Choosing a Niche Can Feel Like Life or Death
Until you realize the Niche is You
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In the words of Rick Rubin,
We are born artists… and then society does its best to beat it out of us.
When we’re young, the educational system, and society at large, asks us the proverbial question…
What do you want to be when you grow up?
And children, being closest to themselves and connected to their souls, often say things that society, teachers and even some parents think is unusual or hard to comprehend.
Why?
Because society has a habit of forgetting that each individual has their own unique path complete with gifts and talents… that you cannot simply put each person onto the same track with the same education and the same ideologies and expect the same outcome…
What you can expect from that type of thinking is that the kids often grow up to be adults who feel disconnected from themselves no matter how much they’ve achieved in the physical world and wonder why they gave up other passions, skillsets or talents they inevitably knew were right for them.
When you’re young, they tell you to pick a niche (a path).
Now here’s the irony.
“They” want you to pick a “reliable” path, which will require getting a “secure” job but only after you’ve gotten the “right” education.
Then, you’re out there in the world and they say “I don’t know, but you’ll figure it out.”
And this is why it’s so important to promote tapping into your gifts and your soul at such an early age… and to those of us who are older, why we must return to who we really are.
The niche is you, period.
So, what does that mean and how do we apply that to our modern day selves…
our creativity, or entrepreneurship,
or building a brand, or expressing our art,
or anything else we want to serve the world?
Well, first of all, sooner or later you’re going to have to choose yourself… and in doing so, not limit yourself to society’s labels or titles.
In business, yes, it’s great to have a specific group of people to focus on so you are clear as to exactly what and how you are serving them.
In life, just remember that you’re more than one thing and you’re going to explore the infinite possibilities that your soul came here to do.
So, how do we combine infinite possibilities with clarity, focus and direction?
How do we honor the “niching” with flexibility to explore… especially because we are multi-faceted, multi-talented creators.
Well, other than publicly creating content and exploring business, spirituality, mindset, systems, philosophy and writing these past 8 years online in order to express myself…
…I spent the past 3-4 months doing something different than my podcast and Instagram audience knows me to do… I took to Twitter and I discovered creators I was unaware of, whom I’ve since supported, learned from or connected with.
Here are some commonalities and learnings from those months that I found…
We use art (content such as writing, video, visuals and other means) to express a variety of topics of interest.
They look for “signals” (points of engagement that stood out more than others) from their audience.
Signals allow us to expand ourselves, not contract us. We don’t niche ourselves but expand on our thoughts, interests and lives, while connecting deeper with our art and the people who engage with us.
Every single creator is multi-faceted because building your life is multi-faceted. One minute you’ll see someone talk about copywriting and landing pages, the next they’ll talk about ice baths, productivity scheduling and human performance. Simply put, to master our interests, we must master ourselves.
We build vast audiences from helping others. When we serve others, we find new areas about ourselves we might not have previously known or had as deep of an understanding.
In the words of online creator Justin Welsh
Choosing a niche makes you a commodity. Choosing an obsession makes you the only. When you start by embracing your obsessions, you rarely need any other external motivation.
You wake up each day with an intense desire to become the best in your specific obsession. That’s when your work ethic, desire, and discoveries become un-copyable. This is your moat.
-Justin Welsh
So, to that, I thought it would help to share several creators and their multiple obsessions, as well as their “focuses” so you can see they’ve become the niche and instead of conforming to one.👇🏼
Becoming the “Only” Instead of a “Commodity”
The creators and entrepreneurs below represent a vastly growing online trend… 1-4 person businesses… people who have chosen to be their own niche simply by sharing with the world their obsessions, growth, character building, skillsets and talents.
They represent a multitude of ages and backgrounds, but they all fundamentally believe in living out loud their purpose, their art and their personal development all while being of service.
*Note, these are my personal observations of them… I’ll include their social media links so you can follow them and learn more.
Zach Pogrob
Twitter: @zachpogrob
Instagram: @behaviorhack
Obsessions…
Following your obsession
Documenting the building of life and business
Productivity, discipline and clarity
Health, mindset and physical activity
Justin Welsh
Twitter: @thejustinwelsh
Instagram: @thejustinwelsh
LinkedIn: /in/justinwelsh
Newsletter: justinwelsh.me
Obsessions…
Service businesses and building in public
Using systems to create and build a business… and your life
Audience growth, using social media effectively
Minimalism, essentialism, time, discipline and family
Dan Koe
Twitter: @thedankoe
Instagram: @thedankoe
Newsletter: thedankoe.com
Obsessions:
Digital economics and business
Human potential and philosophy
Creative work, writing, exploring curiosity
Life design
John Franklin
Twitter: @johnisbuilding
Obsessions:
Simplicity in business
Real life biz advice
Having a better relationship with time
Leadership, building in public, self-awareness
Alex Hormozi
Twitter: @alexhormozi
Instagram: @hormozi
Obsessions:
Simplifying sales and marketing
Building your personal brand
His relationship with his wife
Business
Nadeem Al-Hasan
Twitter: @nadeemalhasan_
Instagram: @nadeem.alhasan
Newsletter: The Philo Letter
Obsessions:
Reducing mental suffering in life and business
Breathwork, meditation and God
Systems & automations that scale your business and life
Healthy living, exploring creativity, building community
Taylor Welch
Twitter: @taylorawelch
Instagram: @taylorawelch
Obsessions:
Building companies & consulting
Buying real estate & wealth creation
Spending more time with family
Personal development, God & human optimization
Justin Scott
Twitter: @iamjustinscott
Instagram: @iamjustinscott
Obsessions:
Self-actualization and mastering emotions
Creativity and entrepreneurship
Flow state and energy
Writing & human connection
Dr. James DiNicolantonio
Twitter: @drjamesdinic
Instagram: @drjamesdinic
Obsessions:
Health, nutrition, diet and exercise
Human optimization and performance
Motivation, reading and activity
Creativity, productivity & sleep
Jay Yang
Twitter: @jayyanginspires
Instagram: @jayyanginspires
Obsessions:
Deconstructing marketing, psychology and storytelling
Being a student and building in public
Exploring creativity and community
Building leverage at a young age to show others what’s possible
Matt Gottesman (I had to use me as an example 😉)
Twitter: @matt_gottesman
Instagram: @mattgottesman
Newsletter: Permissionless
Obsessions:
Creator economy, entrepreneurship & business dynamics
Spirituality, God, perspective and human behavior
Systems for growth in life and business
Time, relationships, love, community
Other Notable Online Creators:
I could go on, and I will in a later letter so if you’re not on here, I still love you!
QUESTION: What’s the overarching theme above?
ANSWER: Each person is simply being themselves, doing it publicly and are more than one thing.
In short, they are the niche, they are the reason people are following them and they are constantly evolving.
Read this week’s Simplify, Multiply, Diversify below…👇🏼
SIMPLIFY…
Don’t choose a niche. Embrace an obsession. (Justin Welsh)
Translation:
Don’t force yourself into a box. Instead, pick something you’re truly curious about, that you cannot stop thinking and you don’t mind sharing the world your progress with it.
Building your life is an obsession… or at least it should be.
When you’re genuinely curious about your health, wealth, family life, friends, activities, hobbies, art, etc., you’re basically obsessing with building and creating your life.
My friends, this is life design… this is how you use your day
MULTIPLY…
When the niche is you, your world is limitless and infinite. When you niche into the world, you are limited.
Choose yourself as the niche and you cannot lose.
DIVERSIFY…
When the niche is you, we create a lifestyle that serves us in a multitude of ways. Diversification comes from being more than one thing really well.
Your job is to figure out what you like to do, how you’d like to do it and where to spend the most optimal time doing it.
Your second job is to figure out how it all works for you. The return on life is 10x when you don’t box yourself in.
Whenever you’re ready, there are several ways I can help…
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New Podcast Episode ➠ Your Purpose is NOT Uncertain, You Are (Apple, Spotify)
Instagram: @mattgottesman
In the meantime, tell your friends!
I totally feel as though I embody the theme of this letter. I truly am my niche and it’s so multifaceted. Bridging the gap between mind, body & spirit through touch, sound & intuition. My work has quite simply been birthed through embodiment. 💚