One Rule I Keep Breaking Here

“If I were to ask you to create a profile that uses plain, simple terms, what would you write?”

This is the question from Mark Thompson to me in the Skool community¹ in which he so generously shares his knowledge.

I pause.

I look at the word salad that is the collection of branding terms I’ve used for the past two years.

Meta-minding, prismatic thinking, volumetric vectoring, multithreaded skill stacking, digital distribution and distillation…

Suddenly, I can see this from the 30,000 foot level.

Then it hits me…

I had broken the rule.

Again.

This whole time I’ve been trying to set myself apart from everyone else, I’ve been succeeding in the worst way possible.

If you’ve been around the block here, then you know the rule.

Clear. Not clever.

I groan inwardly and move to the next sentence.

“Do you think that most people understand what these really mean?”

Nope.

Unless you’ve been reading most of what I’ve written and followed my development, then most of these cute little phrases won’t mean a damn thing to you.

So let’s unpack them and do a rewrite in this issue so that I can start actually saying what I’ve been trying to say all this time…

Let’s open these babies up…

We’ll start at the beginning and unzip each.

Story time!

Meta-minding

This came about from digging into the recesses of my mind.

The deeper I went, the more I realized that I was interested in why we do what we do.

I was fascinated by the metaphysical aspects of life.

To put it simply, metaphysics is the study of existence and reality.

It’s the exploration of the state of being.

I kept asking myself throughout my life why I was me and not anyone else.

Super simple: “This is why I am me.”

Prismatic Thinking

This is my take on how to handle yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually or emotionally in order to maximize your potential as a critical thinker and content creator.

It’s my process and how I manage being a 9-5 parent along with this whole crazy process.

To put it in plain terms, it’s my approach on how I keep myself from falling apart.

Super simple: “This is how I maintain my content creation output.”

Volumetric Vectoring

Ok, I cringe a little now that I look at it.

This term describes the result of the previous idea of prismatic thinking.

My process and lifestyle enable me to generate a large amount of content over time (volume), and I’ve always focused on self-improvement as the general discipline (vector).

It was a fancy way of saying “pick one idea and write the sh*t out of it.”

Super simple: “This is the one thing I write around (my niche).”

Multithreaded Skill Stacking

Ugh.

Why?

Because at one point on the TwiX platform, this idea came en vogue.

Let’s be honest, this whole solopreneur thing is difficult because you aren’t just writing or creating content.

You are running the whole show.

A job is just executing one aspect of the vertical stack of a business.

• You go to work for a paycheck.

• You run a business to serve a purpose.

• You need to be decent at a large number of areas to get it up and running.

For me, however, this phrase goes far beyond that.

I’ve had a very well-rounded education.

I see connections across disciplines spanning academia and the arts.

Super simple: “This is where I draw my knowledge and experiences from.”

Digital Distribution and Distillation

Heavily overused…but it’s something that I’m learning to do as I go through this journey.

I started out just writing on TwiX and learning short form content.

I’m not saying I’ve mastered it, but I can crank out a week’s worth of content in short order now.

I’ve only recently hit the level of consistently writing daily articles like this one.

This year, I’m restructuring my distribution to a hub-and-spoke system with Beehiiv being where I share my ideas first to you before sending them out to Substack, Medium, and BlueSky.

I’ve invested in a series of courses over time that I am an affiliate for now because I’m applying all the lessons in them.

I’m a former professor, so I know the power of curating a curriculum and communities that help you improve.

Super simple: “This is how I share my discoveries.”

Ok…now what?

This has been a valuable exercise that allowed me to look back at all the writing I’ve done from the beginning to start realizing the landscape I’ve brought about as my digital footprint.

It makes sense in a weird way, and it’s now much simpler.

It reminds me of the following line from “Blades of Glory”:

Yeah, that sums up my entire profile across the platforms I’ve been writing.

As I stated at the beginning, I broke the one rule that most savvy writers learn early on.

“Be clear, not clever.”

I’ve repeatedly been attempting to be the latter.

But it’s ok.

I learn things the hard way and through experience.

Now that I’ve smashed all these fugly terms back into the basic building blocks, what is the message that I’ve been writing about?

I’m just a 9-5 parent who’s explored a wide range of disciplines trying to find connections among them based on my cultural background and upbringing.

I apply these discoveries to create systems and processes for self-improvement and creating content through this newsletter.

That’s what I’ve been doing this whole time.

I’m just hoping that it inspires you to do the same with what I share.

You take in life experiences and refract them through your core beliefs and values to better serve the ones you love.

Hence the prismatic thinking theme.

I hope this, in the end, is now clear.

Right?

Let me know what you think!

Footnotes

1. Affiliate link