George Kao made under $500 a month from five self-published books and over 1,000 videos, but earns far more from courses and coaching. He argues creators should focus on inner exploration and serving aligned audiences, not chasing money or followers, and produce frequently without over-polishing.
Five
Over 1,000 videos
Less than $500 per month
About 30 to 50 times larger
Hi, everybody. So this is a different location than I'm usually at. So before I get going on the message, I want to show you what's happening right now. I am actually bedridden today with an illness. I don't won't go into that, but it's related to the message today, which is to create lightly. Create lightly. Now what do I mean by that? Most of you who are watching this, probably you are not going to be able to make a sustainable livelihood as an artist. Some of you will and some of you do, and that's amazing. But myself, I'm not going to be able to make a sustainable livelihood as an artist of some kind. And by an artist, I don't mean just like a painter or musician. I mean video creator, writer, podcaster. Okay, now you must say, George, that's strange because you have a podcast, you've uploaded over a thousand videos, you have five published books. You don't think you're going to make a living doing that? No. Let me explain why of all. I'll tell you, I'll give you the numbers right now. Actually, do you know how much money I make from my books and my YouTube videos combined? Because my books are on Amazon. I have five books self published and I have YouTube videos. Over a thousand YouTube videos. You know how much money I make from Those? Less than $500 a month passive income. It's true. I don't do anything. I don't promote my books or anything. I still make like under $500 a month from both of those efforts. And then compare that to my income as a course creator, as a coach. Right. As a service provider. It is. Three is, what is it, 30 times? 30 times? At least. At least 30 times. 30 to 50 times that amount. What's. What's 10 times? Yeah, yeah. So it's like 30 to 50 times that amount as a service. So let me say this again. All of us, most of us watching this are going to have a much easier time making a good living as a service provider, providing. I don't know what you want to say, coaching services or healing or creating online courses or facilitating programs, transformational programs, whatever it may be. It is so much easier doing that than it is to create enough of a livelihood as an artist of some kind. Whether you are a writer, video creator, podcaster, et cetera. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, and I'm sorry no one told you this, but I'm having a heart to heart, eye to eye conversation with you as an adult. You need to hear this message. Okay, so what does that mean then, for our content? George, why do you still make videos? Why do you still write more books? I'm going to publish another book in the next month. George, why do you still create so much content? Why do you still have a podcast? I'll tell you why. Not for money. Because it's important for two reasons. One, inner exploration, and two, outer service. So let me explain. I create content because in no other way do I get more clarity and more development of my voice. My authentic, soulful power does not get developed any other way other than the practice of expression. And probably same as you. I'm not going to claim this to be true for every human on the planet, but probably true as you. Same as you. You'll never reach your potential as a human being until you are able to fully express what you consider to be your soulful self. The song that your soul came to sing in this earth, in this life. You won't be truly human and you won't truly be a spiritual being having a human experience until you're able to fully, unabashedly, authentically create on Earth. So how do we do that? We have to try. We have to show up, overcome again and again and again, our anxieties, our fears, our blocks, our. Well, I'm not smart enough. Oh, I don't. I'm not inspired today. Oh, this has been said by a million other smarter people and people more handsome and prettier than me. It's been said way, way better by funnier people, by wiser people. Who am I to say this? Who am I to say this again? Because if you don't say it, you don't reach your potential. You don't truly exercise your voice, your authentic expression in this life. So that's a huge and very important reason to create consistently, frequently, as frequently as you can. Because otherwise, what you tend to do is shy away. What you tend to do is, you know, all the reasons that I just said all the blocks, you give into those blocks and those blocks become stronger. The second reason to create is outer service. There's inner exploration on the one hand, and then there's outer service on the other hand. Outer service is I create because while I am exploring what is meaningful and important to me, I believe that something here can serve someone who is watching this now or at some other point in the future. I believe it. I. Not just believe it, it's true. You know, it's just true that there are. There are groups. There is a whole large group of people in the world that if they found you and they discovered you will feel like they are aligned with your energy signature better than anyone else in your industry. And when you create, have the heart and intention to serve them no matter if they ever buy from you that day or ever. I don't have any attachment to selling or this better get results when I create content because then I'm out of my authenticity Outer service. True service means here is the gift of my efforts no matter what happens. So back to my main message today for you. Create lightly. Create lightly. Those of us who are not meant to be artists, we are meant to be explorers, we are meant to be servants, they are meant to be healers. We are meant to be coaches, mentors, facilitators. Create lightly. Create lightly so you can frequently explore what is deeply meaningful for you. And also, on the other hand, probably have it be of service to somebody in the world. Chances are many people in the world, the more authentically powerful you are, which comes from creating often and overcoming your blocks and your anxieties again and again and again. The more authentically powerful you are, the more you're in service to others and also the more you are able to come across some clarity through your exploration. That changes your own life too, because clarity comes through creating. So therefore, create lightly. Don't spend a month editing a video. Don't spend a month writing a blog post. Make a quick video like this every week, every day if you want to put up a blog post every week, two times a week, three times a week, if you want to create lightly. So you give yourself that opportunity to explore and to serve. Knowing that I'm not going to create a freaking masterpiece. That's not what I'm here to do. I'm not making a piece of art. I'm giving myself that opportunity to explore and to surf. So that's it. I hope this is helpful. You might need to watch this again to really get what I'm trying to say here. But I hope this helps. I hope this inspires you to go and create lightly. Thanks.
