by DJ Schofield |
Last Updated:July 26, 2023 I realized I wanted to build a fucking empire. Very Mark Manson of me, I know.
I don’t want an average middle-class life with a white picket fence, a wife, and a few kids.
I want an empire. I want to experience things most people don’t. I want to travel to places most people can’t. And I want to do it all on my terms.
But how?
There are two options: side hustles and empire.
Side Hustles
The first method is the worst. Many people take and teach this route. In the name of diversification, you should have 50 different side hustles, amiright??
I’ve done the side hustle life, and don’t get me wrong, you can make some money! There’s no doubt about it… whether it’s an online side hustle, uber, mowing lawns, etc.
In most cases, these side hustles aren’t usually scalable, and/or they require a LOT of labor (mental or physical.)
There are only two reasons to have a side hustle.
- You NEED a side hustle to survive.
- You’re building something to one day take full time
Number 2 is the first stepping stone to this Empire I speak of.
Empire
In my mind, an empire is the #1 player in a space. Think Apple, Amazon, etc. In my world, the empires would be WireCutter, NerdWallet, etc.
Massive media companies. Primarily in the authority (or niche) website world.
The empire is a trendsetter. They are an authority—the go to source for a product, service, content, or whatever else. I’m sure a few come to mind.
How?
The question is: HOW do we build empires?
Well, there are three ways I plan to do this.
1. Go All In
Do you think Michael Jordan would have been the best basketball player ever if he only practiced part-time or if basketball was his side hustle? Do you think Apple would be what it is today if it were Steve Jobs’s side hustle? What about Bezos? Zuckerburg? Musk?
What do all of these people have in common? They went ALL IN on ONE thing. Sure, they have their hands in many things now, but when they were building their companies, that was the only thing that mattered.
It’s tough to work part-time and beat someone working full-time. It’s simple math.
Go all in.
2. Be Strategic, Be Consistent, Be Aggressive
No matter the type of empire you’re building, you need a strategy, consistency, and aggression. A killer mentality. Life or death. Sink or swim.
Strategies don’t need to be some 500-page document or slide show. It can be done with a pen and napkin.
My Strategy: Create the best content in my respective niche
Once you have a strategy, figure out the process for consistently delivering results that align with your strategy.
My Process: Write every morning at 6 AM.
Now that you have a strategy and process, it’s time to be AGGRESSIVE. This means putting the peddle to the floorboard. Do more, do it now.
3. Scale
Once you go all in, create a strategy, create a process, and take action, it’s time to scale ASAP. What does this mean?
One word: delegate.
It’s time you become a boss.
Which tasks are repetitive? What are you not good at? What do you not have enough time to complete? The list goes on…
Find people to fill these roles.
I’ll give an example… I like writing. I HATE grammar, formatting, finding images, and links.
So I outsource that. The only thing I do is write and hand it off.
Scaling for me would be replicating myself multiple times over (writer) and replicating my content manager several times over. This creates content at scale.
Go
Alright. The point is, quit playing small ball. This is a push for you to GO.
Build the Fucking Empire.