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[Welcome Screen: Today I discuss how you can end the loop of consuming self-improvement content, but never taking action . Without further ado—grab your gear. Let’s level up!]

*Read Time: 10 minutes

Self-improvement junkies are everywhere.

If you’re reading this, you may even be one of them.

But self-improvement isn’t the problem.

I mean, is it really a bad thing to pursue your potential? To learn how to master your mind and your body? To do the deep inner work, to heal yourself, and in turn, your relationships?

Nah.

The problem lies in the fact that a lot of people who consume this type of content never actually take action.

They keep searching for the next thing and the next thing and the next, hoping they find the one thing that is going to “fix” them.

Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not broken and you never were.

But that’s a deeper spiritual statement than I care to get into in this particular newsletter.

Anyway.

Despite the fact that you’ve read all the personal development books, your external world hasn’t changed that much.

I get it because I was that person too, but I’ve broken out of that cycle and I wanna help you break out too.

The Illusion of Improving Oneself

Firstly, let’s jump into how self-improvement junkies delude themselves.

A lot of people who consume this type of content (myself included) sometimes delude themselves into thinking they are improving by consuming the content alone.

Why?

They get the dopamine hit.

A spike in their brain.

They feel like they have achieved something.

They feel like they KNOW something.

The knowledge itself is useless unless applied.

It’s like the spiritual people who delude themselves into thinking they are healing but can’t go out into “The Matrix” for 5 minutes.

You can feel the love and light and oneness when you are alone in your room, but can you maintain it when you are around others?

This is the real work.

To go out into the real world and have someone actively try to trigger you, yet you can remain in a non-reactive state.

The things that people trigger in you reveal to you the parts of you that are not yet free.

My reality coder friend, if you can’t go out into “The Matrix” for 5 minutes without someone triggering you, you still have work to do.

The spiritual concepts are learned in vain when they are not actually applied to life.

I digress.

Integration

So how to break out?

Simple.

Start building something.

Apply it to your life.

Most people think they need to consume all the info before they start so they don’t mess up or embarrass themselves.

Here’s the problem with that.

You don’t actually retain the information.

Unless the information is actively applied, you aren’t integrating it.

A couple of years ago, I was learning how to code. It's a common theme for people learning to get stuck in what is referred to as “tutorial hell.”

It’s when they watch all the videos or read books but they aren’t building a project.

Know what happens?

They learn nothing.

I learned this pretty quickly when I would watch a tutorial and thought that because I was watching someone build something I was learning.

“Oh yeah. I get it.”

Then I went into my code editor and tried it out.

“Wait. What the f**k do I do again?”

Didn’t learn a damn thing.

I started watching tutorials and building out the project with the person teaching it. Since I was actively building it out as I was learning, the information stuck.

Another way of doing this is just starting the project.

Thinking of something to build, like a calculator app, for example.

Going through the process of struggling to build it with what you already know, and then searching “how to” videos up on the part where you get stuck.

Another, more current example, is video editing, which I’m partially learning right now.

I could buy a course that tells me everything I need to know, what shots to take, how to edit, how to add effects.

It’s all irrelevant without a project.

I just started.

I filmed an Instagram Reel.

Then I looked into color grading a video for a cyberpunk look because that’s what I needed to know at that moment for that project.

If I would have watched the video then tried it a week later, I would have had to watch the video again anyway.

Let’s say you are scrolling on social media and come across a post about copywriting.

It’s interesting and you read through it.

You feel like you’ve learned something.

But did you?

If you aren’t in the process of writing a newsletter, content, or sales page, then why does it matter?

You are going to forget.

Trust me.

When I was active on Twitter, I would see so many threads about copywriting, branding, storytelling. None of which I actually remember because I wasn’t actively applying it.

When you have something to apply persuasion techniques to—like this newsletter—then you are integrating the concepts.

There’s so many more examples.

Have you ever read a sales book, even though you didn’t have anything to sell yet because you thought you needed to know everything before you started?

Have you read Alex Hormozi’s book “$100M Offers” without actually having an offer or being in the offer creation phase of your service or business?

It’s funny how we delude ourselves into thinking we are improving.

Once you actually realize this, you realize that a good majority of the self-improvement content you consume is actually irrelevant to you.

You need to have clarity on a goal and be crystal clear on what you are building, then you can filter out the noise.

“But I Don’t Know What To Start?”

Most people will argue that they need to consume everything because they are trying to figure out what they want to do.

That’s fair.

But you won’t figure it out by consuming everything about everything and getting analytical about it. You will only figure this out by taking action.

Case in point:

A couple of years ago, I started learning how to code. The goal was to change careers.

That’s what I thought, at least.

Deep down, the plan was to eventually quit the corporate life, then do freelance and make money online. That’s been my goal for the longest time. I always wanted to live life on my own terms. I thought I had to go about it this long and drawn out way.

Obviously, I didn’t.

I can see now how many limiting beliefs I had around this topic.

Anyway, eventually I got tired of forcing myself to learn something that never truly felt in alignment with me.

I mean, coding and building projects can be fun, but the reason I was doing it was forceful and out of alignment.

So I quit.

Started something new asap.

A social media marketing agency.

I actually attempted this years ago back in 2020.

Failed.

I thought, “I’m a different person now, I can make it work.”

Watched free YouTube videos and tried to piece everything together.

I started to build it.

I created an IG account for it and was even doing my research on businesses (gyms) and personal trainers who I thought I could help with ads.

Here’s the problem I had.

I would have to cold email or DM clients and businesses. Hop on multiple sales calls. Etc. I’ll save you the grueling details.

Basically, you trade your 9-5 to spend hours cold DMing, hopping on multiple sales calls, and doing client work until you earn enough to delegate and hire a sales team.

Would I be free?

That’s what I’m after.

FREEDOM.

To live life on my own terms.

Autonomy.

It’s the biggest driver for me.

And doing all of that work sounded like a f**king nightmare.

I remember listening to a podcast of this guy who built an agency helping personal trainers scale, but he still works on his business 24/7, Alex Hormozi style.

That’s cool if it’s what you enjoy and it feels authentic to you.

It ain’t for me.

Like I said, freedom is my biggest driving force.

Eventually I discovered Dan Koe.

If you don’t know him, he teaches you how to run a one-person business by having a personal brand and pursuing your curiosities. And he only works on his business 4 hours a day, give or take.

I was hooked.

So I don’t have to hire people, manage a team, and become a slave to my business?

I can sell digital products online without hopping on sales calls and cold dming people by having a personal brand?

I can pursue my curiosities and interests and get paid to do so?

I can actualize my potential and help others actualize theirs?

Sign me the f**k up.

I’ve actually been binging his stuff recently and understanding it from a deeper level.

I think he’s a genius.

Anyway.

All this to say, that the only way you will figure it out is if you just start.

I genuinely thought I wanted to learn to code and freelance until I got deep into it.

I thought I could build an SMMA business until I realized it wasn’t for me.

I really feel like I’ve found my purpose now. I genuinely enjoy writing these newsletters and creating content. I even realized that I love design. I always find the flow state when I’m creating the graphics and visuals for the content I make.

But that wouldn’t have happened unless I tried everything else.

It doesn't need to take years or months either.

At the beginning of the year, I thought I’d build my brand around fitness, even buying a program to get certified as a personal trainer.

Quickly realized that wasn’t for me either.

*(I like fitness, but I didn’t want a brand centered around it.)

Try something out for a week or two.

Don’t like it?

Move on.

You have to go through the process of self-discovery.

I can’t do that for you.

Eventually, you’ll find what feels most in alignment with you and your values.

“I Still Don’t Know What To Do.” (What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do)

If you still feel like you don’t know where to start, do this:

Go to the gym.

Lift weights.

Pick up running.

Some form of exercise.

It builds your body and your mind.

It builds your tolerance to embrace pain and discomfort.

It will teach you the power of consistency and how to form habits.

Eventually, it translates over into other areas of life.

This is exactly how I started with self-improvement.

I lost almost 100 pounds at one point.

My self-improvement journey started with the gym (mostly cardio).

Then it bled out into other areas because I built trust in myself that I could do anything I set my mind to.

Started learning code and now scheming to build a one-person business.

Go to the gym.

*Bonus:

“Hunger is the first element of self-discipline. If you can control what you eat and drink, you can control everything else.” —Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

I was recently listening to a podcast with Luke Belmar and he was talking about the power of dietary restrictions.

He said: “I think everybody should implement dietary restrictions. (…) Why? Because it’s a conscientious understanding of how you eat.”

He goes on: “If you can’t control what you eat, what can you control? Nothing.”

Just some food for thought.

Tying It All Together

Let’s tie it together and make it simple and actionable:

1- Have a clear goal

What’s your goal? What are you trying to build? Pick a project to work on. Break it down into small milestones.

You need to have clarity so you can filter out the noise.

Otherwise, you get lost in the endless sea of self-improvement content consumption.

Can’t figure it out?

Start with the gym.

2- Set time aside to pursue this goal (at least an hour)

Split your time between research and building (implementation).

At least half and half time split.

So if you have an hour, spend 30 minutes learning and doing research and 30 minutes applying it.

Alternate between learning and building.

I’d argue that you should spend a little more time taking action and implementing, but never stop learning.

I was taking action all year, creating content and posting, but I wasn’t growing because I wasn’t learning exactly how to build a personal brand.

I didn’t understand the pillars that all content needs to fall under.

I’ve been going back into Dan Koe’s 2-hour writer course and understanding it from a deeper level.

Sometimes you don’t need more information, you just need to go back to the information you already consumed and you will understand it more deeply.

Start building. Don’t stop learning.

— your friend and teammate, Player 2

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For more cheat codes check out my Instagram account, podcast, and Youtube channel.

Right now I’m focused on growing the IG account.