Thrive in Obscurity
The path to creative mastery begins with years of silence. Most successful creators spent years publishing to almost no one. Keep going anyway—build your Binge Bank and create what you love.
tl;dr
Most successful creators spent years in obscurity—YouTube videos with 4 views, newsletters with 3 subscribers. Three frameworks help sustain motivation: (1) Do things you like, and sometimes the world will agree, (2) Your audience is just you pushed outwards, (3) Build your Binge Bank—content for future fans to binge when they discover you.
My Thoughts
Yes! Just do more of what you love, that is the recipe.
Of course in this era everyone has this thought about using their hobbies in a “productive” way. But forcing production without love for it is just another full-time job which will corner you in the same place any other job will do: “Doing something you don’t necessarily love, just for the fame and fortune”.
I am not saying that thinking about making more money is wrong—it is just another ambition. But don’t let ambitions ruin passions/love for what you do, especially creating content and sharing it.
The “Binge Bank” concept resonates. I’m not publishing for today’s audience (which barely exists), I’m building a body of work. When someone does discover it, there will be something worth exploring. That’s enough reason to keep going.
This is my personal commentary on the original article. Please read the original article for the full context.