Think years, not months…

Last weekly issue, I wrote about my growth process and how it’s going.

This is part 7 of the 7 part series that goes into depth about my system of managing my content creation, and I truly hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about my perspective.

So here’s where we are right now:

1. Time and power management

2. My learning system

3. My writing process

4. My editing process

5. My engagement process

6. My compounding growth system

7. My decade-long plans for growing my business (you are here)

Again, this series is about my system. I have a 9-5 and a house full of pets and children. If I can do it, so can you.

In this final issue of this series, I want to share the mindset that I think is more for mental health and the idea of sustainable persistence…the Modern Media Mastery vision.

Fail to plan, plan to fail…right?

Here’s the thing: 99.99999% of the time we tackle anything, we have no plan.

A vague notion and a dream are all we really have at the start.

The truth is that there’s no reason to have one when you start out.

The first month or so is a trial period for you to feel out whether it’s something that you want to pursue for the long-term or not.

I’d say one month is the bare minimum.

There’s a reason for this.

Children get the hang of things from doing them over and over again.

The magic is that they can get the hang of something far sooner than a month.

It’s so simple for them because they don’t have baggage.

A powerful motivation is all they need.

Next thing you know, your baby is up and running (literally).

We’re not babies anymore of course.

At some point, life gets complicated, and our ambitions grow beyond the scope of our basic motor functions.

Hence, the trial period to see if we have enough interest and drive and curiosity to stick with it for the long term.

That’s when you need a plan.

Start with months

If you’ve been here for a while, you may recall that I shared my plan for this year around November of last year.

It took 7 issues.

We’re getting close to half-time already.

I’m pleased to say that it’s going rather well at the moment.

At that point, I had been on TwiX for 11 months straight so I could look back and see how my progression went over the course of the year.

It was at this time that I used it as a framework for this year.

It was at the end of March that I started piecing together the long-term game.

If you’ve been doing something for a period of time (anywhere between 3 and 6 months), then it’s a good time to reflect on your progress and look a little farther ahead.

Goal-setting is nice, but outlining what processes worked best for you is the real outcome you want.

If you want to look at what I came up with, you can read it here.

Once you have a system in place for a year based on monthly actions, it’s time to look at your plans in years.

Extend to years

Most people don’t reach this point.

Social media is a curious thing if you’ve stuck around and watched closely.

The content stays the same.

• Top of funnel

• General information

• Flexes in terms of money, followers, business

The faces change.

The people who were everywhere on the platform eventually do one of three things:

1. find something more lucrative and leave

2. move their activity to another platform to repeat the process

3. move on to another phase of their lives when their priorities shift (graduation, marriage, children, etc.)

I may be wrong, but I think this is what Dan Koe refers to as the “desaturation” of the platform.

It’s why there is always more room at the bottom (also known as churn).

There are only a handful of people that stick around from one year to the next.

However, the next few years look very different from the first.

Here’s how my process is shaping up:

• Year 1 - Short form content on TwiX, Beehiiv newsletter

• Year 2 - Long form content on Medium, first eBooks (I’m here)

• Year 3 - Video content on YouTube, basic content creation ecosystem

• Year 4 - Refine distribution system for writing and video, first book

• Year 5 - Courses, product offerings on how I built my systems

At each point in the process, I plan on pushing my skill set out and expanding my reach as I improve.

If you choose to stick around, I hope you’ll see how I did it in real time.

The final process is much more vague at this point, but the last part is expanding the time horizon.

Build to a decade and beyond

This is where overnight success occurs.

People who stick with a program for this long emerge to become world-class in their field by virtue of putting in the time, effort, and focus to hone their skills to the point where it’s hard to match their level of proficiency.

AI has certainly leveled the playing field, but it doesn’t substitute for anything that we are capable of at present.

Even if it does, are we really going to cede our agency completely to another intelligent algorithm?

Things are uncertain at this point, but here’s where I want to go for the remaining 5 years in the next decade:

• Year 6 - Grow the system to become fully flexible in production, replace 9-5 income

• Year 7 - Business expansion and distribution, leave 9-5 to start offering to teach what I’ve learned in a digital classroom setting

• Year 8 - Revisit and update all systems across different platforms and take on consulting while continuing to scale

• Year 9 - Develop and invest more into better quality offerings for my products

• Year 10 - Assess and continue to grow my digital product line to help others

At this time, my rough framework requires a lot of detail, but I’m filling in the blanks as I learn more about business, psychology, and ethical marketing.

I’m just an engineer trying to figure all of this out.

So that’s the end of my 7-part series for this segment.

I’m sure there’s a whole lot more that I can impart to you as I go, but that’s my plan until 2033.

Plans change and people come and go depending on what I do and share here.

One of the biggest things that I’ve learned is that I shouldn’t be scared to share everything that I’m doing and creating.

I can provide all the actionable items I want, but at the end of the day, I’m the one who’s actually doing it.

Whether you choose to apply to it to your own journey is completely up to you.

I hope you enjoyed this series! I’ll be thinking about what to share in the next one.

Thanks for reading!