Have Status & Be Smart
Your dark psychology, but more palatable. Your vague principles, but clearer. And how they both play into winning in the world in 2023.
TL;DR
(That means ‘overview’ in millennial speak for all you boomers reading this 😜 )
In today’s world, because of the internet, you should do everything you can to:
‘have status’ (‘proximity’ aka be close to quality stuff/people)
‘be smart’ (‘Intellectual Property’ aka create compelling creative works)
These two focus points align very well with basic human needs like your need to be somebody in society(status & safety) and your basic desire for meaningful work(general flow & purpose).
Being the outlier that you are, you are going to go about this in your own unique way, jumping in and out of ‘the matrix’. This also plays to our advantage because authenticity is the only viable strategy anyways.
Then I explain why and how to apply leverage to those unfair advantages just outlined.
Lastly, we talk about how to build Proximity(status) and IP(smarts) within your own life.
Make sense? Let’s dive in.
It’s what you want, isn’t it?
You are a hard person to please. I know I am. The list of things that you don’t value far outweighs the things that you do. Where society places worth, isn’t where you do.
That’s why the title drew you in. You want status, but not in a traditional sense. You seek wisdom, not book smarts, but integrated wisdom. This comes from experience; more accurately, this comes from interaction with the world.
Same same but different. They crave status and smarts, you seek Proximity and IP. Because you, like me, don’t seem to completely fit in. You might actually tangibly fit in - with your family and friends. But you are constantly the one that everybody knows is ‘unique’.
What is that? No - you are not an X-man, but you are not some normal person walking around trapped in the matrix, either. You kind of have the same wants and needs, but not really the way everybody else does. Your internal processor is different.
We are playing in the world without being deeply affected by it. We accept the laws of physics and the usefulness of the rough shape & form of society's fabric, the basic workings of the human body, as being true, but not much else.
Tap your motivations, then get them to make you money
In terms of proximity - you want to be in direct proximity to the best people and, thus, the best ideas. Your network is your net worth, right? If you are around the best ideas and the best people, you will likely have societal status. And at some level, deep down, evvveeen if you say you don’t - you want that.
And if you think, ‘That's not me; I don’t want status,’ you’re lying to yourself. We are intrinsically hierarchical. A word to the wise: don’t go against your brain stem, and don’t go against your lower-level motivations, at least not at this point in the game. Work with it, harness it, accept it and use it to propel you in the right direction.
Most people have granted themselves enough grace to come to peace because they want to be smart. So - I won’t fight you on that one.
And the ‘get them to make you money’ part?
Hold your horses, I’ll state the obvious for you avaricious pillocks: Build it first, then sell it.
Think of building your IP this way: if you do it right, there is zero marginal cost of an additional unit of your status or your smarts. It doesn’t cost you anything to have another idea…
Then, you distribute those additional, let’s call them ‘thought units’ to the world. A Tweet on X is kind of a thought unit, or maybe a Post on Instagram, a Note on Substack etc.
In return, you are rewarded with the time and attention of your audience. Maybe even money, and what money really is to you in the context of this process - is the means for refinement. The market tells you whether you are right or wrong, whether your thought units are good or bad.
If that seems complicated and abstract, it’s because it is. It’s a 400-level idea.
Having ideas, sharing them to the right people, hell, sourcing them from the right people.. these are your exact primal needs, wants and desires. Harnessed. Evolved. and deployed in the digital economy.
The third step
If you haven’t already, Infinite Leverage is worth a read as a primer here.
Here’s the thing: you are brilliant, and if you care to build, you need to amplify yourself to the world. You’re anti-fragile, built of love, hard to corrupt and you have original thought. But you are also a work in progress.
You know these things.
That’s what is so brilliant about the third step, ‘use leverage’. You get your lived experience, your interaction with the world, you scale, and you get better as you go. As long as you pick your closest followers wisely.
"but I am not good enough yet”
Nobody cares, and you shouldn’t either.
I’ll let you in on a secret. I am terrified of publishing these little musings of mine on Substack. Why? Because I have the best people I know reading them. (what the f*ck!) thats terrifying. I never graduated college, I came up below the poverty line, I don’t think I am inherently talented, nor do I think I have acquired a specifically inciting amount of skill over the years.
But people keep reading and they keep subscribing. So we go forward, we take the risk. Even if sometimes I feel physically sick after hitting send. Who cares? Nobody.
I hate it, but I know that:
Side note - Where are all the hyper-productive people?
With today's tools and with today's access. There are no reasons why you shouldn’t be absolutely pumping out whatever your product is. Mine are status and smarts. That’s what I deliver to both people and myself. When I deliver it to myself, I de-facto deliver it to other people, the smartest people, that is.
I think they are around but harder to find. That's good news for you, both If you are a hyperproductive person or if you have found one. If you’re reading this, it’s likely both.
Got it? Now, what do we do with it?
Action steps.
Now that we are on the same page with everything. Or, at a minimum, you have an idea of a few of the meta-concepts governing my brain lately…
We know that we need to pick who we listen to, who we read, who we follow, who we watch with extreme caution. They shape our thoughts, our actions and thus our life. Who will you pick? Have you been intentional with it? I suggest creating a source code, like this. If you want to be extra about it.
You know you need to build, to be a creator, to craft your own IP. IP can be your personality, it can be your brand, it can be your writings, It can be your content, it can be all of the above. At the end of the day, this is your ability to create from what you consume in this life. To metabolize the world. This is your ability to think. When you start to actively work on your own IP, is when you cross the void from consumer to creator. This is when you are no longer a cog in the machine; you are building the machine. (there is an Alan Watts-style riff here about the nature of consciousness, but I’ll leave that out. for the time being 🙄 )
The leverage part comes after. Build the first two first and sit in them for a couple of years. If you think the proverbial boat is going to leave without you, well, it is. But that boat isn’t meant for you. There is another one coming. When you are ready, you’ll board it and be off. If you rush it, you won’t make it out of port. You don’t stand a chance. Foundations first. Mastery of the basics is mastery. Curate your proximity and build your IP, be solid in those for longer than you think you need.
Then scale. The world is full of people who are not of substance, not foundational, trying to scale bullshit because they are anxiety driven. You are, too, but like I mentioned earlier, you have foresight; you’re evolved.
TL;RA (too long ; read anyways)
(That means ‘conclusion’ in Joss speak for literally all generations reading this. 😜 )
The punchline: Don’t chase status and smarts, at least not exactly. Instead - create the highest quality proximity and, over time, craft the most exemplary Intellectual Property possible. Hack your psychology and create ideas of substance. If you can overcome the anxiety of sharing, utilize leverage and build distribution systems…
…you can print money — by merely thinking.
p.s - thanks for your time & attention. I value that, a lot. If you haven’t already I highly recommend you Subscribe. The next edition of this little Substack will be divulging my execution of these ideas. 👇
p.s.s - it’s better together, bring the homies 👇
I loved this newsletter, Joss!