Each day, there are 1,000 different tasks seeking to grab your attention.
You have to choose something or stay in bed.
Every single decision puts you one step closer, or farther away, from where you want to be.
Power multipliers allow you to complete 1 task which automatically takes care of 1 or more others, without any added work from you.
- Doing so allows you to spend your life working on things that interest you, instead of constantly struggling to stay above water.
- The hard part is determining what is a power multiplier and what is a bad choice, disguised as a good one.
Those who become successful in life, in their own terms, are experts at seeing and executing on power multipliers.
Here’s a real-life example…
Let’s say you want to quit your job and start a website, that teaches your expertise on a topic, through written articles and videos.
This allows you to travel the world, work on your own schedule, from anywhere you choose.
It seems perfect in the dopamine ridden brainstorm phase, so you decide to go for it.
Your current job gives you the funding to launch this side venture, while still working 40 hours a week.
The only risk is to your ego if you fail.
Here are two ways you could spend your first 30 days of the new business.
There will be millions of other choices just like this coming your way.
Which is the power-multiplier?
- Spend your time picking out the perfect website theme, font, color pallet, then learning the basics of code to ensure everything will look and flow perfectly once you start to publish content. Setup social media accounts for your new venture. Order business cards with a sleek & sexy design.
- Spend your time writing 5 new long-form articles (2500+ words), about your niche expertise, creating new intellectual property, which few others in the world could produce.
Option 1 Breakdown
90% of people would choose option 1. I have made this mistake in the past.
How many WordPress and Squarespace blogs are created each year, then abandoned after the first few months?
My bet. Millions.
Option 1 is an easy way out.
Option 1 is a mental trick.
It feels like you’re doing work on a new business and going in the right direction.
BUT… In Reality:
- It doesn’t require any creative investment.
- There is no risk involved.
- It doesn’t require you to put your thoughts, ego, or ideas on the line.
- It’s doesn’t produce that uneasy feeling in your gut.
- IT’S NOT SCARCE. You’re not creating anything new. A web developer & office assistant could complete the task in 2 hours, with a much better outcome.
Option 1 is not the power multiplier.
Ventures & creators that fail, usually spend most of their time on tasks such as option 1.
They work hard, but on the wrong things.
Option 2 Breakdown
Every time you write or create something new, you own a new piece of intellectual property (IP).
The more you write and create, the better your IP becomes, and the more value it accrues.
It’s scary to say what you think & create things that really matter to you, year after year.
It’s hard work to think of one new idea after the next, constantly improving on your old thoughts.
It feels risky to put your ego and ideas on the line, for the world to see & judge.
It takes years to get a group of people that actually want to listen to your ideas.
It takes even more time, to put in enough work, where your ideas are actually worth listening to.
This is why high-quality IP is so scarce.
As you complete projects and push past the fear time after time, you’ll realize three things:
- Fear is a good compass for doing work that matters.
- Fear is not logical and shouldn’t be listened to in the case of creating new things.
- You’re a lot stronger & more capable than you initially thought.
The hardest part is starting, then shipping your work, year after year.
So when you start, it better be a power multiplier.
In the paragraphs above, good signals for the power multiplier are outlined in BOLD.
In Conclusion…
If you take 90% of your time and spend it in Option 2 areas, you end up with highly valuable IP.
This will take time & extreme effort.
This is a good thing. It keeps the masses from doing it.
When you have something of value, it’s easy to sell or share with others.
Using this funding you can hire someone to build the perfect website or do any other tasks in which you’re not an expert.
Some of the most popular & profitable personal blogs looked like crap for the first 10 years, even while growing a massive audience.
At first, it’s the content, not it’s packaging that matters.
Create stuff that only you can create, from your own perspective.
Do it often!
The rest will fall into place.
Absolutely great article on where to spend one’s time in really any new venture in life. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Really glad you liked it, Thomas. Thanks for letting me know.
I’ll be putting out some more stuff along these same lines.
Is there anything specific you would like me to write about?
Have a good day,
Dave
Just looked at this blog I have followed you from you first starting with the photography vlogs, which were exceptionally good and I certainly learned from these. However to me you seem to have lost your way a little bit as you went from that to backpacking then going off for a considerable time only to return then state you were going to show your pics and give advice on processing, that never happened then you disappeared again and now your back with I believe another project which you have talked a lot about before.
You seem to be jumping into a lot of different formats do you intend to keep Landscape photography journals running or has this project had its lifespan.
Your vlogs are good but seem to be taking a different path .
Hi Harry, How’s it going man?
I’m kinda confused as to what you’re talking about? None of the stuff you’re saying matches what I’m doing or thinking even in the slightest bit… Maybe you could explain or look through my website site thoroughly and then see what you think.
I feel that it would be really hard to tell if I “lost my way” by watching a few video projects on the internet that span 20 hours of my entire life, total. Long backpacking trips, creating videos, writing, and taking photos, are exactly what I enjoy at the moment.
My goal is to always create content directly in-line with that I’m learning and interested in improving at. Otherwise, it’s a job and I can’t stay motivated.
Are there any projects you’re working on right now, or what are you interested in creating or learning these days?
Talk to you soon,
Dave
Bravo and totally spot on.
I’m on this path right now and I’ve wasted the last 6 months fiddling around with my website simply because *I can.*
Fear is the ultimate gauge for success. And you do a great job of showing your vulnerable side as well, without freaking us all out. 🙂
Beautiful work!
(BTW, I had a hard time finding your blog! Couldn’t see a clear link from your webpage or your welcome email, which also seemed to be missing a clear link to your webpage.)
Thanks Jill. Glad you enjoyed it. I’m still designing out this blog, so haven’t integrated into the website yet. Will do in the coming weeks. Still, thank you for the heads up, none the less:)
Talk soon
Dave
Dave this article came at a perfect time for me! Thank you sir for putting in the work!
You’re welcome, Ken. Thanks for reading.
The best things to do are those you are most scared of, for whatever reason. Doing scary things helps develope your problem solving skills as well as your own self confidence. Doing the things you are not scared of, just gets you in a rut, seeking the easy way out.
That’s for sure, Chris!
I walk around my neighborhood picking up garbage a couple days every week. This helps me think and rethink creative tasks, plan my photos, and generate new ideas. After reading your article I began to wonder if some power multipliers are not always so direct and obvious. The act of picking up garbage isn’t photography. But it helps me focus on creative photography. Reading your article has helped me to understand what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and how anyone can do it. Thank you!
Hey Chris,
That’s a solid move man. I find it really helpful to run or walk as well. Great mental processing time.
Take care,
Dave
Dear David,
I’m digesting the ideas which are pretty powerful. Seems like it is better to develop content with value added rather than a generic delivery vehicle.
Keep the ideas oming
Will do. Thanks Bill.
I liked it too, Dave. You are a thoughtful guy. I also have benefited from your post processing course. It has given me a good workflow practice and insight into how to think about what an image should look like. Like anything one has to work at it … try, try, and try again.
Thanks for the direction. I waste a lot of time. I’m looking forward to your next installments.
I really enjoyed this Dave. It is applicable in so many areas. Life is short and filled with so many good looking time-wasters. Staying focused and on track is not easy when you are Master of your own time.
Thanks. It’s really tough. I struggle with it as well.
The “power multiplier” thing reminds me of the book “The One Thing”. Do the most important tasks first, so that everything else will be easier or unnecessary.
Great article, looking forward to read more about your thoughts.
Thanks, Daniel. For sure, I agree with you on the One Thing. That’s a great book.
Outstanding topic presented in a very clear and concise manner with an excellent real life case study presented as an example. I originally visited your website for help improving my photography skills, but quickly gravitated towards some of the other content in your courses that highlight how to focus on life goals and objectives, how to maintain a high degree of motivation, and how to focus on the most important items to help achieve your goals.
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Thank you, Dave! You have a clear way to communicate ideas. This message came at the right time for me. The Power Multiplier concept is a powerful tool to move the plans forward.
You’re welcome. Glad t hear that! Thanks for the feedback on the article as well. It helps me to know what to write about next. Talk to you soon.
Dave interesting read over the years ive followed your videos and very much enjoyed its the presentation of the videos its the way you explain things and why you do it a particular way looking forward in more videos and info excellent mate TC
Thanks Rick. Really glad to hear that. You’re welcome!
Hi Dave,
Well said, and sinking in!
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I just discovered your blog articles, Dave. Very motivating and helpful, I hope you’ll write more of them! One question, I’d love to hear your thoughts: Have you ever had problems deciding what you want to do or stick with a certain thing? I guess not, because you’ve been doing photography for such a long time.
My story is that I’ve been doing a lot of different things over the last 10 years, and could never really decide to stick with one direction. I’ve moved from photography (back then I thought this was it, I did it for years) to type design to illustration. I’ve always managed to build these projects far enough so that I could teach what I know, and people were looking to learn from me. Usually, when I had built enough momentum with my audience, I lost interest in the topic and moved on to the next thing (which is of course awful from a financial standpoint). I just can’t seem to decide. I love learning new things, but maybe I’m afraid to stick with something and see things to the end? Right now I’m completely overwhelmed by all the different things I’d like to explore.
Thanks for all you do, keep up the great work! Your thoughts about social media especially have helped me a lot!
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