The Productivity Hack No One Talks About: Content

When it comes to the content game, most people are incentivized by fame. They want to become influencers.

There is nothing wrong with that; we all crave recognition. However, long before you make it to that point, creating content will start to yield dividends. And that is what I want to talk about today.

If you create content around your life (and if you resist the urge to make yourself look cooler than you are), others can now observe you. It creates pressure to perform.

For example, I recently started publishing my daily habits online. And while I am generally diligent about my habits — even if nobody is watching — I can tell the difference. Now, I try a bit harder every day.

But there are more benefits.

They say you are the average of the five people you hang out with the most. Find people who share your goals, and you will accomplish more.

But how do you unearth these like-minded, driven individuals? If you are limited to the people in your immediate environment, that is tricky.

Say hello to creating content. Nothing will get you connected faster to like-minded people from all over the world than putting yourself out there on the interwebs.

This works surprisingly fast. If you publish regularly, after 6–12 months, you can expect strangers to reach out to you. And some of these strangers will significantly change your life for the better. It has happened to me several times at this point, but it still feels like magic.

Finally, publishing content forces you to organize your thoughts and examine your values.

No matter what medium you choose — blogging, video, podcasting — you first need to get clear on what ideas you want to convey. You typically need to outline them or even script them word by word.

This simple action — writing down your ideas and explaining them to others — is life-changing (if done regularly). It’s like slowly turning the lights on in a dark room. You start to understand what you stand for and what you want out of life.

It’s interesting to compare this with how most people go about finding clarity.

Most people also turn to content — books, YouTube, courses — to find answers, but they default to consuming it. They think they can discern “how it works” by studying somebody else.

This rarely leads anywhere.

Consuming content is not the answer — creating it is. One is passive and lulls you. The other one is hard and induces growth. Cut out the first one completely, and give some serious time and effort to the second one.

Just to drive the point home, creating content is not just for those who want to build their personal brand. It is for absolutely everybody who struggles with clarity and going after their goals. Talk about these struggles with the world, and they will grow smaller and maybe even completely disappear.

Okay, let’s make this more tangible. Say you’re struggling with wasting your mornings — you keep hitting snooze, scrolling social media, and by the time you get going, half the day is gone.

Here is what you could do.

Step 1: Analyze the problem

Write a short post on the social media platform of your choice that analyzes what keeps happening in the mornings. Don’t sugarcoat it, tell it how it is. Also, talk about what you should be doing instead.

Step 2: Specify the action

At the end of your post, commit to one small, specific habit: Wake up at 7:30 and do 10 minutes of mobility first thing. That’s it.

Step 3: Publish daily proof

Each morning, take a photo of your clock and yoga mat or write one sentence about how it went. Stick to the same format and platform.

Step 4: Reflect weekly

Every seven days, write a short review: What worked? What got in the way? Do I want to adjust the goal? This helps with creating awareness and spotting patterns.

Step 5: Let others in

Don’t just share this with your friends and family. Find a few people posting similar content and comment on their entries. Some of them will start commenting on your daily updates — and just like that, the feedback loop begins.

My current struggle (still) is to figure out my time zone issue. I want to build out my coaching business, but it’s hard to do so when you are based in Thailand and your target audience is mostly in the US. With the 11–15 hour difference, scheduling is a pain in the neck.

I was thinking Latin America at first, but after a lot of research, I am not crazy about the safety situation. Yes, it can be done. I lived in Mexico for 6 months, and I have been to Brazil too; never got mugged. But I dislike having to watch over my shoulder and not being able to roam freely. Also, it can be noisy.

I haven’t dismissed it yet. I am still looking into Paraguay, which seems to be a good compromise between safety, affordability, and tranquility. Uruguay and Costa Rica should also work, but are more pricey. However, I also started looking into the Azores, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean that belongs to the EU. Safe, quiet, fairly affordable. And only a 4-hour difference from the East Coast.

See what I did there? I created content around an issue I am facing. Explaining the problem helps me grasp it. And there’s a chance one of my readers will share their own experience. Now I have more data, and soon the issue will be solved.

Alright, I’ll talk to you soon.

Niels