The Beatles were the most successful band in history.
They are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums in the charts, in the US as well as the UK.
They revolutionised many aspects of the music industry….
They were also known for their study of Eastern spirituality but Paul McCartney once said,
“Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool…’”
I wake up around 5am most mornings and I write for about two hours. Often, I write in bed using my phone, like I’m doing right now.
If you’re curious, I use an app called Gboard that allows me to slide my finger across the keyboard, so I can write pretty fast.
If my boys wake up early they’ll sometimes still find me immersed in my phone.
Monique has trained them well and Ellington, who is 7 years old, walked in recently and said, “Get off technology, Dad!”
I explained to him that I was writing to my community. I told him that I do my best to create lots of value for people—without ever charging them a penny.
And I explained that when you do that, some of your community will always want to learn more from you—and they’ll be happy to invest money to learn more from you.
One of my proudest moments was when—a couple of weeks later—Ellington said to me, “Dad, will you teach me how to write to people, so I can make money, too?”
I’ve taught my boys an important distinction between Creating vs Consuming.
They know we will let them play the computer games Roblox and Minecraft because they have a balance between consuming (playing) and creating (designing).
Most coaches know how to consume. They read, they learn, they train. But they never create.
They’re too afraid to share provocative ideas.
They’re too afraid to develop their own distinctions or Intellectual Property.
They imitate other coaches. They’re derivative.
Too many coaches have only one gear…
They’re afraid to connect with someone they don’t know.
They’re afraid to say, “Would you like some help with that?” to someone they do know.
They’re terrified to look someone in the eyes to say, “This is how much it costs to work with me…” or “Here’s what I require of you…”
They’d rather spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars creating Instagram memes, or beautiful websites, or implementing the latest SEO techniques.
The higher the ratio of creating to consuming, the more money you will make…
It’s the money equation: Creating > consuming = $$$$
“Yippeeeeee! You’ve made it!”
One of my clients is a coach to Fortune 50 companies. She wrote a book that was a bestseller in the UK.
She texted me the other day that she was furious and upset because someone was sharing her IP, as if it was his own.
I sent her a video text that went something like this:
“Yippeeeeee! You’ve made it! When people start copying you, it’s a sign that you’ve really made it.”
I used to feel deeply hurt when people stole my IP.
I’ve had people steal the entire text of my website, including testimonials from my clients! And I see people regularly take the words of my articles and pass them off as their own.
This kind of thing happens to me now around once a week. It used to upset me. And sometimes, I still instruct my attorney to contact them.
But my book has now sold almost 100,000 copies by word-of-mouth alone. And I’ve written almost every single day since it was published. So I worry less these days…
I put my attention on creation, not litigation.
Make the year ahead a year of creation—and watch how your world transforms. Be more like John and Paul. Write yourself a swimming pool…
Love. Rich