Transcription
The biggest determinant of your success is down to one thing. It's not how much skill you have. It's not your network. It's not even how many repetitions you do of your skill. It's conviction.
It's the belief that you have the ability to achieve the things you've set out to achieve. Your thought structure and your beliefs is what dictates your action. If you look at anyone who is successful, you will see a path of conviction which has taken them there. So the next question begs: how do you become convicted? How do you drive conviction through everything you do? And you really build conviction through truly, truly convincing yourself that one, you are worthy of where you are heading, but two, that you can achieve the necessary steps to get there. And as you start taking the steps to get there, that builds your existing conviction into even stronger belief.
If I look at any successful personal brand, they are highly convicted. Their personal brand did not start when they opened the camera. It didn't start when they started posting. It started years and years before that. Building up repetition after repetition, repeating the action that makes them who they are. Having now kickstarted thousands of content creation journeys, the way I look at content has completely changed. I used to think about content from a purely authority perspective. The reason being, I had a decade of training and a decade of conviction that I could train a certain way, that I knew the knowledge on the way to train, the way to eat, and how to achieve a fantastic looking physique. That conviction led me to an authority tone on social media. Coming from a place of authority and driving my physique and my achievement in my own body and my own discipline and my own actions is very, very different to where someone else who's coming into content creation from the perspective of documentation, who's coming in without that conviction, without that authority.
What I've come to realize after teaching and launching thousands of personal brands is that there is a split in the pathway. On one side, you have authority, and on the other, you have documentation. And the question is, it's the "have done" versus the "doing." If you're in the "have done," you have the stack of evidence that you are who you say you are. You have conviction and belief that you can be an authority. You look the part, or you have the certification. That may be a qualification, a degree, or you may just look like you have achieved it. If I take the health example, you could be a certified nutritionist. You could have six-pack abs. You could be in the top 1%. If I take a wealth example, you have created the successful business. You may have a nice house, a nice watch, a nice car to represent that. That signifies that you have achieved the things that you are teaching, and therefore you have authority on that topic. If you are a doctor, you have authority in the medical field.
If you are falling into this pillar where you have years of experience and therefore years of conviction, I implore you to double down on that conviction. Open every video with "My life as a X," stating and positioning yourself as an authority on that topic. "A plastic surgeon's opinion on X," "A day of eats as a nutritionist." All of these things drive conviction and belief that you are an authority on that topic. Your style of content becomes very determinant on if you are "have done" or "doing."
Now, after teaching thousands and launching thousands of personal brands, I realized that there are a lot fewer people in the "have done," aka the authority pillar, than the "doing," which is the documentation. Now, the "doing" doesn't mean that you need to wait until you are an authority to open your social media account. You actually have a tactical advantage. And when I started my content journey, when I started 75 Hard, I was in the documentation. And then 75 days later, I was then in the authority because I could speak and reflect back on my 75-day Hard journey. I could talk about things like stopping drinking alcohol, which previously I was documenting the process of stopping drinking alcohol and doing 75 days hard of two training sessions, drinking water, rising with the sun, talking to strangers, posting content every day. But at the end of it, I had demonstrated that discipline and I had achieved what I set out to achieve. That allowed me to be an authority to someone who hasn't started 75 Hard or is interested in making that change in stopping drinking alcohol. The positioning changed over time. But what is key is I started when I was documenting.
If you are in that phase of the "doing," of accepting that you are not there yet, but you are in that process of building the path towards where you would like to be, you don't have to wait until you are the authority. You are actually better off documenting the process. So you have the stack of evidence not only that you are who you say you are once you achieve it, but you have quite literally documented getting there. And the beautiful thing about this, and my favorite quote, an episode from Joe Rogan where he spoke about, imagine if a camera crew, if a film crew was following you around. Imagine how differently you would live your life. Imagine how much more dedicated to your goals you would be if every morning a film crew arose. If they came and found you at 5:00 a.m. when you said you were going to get up and the camera turned on. Would you snooze the alarm or would you get out of bed? The film crew is there. There is constant accountability. You would be more dedicated to your goals. You would hold yourself accountable for a longer period of time. But the modern-day answer to this is, you don't need the camera crew. The camera crew is right here. It's in your pocket. You have the ability to film yourself. You can drive that accountability by documenting and posting the process.
But in posting the process, you need to understand that you are speaking from a documentation, "doing" perspective. You're not taking an authority stance. It is not a "here's how to get six-pack abs." If you have not achieved that, it's "this is what I am working towards to get six-pack abs." "These are the things I am doing to achieve my dream physique," not "this is how I achieve my dream physique." They are two different perspectives on the same topics. But your tone and your voice is incredibly important because if you do not look the part, or you are not a credible source to speak on it, speaking in an authority tone will be lost in a sea of people who are more credible than you. As you are gaining your credibility, document the process that lays the foundation for relatability as you then transform into an authority, and people can look back a little bit like they do with me. I came, I started with zero followers. I was starting my 75 Hard journey, and I documented that process. I documented that process of building myself physically, mentally, and building myself through content and financially. That was the compounding effect of documenting the process from the very beginning. Then, when the time was right, because I had achieved the things that I set out to achieve, I transitioned from documentation to authority. When you make that transition, and only then, will you have the ability, leverage, and credibility to sell to your audience. It is very hard to sell in the documentation phase. Although you are highly relatable, but you need to transition to the authority phase to then drive leads to your business.
When you are in documentation, you are highly relatable because you are the closest to the avatar that you will be selling to. People will relate to your journey and they will respect that you are documenting it because they are living vicariously through you. You are already a step ahead of them. You are taking action towards your goal. So you need two plans. One, you need to be self-aware enough to understand where you are today and where you are trying to get to. If you take the example of mindset, put yourself on the scale of zero to Chris Williamson level in terms of knowledge around mindset. Accurately rank yourself today and determine how far you are. Measure it in something quantifiable. If we think about the average person consuming five books a year, hypothetically, you need to determine how many books would make you exceptional at that mindset or at that skill. If that's 20 books per year, then you need to build towards that. Document the process of reading 20 books a year. Document the process of working towards that end goal and be very raw and authentic and honest to yourself about where you are today and where you would like to get to. People will respect the honesty and they will also respect the ambition of where you want to go. They may have a similar goal, but they will be one step behind. They may not even be working towards it, but seeing you will inspire them, and they will have the opportunity to live vicariously through you.
If I take a wealth example, document the process of building a $50,000 a month business, a $10,000 a month business, of just starting a business. You are documenting the process of doing it. You are not arriving and saying, "Here's how to build a business" because you have not done it yet. Same with a physique. If you're not there yet and you don't feel like you're physically capable to look down the barrel of a camera and say, "This is how you get your dream physique" because you look in the mirror and go, "I do not have my dream physique," then you are not in the tone of authority. You are in the tone of documentation. And that is absolutely fine. Go on your journey. Set yourself a structured plan to achieve your goals. Make it quantifiable and make each step compounding to the next. Make the first step so inconceivably small that you laugh even thinking about achieving it, because it is that small step which will point you in the right direction. It is that compounding of those steps, one foot in front of another, that allows you to gain momentum, and momentum for anyone is dangerous. Momentum is what enables you to make huge leaps in your life and skill set. We often overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can achieve in a year. Make it small in the initial phase, but build yourself a plan. You are going to have a plan to become an authority in your given field, and you are going to have a content plan to document that process. I recommend that all videos you create are in a documentation style, and with the simple right format to match that style, you will have an achievable content plan that reflects the things that you are doing.
When I think about the five types of ideation, you are in the manufactured. That is the test and document and the manufacturing of interesting ideas into topics. It does not make sense for you to observe the past, the present, or client experiences because you don't have them. You don't have a tapestry to pull into. You have no past that is relevant to your current experience. So, do not observe. Do not observe what's in the past, what's in the present, or your client's experiences. Firstly, you don't have clients. Secondly, the things you are doing today probably aren't relevant or meaningful enough yet to be content ideas, and the past is non-existent relevant to the accumulation of your skill.
If you are in the authority, you will be observing in the past. You will be observing how you became an authority. In present day, you will be observing things in the present that make you an authority. And if you have clients, you will be observing the questions that your clients ask you. I also recommend that in this documentation phase, you do not model from trending audio. You do not model from trending content out there. The reason being is that you are probably going to model from someone who is an authority. And if you model from someone who is an authority, the whole tone of your video is wrong. You have taken someone who is in a very different position from you, and you have adopted their style, their voice, and their tone, which matches their skill set, their expertise, and their past, but not yours. You are far better off documenting your own journey, being honest, being authentic, being vulnerable and relatable to your avatar than trying to pretend to be an authority. Set yourself a road map for when the transition comes from document to authority. The ability to be honest with yourself and self-aware of where you are today will be the biggest determinant in your success. It will drive conviction that you are who you say you are, that you are documenting the process of getting better day on day.
This consistent documentation style has been incredibly successful across multiple formats. Whether you're working backwards from a big event, a marathon, an Ironman, a fight, or if you're just documenting the end goal of a challenge, trying to build towards something to become a better self. The more quantifiable, the more tangible, and the more we can stamp a time frame to it, the better. Use the SMART framework for your goals. They should be specific. They should be measurable. They should be attainable. They should be realistic. And they should be in a reasonable time horizon. Applying the SMART framework ensures that your goals can be achieved. Setting clear frameworks that allow you to work towards your goals. Remember, we do not rise to our goals; we fall to our systems. You need systems in place to ensure that when times get tough, which they will, and you lack motivation, which you will, that you stay on track.
If you can build that road map and you can document the process, it validates not only that you can get you there, but you have the potential to get other people there as well. That is what will put you in a position to transfer that skill to other people, to provide value as an authority, and build a business online. Without that crucial first step, you are throwing blanks in the dark. You are an impostor with an authority position. You need to readjust, self-evaluate, and be self-aware of where you are today. Does not mean you don't need to start creating content. Document, refine your skills as a creator, but adjust your tone to your starting position. I've seen this time and time again, and it has changed the way that I think about content. As I've shared my knowledge with other people, I've realized that the starting positions are so different. Not everyone is coming into the content space with 10 years of training, having built a successful business. Without that authority, they need to document the process of getting better at the skill. Until they have achieved at least some quantifiable achievement within that skill, it will be very, very difficult to build a successful business. Why would you want to buy and invest into that person if they're not where you want to be?
The biggest sell online is that you have authority on the topic you are speaking on. It wouldn't make sense for me to sell a mentorship on exiting a $100 million company because I have not achieved that. But I can teach someone to build a fitness business to $100,000 a month to $500,000 a month because I have the authority. I have the credibility of having done this. People have watched me grow my audience. I have documented the process of doing this in live real time. This drives my authority in the space and allows me to speak on these topics. Drive the authority through your content.
When you are ready, and if you are already in that authority position, you are ready to adopt different ideation tactics. Your ideation tactics become on the observe. You can pull from the past. That is what experiences have made you the authority. You can pull from the present. That is what are you doing today that drives your authority? And you can pull from potential client questions. What questions do they ask you? What do you solve for them in your business? You can also model. You can look at other authorities in the space and see what relevant and engaging ideas are being shared. You can model top-performing ideas and put your own opinion and perspective on it because you have expertise and authority in the space. But until you have that authority, you will remain in the documentation phase.
To be successful online long-term, you need to go from documentation to authority to pure conviction. The more convicted you are in your message and your content, the more successful your business will become. People do not want fence sitters. You need to be convicted. You need to have utter belief that what you say is true. The most successful personal brands, if you like them or not, Andrew Tate is probably one of the most convicted people I have ever seen. Every time he speaks, he has 100% conviction in what he says. I guarantee that if Andrew Tate said down the barrel of the camera that it is raining marshmallows from the sky, and they are hitting the tarmac, and they are sticky, and you're pulling them off the tarmac, and these marshmallows are big, and they are so sticky and goopy, that you would believe it. He has that much conviction. There are people out there that would 100% believe it if he told you that because he has so much conviction.
We live in a time of mass confusion. We cannot make up our minds about anything. Social media has us so polarized and so confused. We don't agree on diets. We don't agree on the optimal workout. We don't agree on the way global health is being dealt with. We don't agree on whether diseases are true or not true. If conspiracies are coming for us, or it's a real thing. We are so confused. When people cut through that confusion with pure conviction, that is what builds an incredibly powerful brand. The best brands out there have conviction through and through that they are who they say they are. And the only way you build conviction is by building that stack of evidence, by doing the reps again and again and again. It's about consistently putting in the effort for a prolonged period of time. That consistency drives conviction in what you do. It drives your authority. It drives your skill, your experience, your tenure, everything that makes you convicted and an authority in your space. The more you can become an expert and the more you can poise yourself with authority, the more successful your content will come.
For some of you, you are already there. And I've worked with some of you in Amplify. You come in, you're doctors, dentists, 10 years of experience, 20 years of experience. You are already there. My job is made easy. I just need to position the content for you. You are already an authority. You just need to find your voice and your format, and you're good to go. You just need to understand your ideal client profile and how to speak to them. The people that are harder to work with because their content journey is longer, but that does not mean that they will be less successful. It may just take more time are the people that are coming in with no authority, with no base skill in a beginner phase. Those people need to understand where they are going. They need to document the process. The benefit those people have is by documenting the process and by starting so early, you are far more relatable than the person who has 10, 20 years experience.
If I take fitness as an example, an easy copout is someone to look at me and say, "That is 10 years. You have trained since you were 14. I'm never going to look like him." Compared to someone who's coming in with an average rig today who doesn't really know a lot about fitness, but he starts, he documents his progress, and we watch that physique transform over time. Maybe in 90 days, he still doesn't have a comparable physique or knowledge to myself, but he's made dramatic improvements. And his rig is far more relatable and relevant to the person who is starting from zero today. My physique may feel out of touch. It may feel too unachievable to someone who is picking up a weight for the first time today.
And if I think about my clientele and the 15,000 people that we've trained at Pure Body, the general clientele that we have brought in are 3 or 4 years into the gym. They are people that are already lifting, that are maybe sick of single body part exercises and want to transition to full body. They're people that have tried "If It Fits Your Macros" and various other trends. We're not teaching them to do a pull-up for the first time. We've rarely had clients that are in serious health problems or extremely overweight. And it's reflective. The people that have never been in a gym room before are not going to come to us. We would be too intimidating to work with. We are dealing with intermediate to advanced lifters that want to seriously level up. And it makes sense. Why would a beginner go to someone who is 10 years down the road and has trained since they were 14? I've fallen in love with the gym since I was young. I'm not relatable to someone who can't get off the couch and is still eating ice cream. It is a completely different market. But that is fine. The person who documents today, if you document that process and you can demonstrate that you were relatable to that avatar, you were that avatar. You are going to be able to attract that person because you can explain their pain points better than anyone. The better you can relate to their pain, understand their pain, and demonstrate how those things change, the better you can solve their problems and market to that person.
I'll leave you with this. Are you in the "have done" or the "doing it"? Are you in the authority or the documentation? Pick a pathway and start.