Nicolas Cole

Notoriously, human beings spend an awful lot of time imagining the big achievement we want for ourselves at the end of the journey, but struggle tremendously getting through the beginning—where we suck.

Gamers, on the other hand, know that you have to play Level 1 over and over again in order to reach Level 2. And then you have to play Level 2 over and over again before you can reach Level 3. And if you can just keep on keeping on your journey, learning and mastering each level, you will eventually climb all the way to the top of the ladder.

Your “Writing Data Flywheel” is a mechanism for endless inspiration.

Likes = “This is something I approve of. Nice job.”

Shares = “This is something more people need to know about. This represents me.”

Comments = “This is thought provoking. I agree/disagree, and I want you to know why.

Views = “This strikes a chord. There’s something valuable here.”

The real question you should never stop asking yourself is, “Could this be more specific?” Because the more specific you can be, the more likely you are to resonate with your target reader MORE than your competition.

Start within a niche, and then expand from there.

Since I was the one choosing to wear that badge of credibility proudly, other people started using that badge to describe “who I was” as a writer.

If one of your articles gets 10,000 views, you should have a link in your bio saying, “Read my most-popular article with more than 10,000 views.”

People read major publications for three reasons: opinions, news, or to learn how to do something. That’s it.

“The number of hours I spend consuming should never equal or exceed the number of hours I spend creating.”