your posts talk about corporate burnout, no? Wasn't that your story? (Assuming you were pretty well paid, have no idea)
yup. It’s the only life I’ve lived so far 😂
I was well paid for a few years. But didn’t crush it to any level of financial independence due to sick leave from health issues and grad school debt. I had about $50k in savings when I quit and then broke even with income and spending for 3-4 years.
I agree. You offer a very refreshing perspective on the gatekeepers. Ultimately it also depends what you want. If you want fame and fortune then the work will be harder because the reward is high. Perhaps we need to change the value of rewards. For me, writing, paying for editing and design, then publishing on Amazon and finally seeing my hard work in print is everything for me. What I would have to do in order to make money from them does not sound appealing. Do yeah, screw the gatekeepers, do the work you love.
Love this.
Raza is fire. Thanks to your introduction, I’ve been to his shows twice! Both times were great and had fresh material
I have been working for myself for several years running a recruiting business and started writing online to satiate a creative itch. I took Write of Passage earlier this year to kickstart the process. Your work came up with some frequency and this post was recommended to me through the Substack Reads email.
I'm not sure this advice is good for most people. Nor do I think it's entirely true. Here's what I mean:
Sure, anyone can "open Microsoft Word and write a book," or create their own comedy special...this has been the case for at least a decade (if not more). But is "if you build it, they will come" such a keen strategy? You obviously know the answer to that and am sure you have written about these challenges at length.
Further, gatekeepers absolutely do exist, they just come in different forms:
1 - Traditional Gatekeepers -- there are fewer of them because of industry consolidation (thanks in part to the internet) and they are increasingly focused on existing IP or driven by motives other than "finding the best work to back." But they're still there.
2 - Social Media Algorithms -- instead of dozens of viable traditional media outlets, we have a handful of social media algorithms. Call them what you want, but these act as digital gatekeepers that need to be fed with great frequency.
3 - Expertise -- the algorithmic gatekeepers reward niche expertise and consistency. And how do you gain expertise? Typically through a top percentile level of knowledge in an area of interest or a hobby. Or through an interesting career.
And for creative work, it's become something of a race to the bottom in terms of quality (just look at the most viewed content on YouTube - literally Mr. Beast putting a Lamborghini through an industrial shredder while he laughs with his friends.)
The issue people face, including genuinely talented people, is the reality that "making it" creatively has become an absolute and total grind. It's not enough to entertain, you must do so with great consistency across multiple platforms. You must "play the internet game."
This can absolutely be done, and there are a lot of folks who have done it. But the reality of the situation is far more complex than "no gatekeepers."
I'll end on this - maybe the old gatekeepers were actually good? For instance, Michael Crichton got his start by writing novels "to pay for furniture and groceries" during his time at medical school and submitting them to publishing houses. If he came about today, he'd probably scrap The Andromeda Strain and instead spend his days posting variations of "5 Tips to Crush the MCAT from a Harvard Med School Student" across social platforms while trying to sell a course.
Scratch that. He'd probably just be a Doctor and we'd all be worse off for it.
Paul, I'm sure you get this question a lot and I don't mean to be rude, but do you change your advice at all based on whether someone has a realistic vision?
Before getting too critical - your writing helped me launch this substack, so thank you! I appreciate your motivational writing and it has helped me be a bit more ambitious with my side hustles, but for instance, I would love to quit my job and write a book right now. I've been working on it, have lots of thoughts, etc. But the problem is I'm just not a very good writer yet. I need practice.
On top on that, I have a family I need to help support. So I think that while your advice is great for a small subset of really successful people who have financial safety nets... I worry that many will take your advice before they have a realistic plan, and crash and burn.
How do you address that risk?
why do you have to quit your job to write a book?
You don't! And I'm hoping to at least work on it while being employed full-time. But when you add up taking care of the house, the family, the pets, doing the job, having a social life, etc it becomes difficult.
I suppose I'm saying that while I like your vision and push for motivation, it should be clear to people that creating anything as serious as a book takes sacrifice. One of the reasons I struggled so long to get started writing is that I was trying to have it all, I didn't understand that if I actually wanted to be a writer I would have to give up other parts of my life.
Yup it’s hard. This is why I don’t have pets and we don’t plan to own a home. It would be too costly for our life.