Obsession with learning
Since forever, I’ve had this crazy obsession with learning.
Even back in the day when I spent hours on end playing video games, I always made sure to carve out some time for learning.
Yeah, it might have taken a toll on my schoolwork and job performance, but deep down, I knew that all that knowledge-gaining would eventually pay off.
.
At first, I thought my thirst for learning was just another case of shiny object syndrome.
You know, that “dangerous” thing that successful folks always warn against.
But, if my bursts of obsession were truly shiny object syndrome, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
My journey has taken me to places I never could have imagined as a teenager.
And now, I’m here to share that journey with you (minus all the unnecessary detours).
.
Over the course of a decade, I’ve become downright fixated on a bunch of things:
- Fitness,
- nutrition,
- SEO,
- web design,
- web development,
- graphic design,
- digital art,
- social media,
- content writing,
- marketing and sales,
- copywriting and funnels,
- business models,
- programming,
- neuroscience,
- philosophy,
- spirituality,
- self-development.
.
Whew! The list goes on, but let’s not get carried away.
Each of these obsessions lasted anywhere from one to three months, and I didn’t limit myself to just one thing at a time.
If a nutrition podcast caught my attention while I was all about copywriting, you bet I’d be tuning in.
.
So, what are the results after a decade of this relentless pursuit?
Well, it’s the one thing that most architects consider impossible.
(Even if they don’t say it outright, they make you feel like it is)
.
The impossible achievement?
Doing what I absolutely love for a living.
.
My constant hopping from one skill to another didn’t stop me from making an income right from the start.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can’t replace your income early on in your own journey.
As long as you’re out there building and learning in the real world, in front of real people, anything is possible.
This is how I did it.
.
Skill stacking vs shiny object syndrome
Let’s talk about two different ways to learn things, skill stacking & shiny object syndrome:
- Skill stacking is like building a toolbox with many different tools.
- Shiny object syndrome is when we keep getting distracted by new and exciting things.
.
When we skill stack, we gather lots of different skills that help us solve all sorts of problems.
It’s like having superpowers. Why?
Because we can see how one skill connects to another and how they all fit together.
Connecting the dots.
.
This helps us come up with really cool ideas and solutions that other people might miss.
But sometimes, architects get caught up in shiny object syndrome.
They keep jumping from one thing to another without really sticking with anything for long.
Like learning another design tool, BIM, BAM, BOOM… you name it.
This can make it hard to get really good at something and make a real difference.
.
So, it’s important to focus on skill stacking.
By learning and practicing different skills, we can become really good at solving problems and make a big impact.
It’s like having a special set of tools that helps us fix anything.
Isn’t that what you where looking for?
To use your awesome skills to help people fix things?
Let’s start our journey of skill stacking and become problem-solving architect.
.
Stacking Skills
How to be successful and make a living doing what you love.
The Skill Stack for Modern Architects
You might have seen advice on social media telling you to learn specific skills like starting a business, using Facebook ads, or building a personal brand.
Those are good suggestions, but I have a different approach to share with you.
Let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
.
When it comes to being a successful architect and making money, it’s all about exchanging value with other people.
As simple as that.
This value can be in the form of money, time, knowledge, or even just being helpful to others.
.
To be a successful architect, we need three important things:
- A valuable message: This means having something important or interesting to say that others will find helpful or inspiring. It’s like having a special way of communicating that people can understand and relate to.
- A way to share your message: You need a medium to get your valuable message out there and in front of people. If no one sees or hears your message, then it won’t make a difference. So, you need to find a way to reach a lot of people.
- A skill to deliver results: This means being able to help people and make a positive impact with what you offer. It’s important to learn how to solve problems and deliver something valuable to the people who are interested in what you have to say.
.
These three things – message, medium, and the ability to deliver results – are all skills that work together.
You need all of them to be a successful architect.
It’s not enough to just learn a skill and expect people to come to you and buy from you.
It takes time and practice to get good at it.
.
The Message
When it comes to the message, it’s important to understand that your customers can become interested in anything.
(Only if it’s presented in the right way).
You need to think about why you became interested in something. Why?
And find a way to share that interest with your customers.
For example: if you are interested in sustainability, why where you interested in the first place? What made you so obsessed with the energy efficiency or sustainability?
You’ve got it?
Now, how would you share your obsession with your audience?
.
It’s also important to remember that value doesn’t always mean giving people practical advice.
Value can come from educating, entertaining, or inspiring others.
Sometimes, just learning something new can be entertaining and valuable.
Show them how you did it.
What did you learn?
Where did you fail?
Failures entertain and educate. They’re great.
.
To craft a valuable message, you should study two skills: marketing and sales.
- Marketing is about creating a message that grabs people’s attention and is relevant and valuable to them.
- Sales is the process of making people aware of their problems and showing them how your solution can help them.
.
It’s like telling a story and showing how your product or idea can transform their lives.
I won’t go into detail here, but I want to share something exciting with you.
🎓 If you’re interested in learning more about marketing and sales, you can check out our program courses. You will learn everything about creating a message, making people aware of their problems and showing them how your solution can help them.
.
The Medium
You know, when you have something important to say, it’s important that people hear it.
That’s where the medium for distribution comes in.
In life, we learn that discipline gives us freedom.
Well, in business, distribution gives us freedom.
And when we talk about an internet business, distribution happens through a combination of media (like websites, videos, and podcasts) and code (like computer programming).
.
Learning coding is a valuable skill, especially when you pair it with marketing knowledge.
It helps you build software, put it online, and attract users through marketing.
It’s like having superpowers. But don’t worry if you’re more interested in the creative side of things.
.
If you’re going the creative route, you’ll still need some technical know-how.
You’ll have to learn about tools that don’t require coding, like website builders, course platforms, note-taking apps, and organizational tools.
These tools will help you maximize the effect of your skills.
.
Remember the message we talked about earlier?
Well, having a medium for distribution is what allows your customers to see your message.
Without a way to reach your customers, it’s like talking to an empty room.
That’s something I learned from my own mistakes in the past.
.
So, to build your distribution, it’s a good idea to start with social media channels that help you reach a lot of people.
Platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn can be great choices, especially when you’re just starting out.
Writing is an important skill for these platforms, so you can share your message with others and engage with them.
.
Once you have a medium for distribution, you can focus on creating valuable content and getting people to share it.
You want to build a brand that looks impressive and catches people’s attention.
Fancy tactics for rapid growth are nice, but what really matters is creating content that brings in followers and builds your audience.
.
When it comes to distributing your message, writing and speaking are key.
They are the mediums through which you can reach people and make an impact.
Writing helps you create engaging newsletters and social media posts, while speaking allows you to share your message persuasively.
.
🎓 We have a challenge called Email Marketing where I show you how I write engaging emails, turn them into posts, and distribute them across all platforms. It’s based on the foundation of my own social media growth, which is centered around writing.
Results Oriented Skills
Now that we know how important it is to have a great message and a way to share it, let’s talk about some skills that can help you get awesome results.
These skills are all about using technology to make things happen.
.
- Email marketing. It’s like sending really cool and persuasive messages to people’s email inboxes. With the right emails, you can attract more customers to a business.
- Sales closing. This skill is all about convincing people to buy something. It’s like being really good at explaining why a product or service is amazing and why someone should get it.
- Graphic design. It’s like creating cool pictures and visuals that catch people’s attention. With awesome graphics, you can get more people to follow you and be interested in what you’re doing.
- Videography is another cool skill. It’s all about making videos that are exciting and hold people’s attention. When you create awesome videos, you can get more people to watch and be interested in what you’re sharing.
- Animation is like bringing drawings to life. You can make characters move and tell stories through animation. It’s a fun way to grab people’s attention and make them want to see more.
- Web design is about creating cool and user-friendly websites. When you know how to design websites, you can make them look amazing and easy to use. This helps businesses attract more customers online.
🎓 I also have the challenge Sales – Closing where I show you how to close your indecisive customers who tend to find an excuse to your proposals.
By learning these skills and using them with technology, you can grow your architecture business and make some amazing things happen.
You can write emails that bring in more customers, create graphics that get more followers, and make videos that keep people watching.
And you know what’s awesome?
When you combine marketing, sales, and communication with these skills, you can achieve some really cool things.
Like helping others, getting more followers, building a good reputation, finding new opportunities, having more freedom, and gaining status.
Everything by helping others.
🎓 What does helping others mean? First, see who are the actors participating on your market and how you can fix their problems with the Audience – Key Market Players challenge.
.
Stacking your Personal Interests
You know how I always talk about building a personal brand?
Well, that means showing the world who you are and what you love. And guess what?
Your interests are a big part of what makes you unique.
.
When you have something to sell, your interests can help you find the perfect customers for it.
Let’s say I’m really into business.
By sharing my business journey and knowledge, I attract people who are also interested in business.
These are the people I want to connect with.
.
Since I know a lot about business, I can create special offers for business coaches and help them get better at what they do.
It’s so much more fun to work with people who share your interests, right?
Plus, when I talk about business, I attract the exact audience I want to reach.
.
Sometimes, architects worry that incorporating their interests into their brand won’t get enough attention or sales.
But if your content is interesting and relevant, people will engage with it.
And remember, you can attract both beginners and advanced-level people by keeping your content relatable.
.
And don’t worry about making every single post about selling something.
That’s not what it’s all about.
By sharing your interests in about 20% of your content, you’re adding variety and making your brand more appealing.
And guess what? It won’t affect your overall revenue negatively.
In fact, it might even help you sell more because you’re different from everyone else.
.
Now, what if your interest doesn’t seem related to your business?
Well, my dear architect, you can get creative. That’s what we do.
Think about how you can use your interest to help people understand what you do.
For example, I love electronic dance music (EDM), even though it’s not directly related to business.
But I find ways to connect it with business concepts and make it more interesting for others.
.
Stacking Experience For Nuance & Navigation
Sometimes in life, things may seem slow and nothing exciting is happening.
But then suddenly, everything starts to happen at once.
.
When you’re on the architecture journey to becoming a master at something, not just one skill but in a whole area of your life, you’ll experience this lesson many times.
This idea comes from a book called “Mastery” by George Leonard.
Mastery is like a mysterious process where something that was difficult at first becomes easier and more enjoyable as you practice.
It’s the opposite of getting instant rewards, which can be hard to understand without taking action.
.
Now, I won’t give you step-by-step instructions for quick rewards because that’s not how it works.
Instead, I want to share with you the important skills you need for this journey.
Here’s what you should keep in mind:
- When things get tough, remind yourself that it’s part of the process. Stay calm.
- Stick with it and don’t give up because you’ll experience bursts of progress. Follow the Plan.
Embrace those moments and enjoy them.
.
Now let’s talk about the skills that will help you learn other skills faster.
They are rapid learning and rapid execution.
When you combine them, it’s like building something.
I wrote a previous post about this topic, so you should check it out. In short, here’s what you do:
- Choose a project that includes the skills you want to learn.
- Start building your own version of that project. Create a plan and work on it until you face a challenge.
- When you face a challenge, learn the specific skills you need to overcome it. (This will help you cut through unnecessary information and focus on what matters.)
- As a bonus, teach others along the way. Teaching will show you what you still need to learn.
.
One way I love to apply all these ideas is by building a business.
Why? Well, it may be obvious to me, but not everyone has realized it yet.
When you have your own business, you can practice all the skills we talked about: writing, speaking, marketing, sales, and other skills like design, video, or email.
- You can write content, create sales pages, and promote your products or even products you believe in as an affiliate. You’ll gather data and learn how to improve.
- You can design your profile picture, banner, and other visuals to make your business look professional.
Your success in this business will depend on how well you learn while you build it.
And once you have this set of skills, you can create amazing offers for almost any online business or even make money from what you’ve built along the way.
So keep learning, keep building, and remember that progress takes time.
.
Perspective
Let’s talk about how your perspective plays a big role in your journey to mastery.
When you commit to mastery, you’re committing to a lifelong journey of learning and growing.
When you open your mind and look beyond the surface, you’ll start to see the depth and enjoyment that come with mastering something.
Earlier, I mentioned that getting interested in new things isn’t always bad.
It’s only bad when those new things distract you from your path.
Learning new skills that complement what you already know is actually a good thing.
Your skills build on each other and become a part of who you are.
No one can take them away from you.
.
But be careful not to let distractions take over your focus.
They’re like little bumps on your journey, but you can always come back to your path.
Now, there’s an important pattern to remember: “Nothing happens, then everything happens.”
.
Mastery is a cycle of slow or no progress followed by big leaps in progress.
In business, the first big leap usually happens after 6 months of consistent effort.
But then, you might face challenges and feel like you’re not making progress.
That’s when you need to zoom out and see the bigger picture.
.
Remember, it’s normal to feel good or bad, and it won’t always be easy or hard.
Those are expectations you have in your mind. Look beyond them and keep going.
As you learn a new skill, your awareness of that field grows.
It’s like lighting a candle in a dark room.
You can see a bit more and understand the next steps to take.
Each skill you learn adds another candle, making the room brighter and helping you navigate through it.
.
At first, it might seem like nothing is coming together and you’re just dealing with puzzle pieces.
But eventually, those pieces will click into place, forming a clear picture.
This expanded awareness is where you can help others, come up with creative solutions, and map out your own journey.
.
So commit to your path, keep stacking skills, nurture your personal interests, and gain experience.
Remember, it’s a journey that takes time.
Give yourself 20 years, not just 2 weeks.
Keep going, and you’ll see how everything falls into place.
Enjoy the journey.
.
***
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you with:
1. If you’re still looking for traction in your architecture business, subscribe to the Wisdom for the Modern Architect Newsletter. Every week you will get actionable ideas, mental models and resources to help you build a profitable business.
2. In case you want to level up your business, you can get Full Access to the Global Architect Roadmap, and unlock Challenge & Solutions with all the resources and tools, exclusively reserved for our paid members, by Upgrading your Membership.
Hope you find them useful.
See you around,
***
