1 toxic habit prevents you from making REAL money online
Most people are content creators and they don’t even realize it.
If you post a picture on your Facebook wall, for example, you’re a content creator.
Unfortunately, you’re also a sucker.
And the social media giants have built an entire ecosystem around suckers just like you.
“Well James, that’s pretty mean. Why would you call me a sucker? Everyone spends time on social media!”
Yes, yes they do. And that’s the problem.
You’ve joined a billions-strong army of people who are content to work for free and make tech bros here and in China obscenely rich.
In a way, we’re alike, you and I.
But you know the difference between you — a Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok poster — and me, a blogger and YouTuber?
I get paid for my content.
Facebook and TikTok get paid for yours.
Are you ok with that?
You’ve been trained to work for free
When Facebook started, it was a novel way to connect with friends and keep in touch with family.
It was mostly sincere pictures of people’s kids or travels.
Before long, it devolved into a mind-numbing swamp of brag posts, Minions memes, ads, and seemingly nice people’s darkest political opinions.
And digital consumers couldn’t get enough!
Social media companies know how the human brain works, so they constantly ply you with easy dopamine hits in the form of likes, comments, retweets, and awards.
And you, their little test rat, just keep hitting that bar to get your salt pellets.
All the while, your opportunity to do something authentic and unique and inspiring with your life slips away, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, month by month.
The worst habit?
I know something about bad habits.
For about 15 years, I was under the spell of alcohol.
And yet, for all the physical and mental damage I did to myself, I think social media addiction might actually be worse.
In addition to the fact that you’re a certified sucker if you work for someone else for free, there might not be a bigger waste of time on planet Earth.
It always kills me when I get commenters on my stories or my YouTube videos saying stuff like, “Gee whiz, I’d sure love to make money writing but I just don’t have the time.”
Bulls**t.
Every time someone says this to me, I have the same response:
Go to your phone’s settings
Find your screen time log
Weep
Get better
I have a full-time job, a wife, two kids in competitive sports, and a multiple-five-figure business to run.
You think I have a lot of free time on my hands?
No … I just don’t waste the time I have.
When you look at your screen time and see, oh, I don’t know, 10 hours on social media in the last week, ask yourself this question:
What could I have learned or created in those 10 hours?
It doesn’t take as long as you think to change your life.
But it starts with making that goal your №1 priority, not something you might do if your brain isn’t totally fried after spending 3 hours on TikTok.
The only good reasons to be on social media
I only go on social media for two reasons:
It’s the easiest way to reach a particular person
If you aren’t using social media, social media is using (and profiting off of) you.
Transform yourself from a content consumer into a content creator and you’ll see Facebook, Insta, TikTok, and Twitter for what they are: a toxic habit preventing you from living the life of your dreams.
Publish Every Day project update: Day 328
I’m currently running a project aimed at generating enough money to leave commuter life within a year by publishing every single day on different platforms and investing my earnings into passive income vehicles.
How much I need to retire: $250 CAD per day
What I earned on Day 328: $162.59 (writing) + $1.44 (YouTube) + $11.58 (dividends) = $175.61 total
What I’ve published recently:
This post about 4 foods a Harvard nutritionist suggests you eat to save your brain
An article about 1 popular retailer’s scary new sign of an economic crash
A wildly popular post about the 1 buzzy American state you should never move to
This YouTube video:
Have you thought about quitting social media?
What’s holding you back?
Let me know in the comments!
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