Idea Alchemy (How People Strike Gold in the New Digital Economy)

It was a sweltering night in the 1990s at the Troubadour. The iconic venue was in the heart of Hollywood. This place had been testing rock bands since the 1970s. The Doors, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles started it all. Then came the 1980s hair-metal revolution, with bands like Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi. They all began their rise in this little club.

We faced a grueling two-hour drive to Santa Barbara. It came after a late-night performance with my band. Despite five years of dedication, we weren't rockstars. We were popular and talented in our small beach town, but still broke. The living situation was getting old. I shared a three-bedroom house with six others, and usually their girlfriends too. It had begun to take its toll.

I hefted my Marshall stack through the grimy alleys of Hollywood. I sidestepped shards of broken glass.I reached a life-changing decision.

I love music, songwriting, and playing the guitar. But, I realized that being a rock star might not be my true calling in life.

I realized that it wasn't rock stardom that I was chasing. I pursued the thrill of bringing an idea to life. This was a big turning point for me. I also acknowledged that vanity, ego, and self-centeredness had overshadowed truth.

I had hit one of those points in life when the pain of staying where you are hurts more than the fear of changing who you are. These are big moments. Most of us have them at least once in our lifetime.

Fear of the Unknown

The problem is that when we hit that point, we don't know what to do about it or even where to start fixing it. That fear of the unknown holds us back. It keeps us stagnant. Staying stuck in the same place, hoping it will change, but knowing it never will unless we do something.

Think about it.

Have you ever asked yourself, "What am I doing here?" How many promises have you made to yourself and never followed through. They could take you to something bigger, but you never left your comfort zone to find out.

Staying in a bad relationship because it’s hard to leave, or maybe it would cost you money.

You may be in a job you don't love, doing it for the money, but trading your dreams to build someone else's instead of your own.

You're trying to start a business to be your own boss, but you don’t know what to do. You know nothing about business.

Even if you have a successful little shop, do you know how to stay relevant in the new digital economy? Do you know how to build your own ecosystem of customers inside the daunting social media world?

We See What We Look For

Hidden opportunities are there; you have to know where to look.

Most people think that social media is for kids, rots your brain or just a way to stay in touch.

They don't see that social media is the biggest free marketing opportunity ever when used properly. Those who know where to look see this too.

It's like landing a Super Bowl ad worth millions without paying a dime. It's like turning your passion project, side hustle, or hobby into a money-making machine. And it runs itself.

So that leaves the big question. How do we learn to see those opportunities and take advantage of them?

Start by asking yourself 3 questions.

Are all successful business owners geniuses? No.

Do they all have millions to invest in big tech or real estate? No.

Do they have expensive MBAs and degrees that give them an edge that normal people can't learn or can afford? No.

They have just learned to apply a basic set of skills. They do so with the right mindset and purpose to realize their dreams.

Dying On The Vine

The journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step.-Lao Tzu

In this world, we all need some sort of basic income to survive, that's why we have a job or a career. But that is always a trade-off. We trade our time for money so that we can have more time to do what we love and spend it with the people we love.

A traditional, outdated idea has shaped our view. It says we must work hard all our lives, save for retirement, and then relax. At age 65.

This way of doing things leaves us feeling burned out and tired. If we get to that place we dreamed of, we are usually old, but it's usually nowhere near what we dreamed of as kids.

Are we being true to ourselves?

We sacrifice to try to live the life we want. But we often find ourselves settling for less because we think it is too late to change our path.

Our mindset and our own belief in ourselves is the real problem.

Most of us will live much longer than we think. Medicine and tech are advancing faster than we can keep up.

That's why when we have the right mindset and inner strength, we can start over at any point in our life. We alter our path for good. We can start to think like the new rich, as Tim Ferriss calls them in his book "The 4-Hour Workweek."

Fact: most people change careers at least twice in their life. That is a huge and very hard decision.

That's where we start though. We've got to start by building inner strength. We need to change our mindset and convince ourselves that there's a better way to live and that we can do it. We need to overcome that fear of change that is keeping us stuck.

We need to find a way to put our brains on autopilot. They need to be alert to see the new opportunities in the digital economy.

Because anyone can do it.

Once we have that deep understanding, we can and will change. Then, we make that belief real.

Idea Alchemy

An idea turned into reality is a form of business.

A business is simply a mechanism for solving a problem and getting paid for it. It is a trade-off. It is an exchange of effort or knowledge to help someone else live a better life.

There are approximately 8.5 billion Google searches per day. If you could access one-millionth of that, it is 8,500 searches a day.

What would it be like if you had 8,500 phone calls a day asking for your product or service?

It would be an overnight success story.

It happens every day if you know how to use digital marketing and social media properly.

Not like the funny-lookin' person making a dance video on their phone. They do that to get people to like them on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or other digital platform.

People need to be belong and be liked. This is one of the basic human needs in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy.

But when you use a calculated, smart approach, you turn your phone into a tool. It's not for the frivolous purpose to get people to like you. It's a purpose-driven machine to make your dreams real.

That's the digital dirt that I keep talking about in my content. It is free. It is the foundation for building your own digital castle where you become the king or queen.

If you want to turn your dreams into a business. Or, if you have an existing business, digital dirt is where you start mining for gold.

What is Digital Dirt?

Digital dirt is where most new wealth is being built. Imagination is the new gold. Unlimited wealth is now a reality available to anyone looking in the right place. Staking your claim on digital dirt is where the new gold rush is happening. It's open to anyone with an internet connection.

Digital dirt includes blogs, podcasts, videos, courses, e-books, and e-learning. It only requires your imagination to build.

You can build nothing and get nothing, or you can build a castle and change your life. The only limit is you and your mind.

Daily, people create a lot of money with unlimited opportunities in digital dirt.

The New Rich

The traditional path to wealth has become a dinosaur.

College is too expensive, and it takes too long to get a skill that may be obsolete when you graduate. No one is giving away trust funds for free. Real estate investing costs hundreds of thousands to get started. The stock market is risky and slow to compound.

Bitcoin and NFTs? Good luck unless you're a crypto genius.

Creating an empire, though, is possible for anyone. Just look at the 500,000 internet millionaires created last year alone. No longer does wealth creation take generations. Now, it is possible for anyone willing to stake their own claim in free digital dirt.

You just need imagination, grit, and determination.

Don't take my word for it. Just look at recent headlines.

CNBC: U.S Added 500,000 New Millionaires Last Year As AI Fueled Markets

New York Times: Computers and Phones Pave New Path to College Degree.

Forbes: A New Normal For Online Education

You may have heard of people like Tony Robbins, Grant Cardone, and Matthew Mconnuaghay. They are talking about a new opportunity in the new economy. They are creating tools to teach people about it.  Then there or some people you may not have heard of.

Internet pioneers like Russell Brunson founded ClickFunnels, an online platform for small businesses. He recently partnered with direct marketing legends, Dan Kennedy and Jay Abraham, giants in their fields.

Very smart people take this seriously. They are expanding their digital reach with a purpose-driven use of social media.

You can too.

I made a big decision that night many years ago, sweating in the Hollywood alley behind the Troubadour. One decision to alter my life completely.

Rock stardom was not what I was looking for. It was the game of ideas. They were in my head, my imagination. I made them into something tangible and unique to me.

The first step is having crystal clarity. I learned how to play the game and spent the next twenty years building businesses and designing my life for freedom.

If you want to learn more about how to get crystal clarity and turn your passions into a new career click here.

In the coming weeks, I'll delve deeper into the entrepreneurial mindset, the skills needed to stay relevant, and how to leverage social media as a powerful marketing tool.

Thanks for reading, talk to you in the next letter.

-Jerod