#2 Grow some balls

Read time: 4 min

Welcome my lovely Scenius people. Today I’m going to share another secret of mine - which will not be a secret anymore so make sure to read till the end.

Let me take you back to September 2022 - I was still in college and pretty depressed. All I got to hear was “Hey, did you get that job you wanted?” “Hey, any plans for masters?” “Hey, wanna go to that party?”

Not to sound like a sad little snob - but that was exactly who I was. And no I did not have a miraculous transformation one day and no I did not achieve that through waking up early at 5 am. I decide to build something on my own.

I went with an alias name - Smoul. I created a twitter account with 0 followers. A medium account with 0 followers. And Instagram account with 0 followers. I changed my name and created an avatar. I wanted to prove myself that without having a prior identity or support - I can build a brand out of my name.

I did not tell any of my friend about this journey. I wanted to move silence. Soon I started making friends online and they were nicer - more supportive. I found a place I can call home, no matter where I go.

And if I can do it - you can too. Because we here are not geniuses, we are here because we work hard. At that time I had already been a Notion user so I started creating templates for other people. Before I started doing it for the money, I did it for the cause.

So what exactly is the lessons here? Not so Sherlock huh? Here is how you can build a brand out of your name - from 0

1. Show the guts:

That is the first thing you out to do. Have the guts to say ‘No More’ to your old life and to walk on a path that is not going to be easy. Trust me, there will be days you’ll have burnouts, where you’ll question why even you’re doing this, where you will see some else do better than you.

At that time, grow some balls and say “I’ll walk on the path I choose for myself.”

2. Show up each day:

Don’t know what to share about? Don’t know what your niche is? Don’t know what you’re going to provide?

You’re not here to do that. Before you find your niche - find what excites you. Before you find your voice - find the voice of people that inspire you. Before you decide to provide - choose what you’re going to consume. The best way to get to know yourself is through your algorithm

• look at your podcast history

• look at your youtube recommendations

• look at the articles you’ve read

• look at the books on your shelf

Found a link? That is exactly who you are. Before I found my passions - I saw what I consumed the most. I had Naval Ravikant on repeat, Ali Abdaal youtube videos on loop and Tim Ferris blogs open - see what’s in common?

Find 3 people that inspire you. Then find 3 people for each person that is similar to them. Soon you’ll have a tree of people whom you can learn from.

TLDR;

• Your algorithm knows you better than you know yourself

• Create the tree of people who inspire you

• Create yourself before you think of creating value

3. Show your work:

Now that the grown balls are all mature and you’ve found your interest too - you cannot sit empty-handed with this knowledge. How is the world going to know about you when you don’t share yourself with them?

Stop looking for the right time or the right resources. Know the Parkinson law?

It states that the work will get done in the time limit you allot it. If you say it will take 10 min - it will take 10 min. If you want it to stretch for an hour - it will stretch for an hour. I believe this theory applies to your skills too.

I used to say I’ll start my Notion business when I get time and when I have a better laptop. Guess what - I never started for 2 years. I kept delaying it.

Don’t be like me. Take that leap. Be an amateur. Just build something.

And don’t fear if the work is worthy or not. Be proud of your knowledge while still aiming to learn more. You can not edit a blank page - similarly you cannot grow your brand when you don’t put yourself out there.

Made it till the end? Here - have a treat. 🧁 

Another favour - Just like I told you I am also an amateur. I like to share what I wanted to know before starting my creator journey. Do let me know by replying to this email about what you want to read next, if the length is okay or if you want to know about a specific topic.

Have a nice day geniuses
Smoul [the not-so-expert writer]