(2023-11-07) Brutal Truth It Takes Years To Become A100k Thought Leader Working Parttimeunless Youre Lucky

Michael Simmons: Brutal Truth: It Takes Years To Become A $100k Thought Leader Working Part-Time (Unless You're Lucky). To be clear, for me, thought leadership is so much more than creating wealth. I was learning, journaling, and writing for years before I made any money because I love the craft

the same time, if we want to focus on thought leadership full-time, we need it to pay the bills, and we’d love for it to create wealth

I focus on money in this post, because if you want to make a career as a thought leader, it’s critical to have realistic financial expectations so you can make the best decisions for you and your family.

Today’s Game Plan: Explore case studies of how long it took successful thought leaders to break out (Cal Newport, Ryan Holiday, Elizabeth Gilbert, James Clear, Ray Bradbury, Yuval Noah Harari, etc).

Over the years, I’ve experimented with many different ways of converting my knowledge into income and impact

I have been mentored over the years by Eben Pagan, who has made hundreds of millions of dollars online.

My personal mission is to help “professionalize” the field of thought leadership so it becomes a viable career path for tens of thousands of people.

Elizabeth Gilbert wrote for 10 years before she made enough money to become a full-time author…

Ray Bradbury didn’t earn a $50,000 annual income (in today’s dollars) until he had been writing for 10 years…

Mr. Beast, the #1 creator in the world in terms of reach, spent 18 hours per day for 7 years focused on YouTube until he got enough traction to earn a livable wage.

I didn’t start having consistent blockbuster articles until I had self-published a book, written 250+ blog posts, and published 20+ long-form articles.

Cal Newport wrote 7 hours per week for 10 years until he had his big hit—Deep Work. The whole time Cal was either going to school or working a full-time job.

Ryan Holiday was a researcher for Robert Greene for years until he wrote his first book. Then, it was another three years until he had his big hit.

Steven Pressfield, author of The War Of Art, has sold millions of books. What you may not know is that he didn't publish his first novel until he was 52 years old and had been writing for decades.

3 Lies About What It Really Takes

Becoming a successful thought leader is way harder in the short-term than most beginners think.

overnight success isn’t something that I’ve observed with any sort of regularity, and I’ve studied the careers of many, many successful creators.

Everyone’s journey as a thought leader is different because everyone has a different starting line:

Furthermore, luck is a major factor.

while luck is a major factor, skill and perseverance will virtually guarantee success

Below are some guesses on how long it would take someone to earn $100,000/year spending 10 hours per week…

• #1. Skilled Marketer/Entrepreneur With Existing Product—6 months
• #2. Expert (Researcher / Practitioner / Consultant / Coach)—3 years
• #3. Early-Stage Professional With No Expertise—5+ years

While these numbers may be higher than most people think, the good news is that it’s roughly equivalent to learning any other advanced skill. Furthermore, if you go through the process, the odds of being able to earn a full-time income are high.