Create Your Work for the World

Someone else may have studied the same material you studied. They may have attended the same school or read the same books.

That does not mean they can create your work.

Your education mixes with your experience, brain, and personality. That combination is yours.

I believe every person has something to offer the world. If you feel the desire to create and know you have something to say, I want you to take that seriously.

You need confidence, motivation, and a process for getting the work out of your brain and into a form other people can use.

Your version can reach someone else's audience

My first book as a life coach addressed the mental and emotional aspects of losing weight.

If I had decided the world already had enough weight-loss books, I would never have written it.

But people read that book and used it to change their relationship with dieting and weight loss.

The subject did not have to be entirely new for my work to matter.

I see the same thing with students who learn the Model and life coaching at the School. They take that education, combine it with who they are, and create offerings very different from mine.

They reach people who may hear and understand the work from them in a way they would not from someone else.

Notice the confidence and motivation that are missing

One reason people do not create is a belief that they have nothing valuable to say.

They think no one will listen, they are not special, or someone has already done it.

I disagree. Being a different human already changes what you bring to the work.

Another reason is a lack of motivation. Creating can be painstaking and uncomfortable. Without a reason to do it, we often do not.

I believe it makes sense to charge for value we create. I want you to create work that overdelivers on what someone pays for it.

Your people deserve the opportunity to be helped by you, and your work can have value worth paying for.

Phase one: identify yourself as a creator

Begin by seeing yourself as someone who can create something valuable.

That can require deep work if your education or family experiences taught you that you were not smart, creative, or capable enough.

Look for wisdom you already have.

Often it seems so obvious to you that you do not recognize it as useful to someone else. You know how to do something easily and assume everyone does.

When I talked with my son Connor and my bonus kid Mason about their difficult experiences of bullying in school, I saw knowledge they could share.

They had gone through something painful and become confident young men. Their experience could help other children or the parents trying to support them.

They did not necessarily recognize it as a skill or body of work. I did.

What have you learned, experienced, or created that you may be overlooking?

Phase two: understand whom you are creating for

Know the person your work is for.

What are you creating? Why does it matter to them? What result can it help them create?

I like using a love letter as part of the brainstorming process to connect with that person.

My students and listeners are my muse. When I create, I think about what you need to hear and how I can best help you.

The more I understand you and hear from you, the better I can create for you.

This phase gives the work direction.

Phase three: brainstorm, outline, and draft

Creativity needs time and freedom.

I use idea babies: bringing together ideas from different disciplines or combining a concept with a personal experience to create something new.

Superthinking gives me time to connect those things.

Brainstorming may not look productive from the outside, but it is part of creation. It helps you discover how your education and experience fit together.

Then give the ideas structure with an outline.

I use a list rather than a formal school-style outline. I have an outline for every podcast, book, course, or workshop I create.

After that, write the crappy first draft.

Get the entire thing out of your brain. Do not judge it, throw it away, or avoid it because it is not good yet.

Engage with it. The draft gives you something to work on.

You do not need an extraordinary intelligence label

A listener once asked whether people who were not smart could have the opportunities I described.

I do not think the question is whether you qualify as smart.

Someone can do well in school or on an IQ test and still keep their wisdom hidden because they are afraid.

Many of my ideas are simple. They come from observing the world curiously, thinking about what I see, and teaching it confidently.

Look at your confidence and motivation rather than use a judgment about intelligence to stop before you begin.

Phase four: edit as a gift to your customer

The edit is one of the most important parts of creating.

Think of the difference between handing someone groceries and serving them a meal.

If you give them the groceries, they have to organize the ingredients and make something usable.

If you prepare the meal, they can experience it without doing all that work.

I want my teaching to be simple enough that you can absorb the ideas instead of having to dissect them.

When I edit, I ask how to teach the concept in the fewest words and easiest way. I remove what is not necessary.

A podcast that takes twenty or thirty minutes to consume could have been hours long. Distilling it takes more of my time so it takes less of yours.

Do not overlook that work.

Phase five: put the work into the world

Sharing something you worked hard to create can be difficult.

You discover whether anyone reads it, pays attention, or finds it useful. You receive feedback.

Put it out confidently so people can see it and learn from it.

Then use what you learn to make it better.

The work cannot help its audience while it stays only in your brain or draft.

Phase six: repurpose, refine, and repeat

One piece of content can become several offerings.

I turned my six-chapter book into a day-long workshop, a six-week course, and six podcast episodes.

The information could reach different people through different formats.

Once you have the content, you can refine and repurpose it rather than start from nothing every time.

That creates more opportunities to offer value, earn money, and build confidence.

Then repeat the process.

Trust that you have something to offer

Your work may come from something you have lived through, a trip you know how to plan, or what you have learned raising children.

Do not overcomplicate the starting point.

Identify your wisdom. Understand who needs it. Give yourself time to brainstorm, structure, and draft.

Edit it into something they can use, share it, and keep refining.

You have something to offer. Create your work for the world.