When I was a dentist, I envied people who made money with their minds.

Sure, my job had some thinking—you had to diagnose and plan.

But the work was mechanical. Drill this, fill that. Have the same conversations with an endless stream of customers. 8-10 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week.

You might not be drilling teeth, but perhaps your situation is similar.

You’re wrestling a calendar full of commitments. You're stuck in a robotic routine. You're squeezing life into exhausted evenings and weekends.

It's a depressing and inefficient way to operate.

When I became a writer, I realized that the world of work had changed. In an age of almost infinite leverage, creativity is more important than productivity.

And to create. your mind in space to breathe.

Freedom is crucial

I don't mean sipping piña coladas on a beach with the smelly hippies in Bali.

Freedom does not mean no commitments. It means committing to something you love.

You can't do this if you're stuck on the lowest rung of the leverage ladder—grinding through tasks and calls with no time to think.

A clear calendar is crucial.

For example, I used to see 10-20 patients per day. Now I have 6 client meetings per month. Two are 1-1. The rest are 1-few.

The remaining time is used to build assets that compound, such as audience and product. Or to fuel creativity through habits like reading, walking, thinking, and speaking to interesting people.

Speaking of product…

Productize your knowledge

Freedom is a byproduct of leverage.

And your most powerful lever is the ideas bouncing around in your skull.

When you productize your knowledge, you can serve your audience at scale. You have a relationship and revenue-generating asset.

Sure, it probably won't make you rich.

At least not initially (high ticket sales are important too).

But it will help you earn with your mind and not your time. This compounds beautifully.

That's why I launched a group coaching program last month to help clients build a product.

I only took on seven people. We've just finished our third call, and so far, the program has a rating of 4.75/5.

You'll be able to join a more accessible version later in the summer.

If you'd like a blueprint for building quality products, you'll enjoy what I'm cooking up.

Remember:

As a writer, you're in the business of selling knowledge, not time.

Kieran

P.S.

Not sure what problem you'd solve?

I had no clue when I released my first product, the Viral Inspiration Lab. But the problems are out there. I'll show you how to find them (and validate before you create).