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Justin Welsh’s 5 Rules to Success as a Creator
And why you need to study them
It’s no secret I’m a Justin Welsh fanboy.
In August, I wrote a 21-minute article about how he’s made over $1.28 million from his online courses.
In The Saturday Solopreneur, he shares actionable tips to help readers build, launch, and monetise their internet businesses. It’s the only weekly newsletter I read religiously.
A couple of months ago, he shared five rules that completely changed his life. It’s quite possibly his best newsletter yet.
Here are those rules.
But first, a little context…
Three years ago, Justin came across Naval Ravikant’s now-famous Twitter thread — How to Get Rich (without getting lucky).
At the time, Justin was working 80-hour workweeks as an executive. He was making a good living, but he was also burning out.
Naval’s perspective knocked him for six.
“Code and media are permissionless leverage. They’re the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep.
“An army of robots is freely available — it’s just packed in data centers for heat and space efficiency.
“Use it.”
— Naval Ravikant
Justin started thinking about “an army of robots” and how he could use them to his advantage.
“I’m not a coder. I don’t build software. But I do have some knowledge that would be valuable to others.” — Justin Welsh
This realisation took him down a long, winding path of making money online.
A path that involved reinventing his lifestyle.
The American Dream is a trap
This reinvention is driven by fear.
Justin wants to avoid the average “American Dream trap” at all costs:
“Go to high school
“Go to college (maybe)
“Get a job and work 40–70 hours per week
“Switch jobs
“Buy ‘stuff’