Manufactured Momentum

In 2020 I wrote a book summarizing 980 hours of research on high performers.

It includes my 7-step framework that anyone can use to achieve their goals.

I’ve used it to land dream jobs, tour the US as a DJ, hit crazy fitness goals, and more.

Here’s a summary so you don’t have to spend 10 hours of your life reading (if you’re a slow reader like me).

And for those who were too lazy to click into the tweet, here’s a summary of the framework below:

1. Self Concepts - A collection of beliefs about oneself. The foundation of our identity. Made up of schemas, past-self, present-self, and potential self.

2. Game Changers - Building habits, rituals, and routines optimized for your specific goal.

3. Compound Learning - Observing, picking up trends, asking questions, paying attention to nuances, and tying things back to your goal.

4. Deliberate work - It’s not repetition that makes you an expert but HOW you practice/work over time. Focus on technique.

5. Self Talk - Tell yourself you can do something and you are more likely to do it. Optimize your physical environment with reminders, sayings, quotes, affirmations, videos, keynotes, podcasts, screensavers, and anything that will serve as a regular reminder about your goal.

6. SMART Goals & The Science of Luck - Set S.M.A.R.T. goals and reverse engineer luck by having clarity on your goals, doing research, and keeping an eye out for opportunities to learn & grow. “If something good happens once, it’s luck. If it happens to us often, it’s skill”

7. Support Groups, Mentors, Coaches - “You are the average of the 5 people who you spend the most time with” Jim Rohn. This is the final piece of the puzzle and the glue that holds it all together.

I think the framework still stands today but if there was one thing I’d add, it would be this idea of “Manufactured Momentum”.

Everyone knows that momentum is important when trying to achieve something.

Especially when you’re just getting started.

Doesn’t matter if it’s starting a business, trying to build a social presence, or trying to get in shape.

So, here’s the advice I’d give to myself (or anyone else) just getting started.

Manufacturing Momentum

1) Identify YOUR goal

This should be something that you inherently want to do. Not something that you saw on Instagram or because one of your buddies is doing.

Identify the goal, why you want to do it, and how the outcome (and process of achieving the outcome) will be rewarding.

Once you identify, get started then and there. Any action here is helpful since it’ll give you a sense of accomplishment and guilt (if you even think about stopping).

Pay for the gym membership, create the social account, sign up for the event, or whatever is aligned with your goal.

2) Forced environment

Change your environment by physically moving somewhere or finding a space that encourages the behavior that will help you achieve the goal. Work at a coffee shop with other entrepreneurs.

Switch to a gym where people take fitness more seriously (I recently did this).

Move to a city with a high density of people who do what you want to do.

And if you aren’t able to do either of these, change your immediate environment by restructuring your room/home.

When I was writing the book, I removed my TV, got a very comfortable work chair, and optimized my entire room for writing (including lighting, bed positioning, coffee machine, monitor, etc.)

Force your habits by changing your environment.

3) Measurable action

Pick 1 thing that you can do on a regular basis that will help you get towards your goal.

This should be measurable like writing a blog post every day, reaching out to 10 prospects a day, or doing 300 flights on the stairsmaster every day (I did this when I was trying to cut down to 11% bodyfat and it worked).

Pick a measurable action and stick with it.

4) Public announcement

Tell others online, in person, via text, or email about your goal, why you want to do this, and what you’re doing about it.

Ask them to hold you accountable.

Tell them you’re going to check back in with them in 3 months.

I like making these types of announcements public because the internet is forever and you never know who is watching.

But I’ve also gone the route of texting/calling friends to tell them about a secret goal that I was working on (like quitting my safe full-time job at a16z to become a part-time consultant with no benefits, carry, or long term security — just so I could have full creative freedom to work on InternetEmpires.com )

5) Find IRL (or virtual) community

Ideally, you move to the city where there’s a bunch of other people like you. This could be SF for tech, LA for entertainment/fitness, NYC, Austin, or wherever you think you’ll see an increased opportunity for luck to happen to you.

But if you can’t move somewhere then try to find your community online via Reddit, X, Discord, LinkedIn, or whichever platform your community spends a lot of their time.

Once you join these communities (or move cities) you actually have to engage. Can’t expect luck to happen to you — need to make it happen yourself.

When I moved to SF in 2014 with just a suitcase and backpack, I was literally sleeping on a friend’s couch in the Mission District (shoutout to Eugene).

But I made it a personal goal to attend at least 1 event per week and spend as much time out & about.

Networking events, happy hours, food tours, company parties, conferences, festivals, launch parties, or just meeting people for coffee in person.

I think a great deal of my success today stems from that period of relationship-building.

6) Check in regularly

Once you have a virtual or IRL community, check in with them regularly.

Start a private group chat with a few of them, set recurring meetups, or join online groups so you can share updates.

Ask for feedback or let them know when you’ve hit a wall.

7) Provide public updates 

Share updates with your social followers or email subscribers so that you keep yourself accountable.

I’ve been sharing an IG story every time I hit the gym for the past decade. I share updates about this newsletter, the podcast, or other tough goals I’m working on with people on X so that they can keep me accountable.

You’ll notice this also increases the surface area for luck to happen to you — since now you’re top of mind and have others rooting for you.

Because many of you follow this newsletter for growing an online presence, here’s how I’d apply this framework (which is actually one of my goals btw)

1) I want to hit 50,000 newsletter subs by the end of 2025.

2) Once a week, I will physically go to a coffee shop near my house and sit down for 2 hours to write.

3) I will publish 1 newsletter per week, share 3 social posts per week, do 1 cross-promo per month, and invest $10,000 into paid marketing.

4) I am sharing this goal with you all here via the newsletter — hold me accountable (and share the newsletter with others to help me get there plz).

5) I joined the Beehiiv slack channel to build relationships with other creators, follow dozens of my favorite newsletter operators online, and plan to meet people in person (either at events or if they happen to be visiting LA).

6) I’ll check in with the Slack group and Creator friends when I hit milestones (or if I’m getting stuck).

7) I’ll provide you with updates here via the newsletter & social.

Let’s get it.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter.

I’m going to share more stories, things I’ve learned throughout the years, and of course all of the growth tactics to help you build your Internet Empire.

LMK if there’s anything in particular you want me to write about.

And thank you for being here.

p.s. I interviewed Kevin Espiritu to learn how he built his Online Gardening Empire.

And in case you missed my last episode with Ben Wilson (host of How To Take Over The World)

You can also find the pod on  Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Cheers,

Ish

💪🏽