Creating content is like learning guitar in public
Why practicing in public is ideal
The funny thing with "creating content" as a career pursuit is many people think success should happen quickly, or it's a failure.
What it's actually like is picking up a guitar for the first time. With one big difference - practicing in public from the start, which the guitarist won't do. He will get down the basics and slowly improve for years, until he's finally ready to share his first song or cover tune.
Learning to play a new instrument is only worth it if you're willing to commit to multiple years of practice. If you're not able to push through the difficult beginner stages to see what you're capable of, then why begin at all? I view my creative projects in the same way.
My first few videos and blog posts was me learning basic chords. Then I picked up some scales and chord progressions. My most recent posts were pieces of songs, not yet fully formed. A verse here, a chorus there. The deep dive into music theory hasn't even begun.
Or maybe I'm still learning chords, I'm not exactly sure. But I do know that I'm showing my work, like a math problem, by practicing in public.
One year ago today, I started writing online. Since then...
published 30 blog posts
started a YouTube channel
full-time nomad experiment
started an amazing relationship
healthier & stronger than ever
massive confidence boost
clear head, full heart
wake up every day excited to work on my projects
My net worth has nosedived, but that was the plan all along. Use my savings to buy time for this new beginning, a personal investment.
Derek Sivers says "It's impossible to fail if your only mission was to see what happens. This is a test. This is only a test. There is no downside. Try everything!"
There are 100 million active YouTube channels, and only 3 million are monetized. I joined the 3% club in just nine months of work. I don't say this to be self-congratulatory, instead it's a reminder that this type of work takes time, and I was surprised to learn that I'm ahead of schedule.
I often have to check myself when I get discouraged, to remember that any great creative pursuit is built upon a large foundation of repeated attempts. The best songwriters are addicted to the act of writing songs, not the response and reward from published pieces.
Is Steph Curry the greatest shooter of all time because he's a superhuman alien freak, or because he was unafraid to practice in public? One man changed how an entire sport is played after attempting shots everyone else thought was stupidity and madness.
When I worked as a reporter, I wrote more than 500 articles in two years. I started at 23 years old, practicing in public. I didn't know what I was doing, but my editor encouraged me to keep on shooting.
I still don't know what I'm doing, but I've got this coach in my head who says "send it!" every week. This weekly pursuit is a long-term game. When I first started, I said I'd commit to three to five years.
I feel even more confident about that timeline now. It's fun to guide a project, to watch it change and evolve. Your favorite band's first album sounds different than its most recent one. But that new record wouldn't be possible without the many that came before it.
Just start, and then step back to see what you did after one full year. All that effort is guaranteed to create positive results. The amount of "success" you achieve is only dependent upon your own definition of it. You define what success means for you.
30 blogs, 30 videos, a tiny bit of income, loving relationships and many miles traveled is a successful first year of sharing my work online and living the lifestyle I want.
If I was to define success for year two, I could create markers like 50 blog posts, 10k YouTube subscribers and earning more money than I spend in 2025.
Or maybe I'd just design my ideal day, and allow it all to unfold naturally without straining to hit certain goals. I like that idea better.
Naval says, "Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for an imaginary tomorrow. You retire by (1) saving up enough money, (2) becoming a monk, or (3) by finding work that feels like play to you. When today is complete, in and of itself, you're retired."
By the end of 2025, I'd like to feel retired, by being so engaged in my day-to-day work, my relationships and my personal health & travels. If almost every day is what I want it to be, I've done my job, I've found my way of life.
Just gotta keep on strumming.
Everything I make is here — loganletsgo.com
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