I always felt bad for wanting to make money.
There was an unconscious stigma that it was an evil thing to do. That’s all you hear others – who haven’t done much with their life – preach.
I didn’t realize money could be a vessel for spiritual growth.
To start this letter:
Don’t feel bad for wanting to make money.
It is the tool that allows you to fulfill your basic needs. It is a necessity for survival. Most people reject the need, not want, for money and lock themselves into a narrow-minded existence.
Money is a tool to solve problems.
Problems are limits on your mind and potential. When you solve a real problem and pass down the solution, you contribute to the evolution of humanity.
Starting a business is one of the most spiritual things you can do.
You are spiritually obligated to get rich in your 20s because money – in today’s world – is a barrier to personal development. Higher stages of consciousness are difficult to achieve without your basic needs met and meaningful work to focus your attention.
Without money, you may get trapped in the default lifestyle of going to school, working a job you hate, marrying a spouse you don’t care about, and waking up one day wondering where the time went.
Business As A Vessel For Spiritual Growth
You are being attracted to your highest version, and the depth of your core can sense it. The external call to evolve requires you to chisel inward beneath the mental constructs that have been layered through your conditioning. – The Art Of Focus
The big problem:
Most people reject the pursuit of material objects because they can’t see beyond the material object.
Someone can buy a fancy car on impulse, but it doesn’t have to remain a materialistic pursuit.
They can grow to become obsessed with the depth of the car itself. They can study its parts, turn it into a career, and use it as a portal into the flow state.
Lesson: superficial pursuits can birth metaphysical meaning.
Someone can start a business in the pursuit of status and money, but that same business can introduce them to the depth of skill, customer results, and the inner workings of their mind required to run that business. They fall in love with that crevice of reality, and that crevice of reality teaches them about reality itself.
The pursuit of money almost always starts as superficial.
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing to do.
It may be the only way to expose yourself to depth.
Like lifting weights. You start for the vanity and stay for the therapy.
When you find the intersection of:
- What allows you to survive
- What you enjoy doing every day
- What helps other people improve
Life becomes meaningful and abundant.
Yes, there are “bad” parts that come with making money.
Just like there are “bad” lyrics of a song.
Welcome to life. You will never get rid of the bad. You just learn to zoom out, nurture a strong vision for the future, and make sure the overarching narrative creates heaven, not hell.
Most people never reach this stage because they can’t pursue a goal until passion is developed.
You don’t start out passionate.
You become passionate according to the amount of energy you invest in the goal.
All pursuits are materialistic until a philosophical sense of mastery is formed. Then, it becomes their vehicle into the unknown to expand and evolve. Like a relationship, you are attracted by their looks (95% of the time) and are only then introduced to the depth of their being.
Looks, in all domains of life, are as important as depth. The problem is when people never dive deeper. They bounce around on the surface like a distracted dopamine junkie.
Their mind plays the familiar past and known future on repeat.
They live out that same experience and never solve the problems that live in their head rent-free. The problems that must be solved to evolve beyond their current mind and situation.
Eventually, you have to kick those mental tenants out and allow new ones to occupy it.
Every external problem requires an internal problem to be solved.
Your mind, your customers minds, and the Universe itself fall into chaos if you do not pursue a what-could-be superficial goal to reverse entropy.
You aren’t where you want to be because you haven’t solved the problem that unlocks your next level of mind.
Money Is A Spiritual Energy – The Decentralized New Economy
Most people don’t understand what spirituality is.
They are attracted to it because it promises to ease their suffering, they misinterpret, and get attached to a new identity of long hair and hippy clothes to feel special (and potentially more noble) than others.
Spirituality is your connection to something greater than yourself.
Spirituality is becoming one with the whole you are a part of.
Sports can be spiritual because you are at one with the team. This is called “team spirit.”
Work can be spiritual because you are at one with the impact of your work. “Flow state” is often described as a spiritual experience.
Spirituality is the dissolution of the limits that compose your self.
Business gives you a reason to be spiritual.
It exposes you to new problems that demand a new perspective to navigate.
Most people are stuck in the same place as they were 10 years ago. They don’t need to read more on spirituality, they need to challenge themselves so they are forced to develop themselves to the point of needing spirituality to reach the next stage.
Shifting to a spiritual perspective allows you to understand money as energy that fuels growth, expansion, and evolution by solving problems.
To “shift to a spiritual perspective” is to zoom out and observe reality.
When you do, you notice patterns of nature:
- Unity and division
- Creation and destruction
- Centralization and decentralization
As above, so below.
Reality is the ultimate mental model. This spiritual perspective is the “secret” behind the rich and successful. They apply the patterns of nature to their everyday actions. They observe the markets, understand their direction, and make sound decisions based on that.
One big pattern few people have caught onto is the shift from corporation to individual.
- Freelancers compose 46.6% of the workforce (increasing substantially from 36% in 2020).
- The creator economy is projected to double from $250B to $480B by 2028. People think they are late to the party when it’s just getting started.
- The economy favors profitable business models. Tech enabled businesses like creators can operate at 95% profit margins with digital products and services – causing more development in that domain for new platforms and tools.
- Big companies are requiring leaders at their company to be active on social media for brand reputation. Less corporate marketing, more human marketing.
Corporations are beginning to opt for contractors and creators as workers and marketers.
Our team at Kortex is contractor and creator-fueled. We have no employees. We generate traffic with creator audiences and give our team flexible workdays with contract work.
From a spiritual perspective, it’s not difficult to see the security in turning your authentic self into a business.
The Creator Philosophy – It’s Not Just A Fancy Internet Job, It’s A Way Of Life
The creator philosophy is not a business model, but a way of life.
Improve yourself, improve others who want to be helped.
Solve your own problems, sell the solution.
Master yourself, master the world.
Here are the steps that you can start acting on today:
1) Master Your Survival (Solve Your Own Problems)
You can’t sustain authenticity when you need something from someone else.
Money is a tool to remove dependencies that make you inauthentic.
Every single individual on this earth has to self-actualize in order to contribute to humanity in the best way they can. And, humanity is only as strong as its weakest link. A business allows you to encounter true problems, solve them, and pass down products that expand the mind’s of others.
While this can be done with the perfect career path, that’s not what I can help with. Nor is it something that you have full control over.
Entrepreneurship is modern-day survival.
We hunt for resources (money, in the modern sense) to fulfill our needs and create work that we enjoy. And if we don’t enjoy certain aspects, a business allows you to eliminate, delegate, or automate that aspect of work.
My recommendation is still the same as all of my letters:
- Solve the superficial problems in your life
- Become multidimensionally jacked (mind, body, money, and relationships)
- Discover your deeper interests and obsessions through improvement and building
- Document your journey and solutions with content and products on the internet
95% of people’s problems revolve around health, wealth, relationships, and happiness.
If you can solve those problems in your own life and document the solution, you can charge for the knowledge you acquire.
We discussed this in the last letter Zero To $1 Million As A One-Person Business.
Individuals don’t learn best from someone 10 steps ahead of them, but from someone that is 1 step ahead of them.
2) Create Your Own Philosophy
There is enough shallow advice on how to make money, how to get laid, and various bandaids you can apply to your mental health.
We need more individuals who are truth seekers.
The individuals who understand that prescribed step-by-step advice looks good on the outside, but is hollow on the inside.
We need more people who attack the root of the problem, which is often metaphysical, spiritual, or epistemological.
The world is desperate for depth, and that can only be created by forging your own path.
Philosophy is based on experience.
Depth is created through experimentation and obsession.
You must experiment with different skills and interests until you find the one that makes business spiritual for you. The one you can’t stop digging deeper into. Document your journey on the internet (the collective consciousness) for everyone to learn from.
You have to set your mind on an ideal future, pursue it wholeheartedly, make mistakes, note your lessons, and correct your actions with a sustainable solution.
Your philosophy is a proposed worldview and lifestyle for the good life.
What are the skills, beliefs, and habits people need to be educated on?
For my own philosophy of work less, earn more, enjoy life – people need marketing, sales, writing, complementary marketable skills, a growth mindset, a passion for the metaphysical, daily movement, daily writing, daily problem-solving, and daily rest. That is what all of my content is based around.
That is what I teach in 2 Hour Writer and Digital Economics.
It won’t apply to everyone. That’s the point.
Your job is to attract people like you and let others attract people like them.
3) Turn It Into A Public School
I’m convinced that the future of schooling will be done online, with creators as teachers, and each student can join the “school” that aligns the most with their interests, values, and preferred method of learning. – The Art Of Focus
One school system shouldn’t dominate 12+ years of someones life.
Students should evolve beyond one creator-based “school” after a few years, go on to the next, and eventually be able to start their own – if the other schools have the underlying principle of critical thinking and personal experience.
Make it your life’s work to create a library of knowledge and share it online under your brand, or school, with an underlying philosophy that attracts the right people.
Your public school is digital real estate.
Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to attract a broad audience.
YouTube, podcasting, and a blog or newsletter to educate and nurture the audience.
And a host of products, from low-cost courses to memberships to high-cost tailored coaching.
This is what I’ve dedicated myself to teaching because I see the opportunity in the space.
Eventually, you will gain the resources to start whatever kind of business you want to further your message.
We guide you through this in Kortex University to start your digital career in 90 days.
The Holistic Synthesizer – A Meaningful Career
Under this philosophy, the creator economy cannot get saturated because:
1) Your Community Evolves
When you don’t subscribe to a specific label, niche, or compartment of reality that limits what you are capable of, the only option is to evolve.
Humans and communities do not stick to one purpose.
Once you actualize that goal, you move on to the next that reveals itself.
2) Your Products Evolve
I started out as a web designer, my products and services revolved around that.
As I developed myself and my business, I transitioned into different skills and interests.
My products followed suit, and I effectively desaturated the web design market under me.
3) Unique Webs Of Interests
When you lean into your genuine combination of interests that compose your philosophy, your brand ceases to be compartmentalized.
Someone who talks about fitness, business, and tech is still vastly different from someone who talks about fitness, business, and spirituality.
4) Large Creators Have Ample Resources
It is not rare to see a large creator decrease output on all fronts.
Go and look at a YouTuber with over 1 million subscribers.
~50% of the time, you will see that they barely post, or they stop posting altogether.
The same goes for X creators. Huge accounts often decrease to posting a few times a week.
This gives new creators the ability to flood the market, generate more attention, and create the network and resources without much competition from the “big players.”
The big players go on to pursue a new purpose, like starting a family or building a separate company with the leverage they now have.
The Demand For Depth
We’ve reached a critical point in the creator economy.
Content platforms have been saturated with basic, shallow, and regurgitated ideas for the sake of growth.
This isn’t necessarily bad, and still works to grow an account, but my question is… why?
- Why over-systemize ideas?
- Why strip the soul from your business?
- Why prioritize growth, revenue, and shallow impact over everything?
- Why limit the only thing that can set you apart as an individual: your creative ability?
The general level of awareness in the space is rising.
The market will demand that creators rise above generic quotes and the same old step-by-step self-help advice.
This can only be done when you prioritize depth, perspective, and holistic synthesis.
The Holistic Synthesizer
Let’s define what a “holistic synthesizer” is:
Someone who pursues their own vision and forges their path with the unique skills and interests they acquire. They do not view those skills or interests as individual parts, but as an interconnected whole that are necessary aspects of their life (not temporary pieces for quick cash grabs). Their life’s work is to distill, educate, and distribute their personal experience on the path.
In short, a holistic synthesizer who documents their pursuit of the good life in a persuasive and educational manner.
That way, you can attract the community that resonates with your voice, help them reach their shared goals, and not limit yourself to a compartmentalized aspect of reality.
- Your brand is your philosophy – how does one live the good life?
- Your content is your school – what skill set and mindset do they need?
- Your product is the map – a holistic system that helps people get to where you are with less trial and error
In a more practical sense, here’s how to get started:
1) Identify A Desirable Goal
What is one big goal in your life that you are trying to achieve, or have achieved?
Are you fit? Have you acquired a skill (like writing)? Have you understood the nature of reality? What is it? What have you accomplished, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is?
The key with this:
Don’t focus on the goal itself, but on the lifestyle it has created for you.
2) Identify Your Starting Point
What made you want to change?
What was the burning problem in your life?
What did your life look like before the goal?
Marketing is about transformations.
You are helping others go from point A (where you were) to point B (the desirable goal).
3) Outline A Unique Path
Now, outline modules, chapters, or steps necessary to get from point A to point B.
You are at a point in life where you can look back and help others navigate the mistakes you made.
Act like you are outlining a book.
Fill in the blanks with everything people need to know, learn, and do in order to reach the goal. Think skill set and mind set.
The internet has given you the power to self-educate much faster than any human has ever been able to.
Take it upon yourself to improve your life, pursue your curiosity, and share your discoveries.
Is there anything better you could be doing?
Before you go off and start a billion-dollar tech company, consider starting with the only thing that matters:
Improving the one thing that every human must improve to evolve: the quality of their human experience.
When more people master their personal lives, they can put the creative ability of their minds together to work on global problems.
By the point you do this, you will know what to do.
You will become a large creator that pursues new avenues and desaturates the market beneath them.
Thank you for reading this letter.
Dan
