Why the World’s Coldest Machine is Currently Ignoring You

I’m in Medellin right now,

And when I go to the grocery store, or catch an Uber, or even talk to the maintenance staff at my building’s Airbnb…

Everyone working has a dead look in their eyes.

A lack of enthusiasm.

A look of unfulfillment.

The dread of working for low pay.

You can’t ignore it once you see it.

And yes, I understand it’s a developing country… but I see the exact same thing in Canada.

I don‘t call this out from some moral high ground or feeling of superiority.

It actually makes me sad.

And the reason they’re in this reality of their life is because of one thing…

They’re not pursuing mastery in something that creates value for the world at scale.

It reminds me of where I was at 10 years ago drinking every day working at jobs I didn’t like for a low pay cheque.

I wasn’t working towards anything.

I didn’t think about how I could help create value for others.

And the money was just enough to get by.

Value creation can be a fuzzy concept.

It’s not just about money. It’s about the happiness you get from creating, and the fulfillment you get from helping others.

You could argue working construction on someone's home for 60 hours a week is ‘creating value’.

And it is.

Is it a lot of value though? The world is the judge of that. Not me. Not you.

And it’s abundantly clear there is no correlation between hard work and wealth.

Don’t Blame the Machine

It’s easy to blame the system.

Hell… a lot of people I know think it’s rigged.

They blame the government…or the ‘top 1%’ for all the reasons they can’t get ahead.

The reality though, is the system isn’t rigged, it just rewards masters and is indifferent to mediocrity.

Think of it as a cold-hearted machine that exchanges money for value.

If the machine isn’t giving you the amount of money you'd like… it’s because you’re not creating enough value… simple as that.

If that's you right now, NOTHING is more important than figuring this machine out.

For the record, I don’t live in a cave. I understand not everybody’s goal is to scale or be rich. I also understand that some people care about doing what they love even if it doesn’t pay well.

But there’s nothing prideful or moral about being sad and broke.

In my eyes it’s a tragedy.

You deserve to have the resources you need to live life on your own terms with abundance.

And that abundance stems from mastering your craft and reaching as many people as possible with it.

This isn’t about talent. It doesn’t come from some magical gift from the gods.

It comes from discipline and focus on a path you choose.

One that aligns with your interests and skills.

There comes a point you have to get out of the dabbling phase and commit to that path.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day.

You get to invest your time into something that will set you free, or you get to spend your time and stay where you are right now.

It really comes down to the price you’re willing to pay.

The "Massive Value at Scale" Myth

Here’s why marketing is half math and also why your first goal should NOT be virality/trends/hacks…

It needs to be value creation.

If you have mastered nothing, your ‘value’ is zero. (By the way, I’m not saying you as a human has a value of 0, I’m saying to the objective market)

So zero multiplied by any scale or number is still zero.

This is why you see so many people go viral and make $0 from it.

They don’t have anything of value to offer. And like I said earlier… I don’t get to decide what value is, you don’t get to decide it…

The world does.