1. Your goal in life is to find the people, business, project, or art that needs you most.

From the Almanack of Naval Ravikant: a Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson.

Naval is one of the deepest thinkers in Silicon Valley, and this book is a compilation of the wisdom he has spread through the years.

This applies broadly, but is particularly applicable in the pursuit of wealth. The most money you can make is downstream from serving the people that need you most.

You can download the PDF for free here.

2. Write a Newsletter Sharing What You Learn

I have been interested in building an audience online for years.

It took until this very week for me to learn how to do it without hardly any additional effort: write a newsletter sharing what you learn.

Seth Godin talks about creating art and giving it away for free. Generosity is the heart of the creator economy.

If you are a self-improver into personal growth always learning and growing, then synthesize what you learn into a newsletter sharing what you learn.

That's the whole idea behind this very newsletter.

3. Education is the foundation of the creator economy…helping others learn and improve

From an conversation between two of my favorite online entrepreneurs: Dan Koe and Dickie Bush

The way people learn is transforming at an insane rate.

Creators are the teachers of the present, and especially the future.

And it has never been more lucrative to be a teacher.

Educate yourself around solving your own problems, then help others solve those problems, and get paid for it.

Checkout the full interview on YouTube here.

The best resource for building a business around this process is Dan Koe's One Person Business Model YouTube playlist, which you can find here.

4. Create an Idea Capture System

An idea capture system is a technological net used to catch and organize ideas, and it pains me to ponder what my life would be like if I had been using one for the past 12 years.

I built mine this week in a software called Scrivener.

I have folders for notes on books, podcasts, and educational videos.

This system is the secret behind this newsletter.

Highly recommend you create one as well.

5. Entrepreneurs are Obsessed, Optimistic, and Generous

I’ve heard some grumbling about the new Wonka movie, but I thought it was one of the most inspirational films I’ve seen in the theaters in a long time.

Maybe these people are part of a different generation than me.

But the Gene Wilder version was a HUGE part of my childhood.

It made me believe that I could do anything, that imagination is the most powerful force in the universe.

I thought this was the perfect biopic of Wonka’s childhood.

I think of Wonka as the archetypal entrepreneur, and he is Obsessed, Optimistic, and Generous.

To learn how, checkout the blog post I wrote on here.

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What ideas have you learned that you wish you knew earlier?

If you have stumbled across an idea that changed the way you look at the world recently, please share it with me by replying to this email. I would love to share it with the community (and give you credit, of course).

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5 Things I Wish I Knew Earlier: On Finding Your Life's Goal, Idea Capture Systems, and Entrepreneur Characteristics

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