Most of the time, it feels like we’re shouting out into the void on Twitter. You just keep hammering away, day after day, hoping that someone is listening.

And then, someone reaches out to you out of the blue and confirms that, in fact, people are listening to what you have to say.

Long time listener, long time fan

So, I better back the bus up here a little bit.

Back in 2015/2016, I was a big-time libertarian. There weren’t a ton of podcasts, but I listened to the ones that existed. My commute was about 3 hours daily, so anything to take my mind off it was a relief.

Anyway, the show host was formerly a libertarian political podcast host who moved on to non-political things, which I commend. Like politics ever fixed anything.

Anyway, I listened to his show for years and always loved the show.

And what does that have to do with anything?

He just reached out to me because I had something interesting to say. That’s it.

Look, it may not seem like you are making any headway right now, and I totally get it. It’s tough out there! But here’s the deal: we are all guilty of attending our own little echo chambers. When you are on Twitter and surround yourself with whatever corner of the Twittersphere you are into (Money Twitter™️ is my drug of choice), you start thinking that everyone is like you.

But they aren’t.

One of the things we talked about is how few people there are who actually take action. I have no idea what the numbers are, but we spoke about personal inner circles and how many people in each of our inner circles actually take action and do something like this newsletter. Or selling Gumroad products. Or freelancing for a living.

For me, it’s just me. I don’t know anyone else who does these things.

There is less competition than you think

I jumped on the call five minutes early, just like I do for any call or appointment. In fact, five minutes always seems too late to me. The host hopped on a few minutes later and was shocked that I was already there.

I was like, “really? I was only five minutes early.”

He explained that most of his guests are either hopping on at the exact moment to go live or they are late. Some of them are really late.

Now how in the world do you run a business like that? Being late overshadows whatever you have to say. It says a lot more about you than what you have to say.

Simple rules to live by that will take you far

I’m keeping it intentionally short today because I want you to listen to the show, which I will promote once it goes live (on or around March 13th).

Here is my point: not your writing chops will take you the distance (or whatever medium you choose to offer). It is your ability to function well with other people.

And most of the skills you need cost nothing; we learned them in grade school.

• Show up on time (early is better).

• Be courteous

• Be gracious when someone helps you out

• Get your work done fast/be proactive

• Don’t wait around to be led by the hand

Doing these things will not in any way guarantee success; you do have to hone your skills. But once you grow, these things are the wave you’ll ride to separate yourself from the crowd.

And let me tell you, after seven years of experience doing this thing, it is not nearly as crowded as you think it is. Especially if you show up consistently and practice those easy characteristics I listed above. It is so easy to rise to the top of the stack.

I don’t have much to pitch today. I’m mostly thinking about what we discussed on the podcast and how most of it wasn’t technical; it was just about how courteous and punctual make you stand out. Oh, and how it does take tremendous self-discipline to make it. If you don’t have self-discipline, you will crash and burn. That’s all there is to it.

However, I will plug one thing: I recently opened up one-on-one coaching. It isn’t cheap, but you get what you pay for. Curious? Check it out.