Create lightly ✨

All right, this is an experimental video. But then all my videos are experimental videos really. And that's really what this video is about. First, before I get going, you might be wondering, George, this is a different background than you usually have. You look like you're sitting up in bed. That's because I am. Today I am bedridden with, with a, with an illness. I won't go into it. And I'm sitting here at my nap bed and you could see there's a cat right here. Say hi, baby girl. Right here, there's a cat. Okay, this, this video is now going to go viral because of you, because now there's a cute cat in the video. Okay, very good, girl. And you could see that this is usually where I sit for my office desk, looking out at beautiful yard there. But now I'm in my nap bed and the lighting is okay, actually. And I have a tiny plant here. It's very adorable. Let me show you my tiny plant. Okay. All right, let me get going with today's message here. So most of us who are watching this are, are not setting out to be artists as, as, as a career. Now a few of you might be, and if so, who knows? I'm curious if this message will resonate with you as well. But most of us are messengers of, of some kind. We are, you know, coaches, healers, facilitators, mentors, speakers. We have life experience or training or skills that we use to support others in their healing, their transformation, their upliftment, their well being. And so when it comes to our content, we are basically looking. Unfortunately, most of us watching this look at content as a promotional vehicle. And if you've been watching my videos for a while, hopefully you've come across my message about how content. I don't think of content primarily or, you know, rarely actually do I think of content as a way to promote my services, my products, or not even myself. I mean, I think of content as a practice of the, the pra. The practice of getting to the sweet spot between inner exploration and outer service. Whether or not the watcher ever buys or ever likes and comments, ever engages or buys or benefits my business in any way. That's outer service. Inner exploration is the opportunity to show up again and again to articulate my life's experiences. The, the worthwhile insights that I feel are worthwhile, that I think this might be worthwhile for others as well. The understanding and clarity that comes only through articulation and creating, that's how I think of content. And so therefore my message for you today is create lightly. And I actually this message I've been talking about for a long time. And so, so what I'm not saying is create on things that you don't know anything about, that you haven't thought about. No, the, the truth of the matter is you have thought deeply, widely about your field. You have helped your clients, you have helped your friends, your colleagues with your skills and your modalities and your training and whatever, whatever it is that you would love to make a living doing. Right, you have those skills and you've done a lot to help other people. And so therefore you've thought a lot about the causes, the root causes that, that creates the, that, you know, comes up with the problems that you help them solve or why they're not able to achieve the yearnings that you help them to achieve. You've thought a lot about it. So you've already thought more deeply about your field and worked more on in your field than the average person who is watching your videos or reading your blog posts. So what I, what I'm not, what I, what I'm not saying is, you know, don't be thoughtful. But what I am saying is don't be a gosh darn artist about your content. Now, again, like I said, some of you watching this literally are artists in your trade, in your profession, and I'm curious what you get from this message, how it might apply, how you might take it to, to benefit you as well. But most of us here don't be a GD artist about your content. You're not here to create a G.D. gosh darn masterpiece. Can I, can I cuss here? I don't know. Most of you are probably okay with that and maybe some of you might find it exciting. And a few of you probably say, no, George, don't do it. Okay, well, so. Because it's like, we are. What we're doing when we're creating content is, like I said, we are ex. We are. We are. It's the opportunity to articulate and explore what might be important and helpful, insightful, interesting, perhaps funny, but it's related to our experience that might be of meaning to our potential clients as well. So, so not that we never think about our business when we're creating content. No, no, we, we think of the ideal audience member as a potential client. We're not trying to sell to them through our content. I talk about this often. We. There are two arms of marketing. There's content and there's offers. Right. I'm talking about Content right now offers. Actually, I would recommend creating lightly as well, but that's for a separate video. But talking about content right now, we create with our potential client in mind, with our desire to connect from our hearts with them, in service to them, sharing something that is interesting to us, that we believe. Maybe it's interesting to them as well, but without the agenda to sell. Not in our content, not in my content. I don't, I hope not in yours either because the audience can smell it right away. They're like, oh, I'm watching this video. That's a free video. It's on YouTube, it's on Instagram, it's on Facebook or wherever it is, LinkedIn, you know, threat, tick tock. And, and I'm enjoying myself here. I'm laying in bed, right? Enjoying myself. And, and this person seems to be sharing something from the heart. Oh my gosh. And now they're selling to me. Don't do it. I don't do it. But you'll also notice that I, that I frequently and consistently sell to you as well. But that's separate. That's, that's separate from content, right? Anyway, that's a separate message. You can look up for a deeper thinking about that. You can look at separate content from selling. You can Google that and find my article and video about that. But right now, come back, coming back to my message. Creating lightly. Why is that so important? Ironically, it is of the greatest and utmost importance for you to create lightly rather than, okay, I'm going to create a masterpiece video or I'm going to spend a month writing this blog post. Why is that? I believe a a the wrong strategy for the vast majority of us. Why? I, I like. Like I said, you are not an artist, you are not a writer. Now some of you identify as a writer and okay, you want to make a living writing like you want to. You want to charge people for your substack. How is that going? It's much easier to make a living selling services than, than through writing. Sorry, I know nobody told you this, but I'm. I have five books. I published five books. Three of my five books have second editions already. So I make probably more than most of you watching this on my books. I make 200 bucks a month selling my books without promoting them. Just evergreen, just passive income. But most. Anyway, like I said, most of you are not going to have a sustainable livelihood writing or creating art or getting income from YouTube or a medium or substack. Fill in the blank. Most of us are just going to not Be able to make an income being an artist, but it is so much easier. And, and I'm planting the seed here for you, but because it's true, in my experience, and in my experience of coaching thousands of people by this point, it is so much easier to make a great livelihood selling services, programs, courses, maybe retreats, but basically services, programs, slash packages and courses. So much easier. You can make six figures, seven figures doing, doing that way easier than to make a sustainable, like, oh, I paid my rent and I pay my bills through being an artist, you know, as a writer or as a video creator or, you know, as a podcaster or whatever it may be just through your content alone. So much harder to make, make enough, enough money to pay, pay the bills. Now, like I said, a few of you literally are artists by trade. And I, I am amazed at you. I think you're amazing. I mean, you're extraordinary. That's why you're able to make a living doing it. But most of us are not going to do that. Most of us are going to make a living providing our service, our courses, our programs. So we've got to place our content in the right frame of mind for us. It's got to be like, I am using the content as a way to explore myself. I've already said to explore myself. Well, okay, I'm doing the. There's reactions here on, On. Here we go. Yeah. Those of you watching the video, those of you listening to the podcast episode, you have to watch the video to see what just happened. I'm using the reactions thing on Mac, the new Mac os. I'm going to turn it off because right now it seems awkward for me. Make a gesture and something pops up on the screen. So most of us. Right again. What is the purpose of your content? It's not to create a masterpiece of art. Please do not spend a month editing a video or, you know, a month writing a blog post because you are wasting precious time. What are you wasting time doing? You're wasting time not exploring and articulating the next thought, the sharing the next story that, remember, I mean, if you have created content, you have already noticed that clarity comes from creation, not the other way around. You might say, well, it's a chicken and egg situation. Yes, some clarity leads to content. But I, in my experience, maybe a seed of clarity, like, oh, I have an idea, I have a topic I want to talk about. And then you start recording. Like I said today, I just got up from my nap, been in bed most of the day. I'm like, Okay, I was going to make a video about something else at my desk today. Today, unfortunately, I cannot. I'm going to do it from the bed, so I might as well create something else. And it's like, well, this is perfect. I'm going to talk about creating lightly because that's all I can do today. And that's all. That's all I do most of the time. And really, sometimes I forget and I work too hard on my content as well. Okay, now this is completely opposite of what many YouTube creators and writers will teach to you and advise to you. But what do they say? Mr. Beast, the most successful YouTube creator of all time, what does he said? He said, oh, don't, don't do. Don't just make videos. Just, you know, make a bunch of videos that are not that great. Just spend a lot of effort, a lot of time making a great video. And guess what? Lots of kids and adults follow their advice and they never make enough money to pay rent. Because most of us don't have this, the talent to be an artist, to be a video, to be a great video editor, to be a great podcaster, to be a great writer. Very few of us do. I don't. I raised my hand already. I don't have that talent. My talent is not in that. But all of us, all of us, you and me both have a message that's worth exploring and sharing. That's the truth. All of us do. No matter your skillfulness in video editing, writing, because remember, everyone is competing to be. Everyone wants to write the great American novel or everyone wants to make a living. Wouldn't it be great to make a living writing online? Wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be great to make a living just making videos? And you know what's what the number one. What's the number one career that kids want these days. Have you heard, seen this, that to be a YouTube creator. They just want to go around making funny videos and then make a great amount of money doing it. And my cat agrees right here. And so listen, because that's everyone that not everyone, but that's so many people's ambition is to be paid for their art, for their writing, for their YouTube videos, for their podcasts or whatever. It is so hard to break through. It is. You have to be extraordinary. But far fewer people compared to the aspiring artists. Far fewer people are providing services and programs and online courses. Really, it seems like a lot. But no, not compared to the Aspire. The people who write. I mean, lots of people who aren't even trying to make money writing or making videos, are making. Are writing and making videos and making porno products just because it's fun for them. You gotta, you gotta think about this. There's this giant bucket of people in the whole world who just love to post on social media, write, record videos, record podcasts, take photography, put on Instagram, make drawings, put on Instagram just because it's fun for them. But hundreds of millions of people are just doing that for fun. And then there's probably tens of millions of people trying to make a living from it. And then here's you trying to compete with all of that. Give me a break. However, there are, there's probably 10 times less people. Yeah, I would say 10 times less people compared to the upper, the other buckets. I just talked about 10 times less people who are saying, you know what? I'm going to make my living as a, as a coach because I have this training or because I have this rich body of experience. People have told me that I should become a coach. You're a coach or a healer or a mentor or a service provider, not because everyone else wants to be one. Have you noticed? Not. No. Most people just would like to. Anyways, like I said, you're doing it because you've got the training, which way few people do. Or people have told you that you would be good as a service provider of whatever kind. So it's way fewer of us who are actually trying to make a living. Now take that bucket and then shrink it down way further. And, and let's talk about the few service providers who actually create content on a consistent basis. Now, now we're talking very few people. Okay, this is what I'm talking about. This is why we need to, we must create lightly. Because if we, if we, if we're working hard to create, we're, we're already competing with this giant bucket of people with whom it's going to be really hard because you're, you're average. You're not extraordinary in your art, in your video making, or in your writing. If you were, you would already know that, hey, maybe I can make a living from this. People. Tons of people love my, love my writings and my. Well, then you wouldn't be watching this video. You would already be. Already be making thousands of dollars a month or hundreds at the very minimum, $100 a month more than me in terms of my, my art I make. Just so you know, I make about $500 a month passive income doing nothing other than uploading YouTube videos and earning ads from YouTube. Plus, my Amazon books total about 500amonth. Just passive income. But I'm not an artist. I'm not a writer. I'm not a video editor. And I already. And I'm so average in that I'm maybe even below average. And yet I already make. You should be making 5,000amonth if you think you're an artist or a writer or whatever. Right? You see what I mean? Like, you have that kind of skill. But most of us, like I said, myself included, and probably you included, are not an artist. I mean, not compared to what's out there. So what can we do? We lean into our strengths, our strength as a coach, as a healer, as a service provider, as a. As a course, as a course teacher that we can. That far fewer people are doing. And we do that and add on top of that, creating content consistently. Okay, so back to the message. This is a bit convoluted. That's one of the problems of creating lightly. You could. You might want to look up my three stages of content. I create lightly at each stage of the three stages. But every stage like this is right now very much stage one content. And if this does okay in compared to my other pieces of content, if it does pretty good, then I might turn into a stage two piece, which is going to be more refined at that point. And then stage three is where I put it into a book or an online course or something like that. But create lightly is all always where we begin. Most of my content is stage one because most of my content isn't worth taking the stage two. But I had to create stage one in order to know among all my stage one. Right. So you too, create lightly. Create lightly so that you are giving yourself the consistent opportunity to show up and explore what's important to you, what's meaningful for you. You don't get clarity, truly, until you explore in your content with the slight pressure, not pressure, excitement of doing, of journaling publicly, like I'm journaling right now publicly. Right. Using video. The excitement of doing that will get you to a new level of energy and clarity that you won't have journaling alone. Okay, and. And also, not only are you joining publicly, you're also serving humanity. You're serving your audience, whether or not they ever buy from you. That kind of detachment or unattachment makes you truly authentic. And of course, ironically, authenticity builds trust, which actually makes more sales down the road. Whatever. But that's the irony of it. Like, consciously we, you know, consciously we unattach from sales results so that we can be truly authentic, knowing that obviously a byproduct of having a true audience is, well, more sales. So again, create lightly what they're. Whether that means make a video every week, write every day, record a podcast every week or whatever, or make it, make two videos every week. Whatever it is, whatever platform that you decide helps you to create lightly. For me, that's video. Okay. It didn't used to. Yeah, it's. I guess it's. Yeah, I didn't used to be that way. I used to be anti video. That's for another story for another time. Because I thought. I thought I was ugly on video. I thought I didn't sound good. I thought I wasn't smart enough or whatever, anyway. But now I've overcome those blocks, and video is now the. The platform of choice for me to create lightly. Create lightly. Whether it's. You're easier for you to write or for you to make video, or for you to record podcasts or for you to create images, you know, whatever it is, create lightly so that you give yourself consistent and frequent opportunity to explore what's meaningful for you. So you get more clarity and more authentic power and to serve humanity, your audience, without. Without attachment. So that you get more authentic trust from your audience and from the world. So I hope this is helpful. I want to thank you so much for being part of this video and. And being part of this experiment. I look forward to seeing your comments below. Whether you are an artist or. Or a creator, Let me know what you think about this. Thank you. Thank you so much. And last thing, I guess I'll show baby one more time. So this can be a truly viral video, right? Because I. I can't go viral on my own, right? I need a. I need a partner. Right? Such a good girl. Okay, those watching, those listening to the podcast, you. You have to see the video version of this, obviously. Okay, baby, I'm sorry. Okay, you can go back to napping. All right. Oh, you're a good girl. Okay. All right. See you all later. Thank you so much.