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How 20 year olds became more successful than 40 year olds
A lifetimes work in a 9-5 leads to success at 40. A couple years of work in the digital economy leads to success at 20.
Taylin John Simmonds
April 03, 2024
Make money with your mind, not your time.
One thing I can’t get off my mind is…
A lifetimes work in a 9-5 leads to success at 40.
A couple years of work in the digital economy leads to success at 20.
Here's why:
Before I became a writer online, I was a college teacher.
I went straight to college after high school.
And spent the next 10 years of my life working harder than I ever will again.
All that work got me $42,000 a year.
↳ Roughly $34,000 after taxes.
They’d give me a raise of 1% each year (just behind % inflation)
↳ $420 a year…
My money was moving backwards.
Next thing I knew, I was 27 years old.
Feeling stuck in a job that would always pay me less than my abilities
Twitter could make me feel like shit. 18 year olds making $10-40K/ month?
HOW?!
This leads me to the real red pill discovery:
What you work on is more important than how hard you work.
Naval Ravikant’s Almanack, talks about the importance of choosing career paths with high leverage potential.
90% of these paths exist in the realm of entrepreneurship.
9-5’s make sure you progress slowly. Entrepreneurs must progress everyday.
Digital entrepreneurs progress faster than anyone else. So they make money at 20, not 40.
”The digital economy has grown 2.5 times faster over the previous ten years than the GDP of the physical world”.
(And if you want to be a digital entrepreneur, I’ll tell you how at the bottom)
But first…
Let’s break down a few top creators:
Dan Koe:
⇢ 25 years old (I think)
⇢ Annual Income - $1.5 million+
Dakota Robertson:
⇢ 26 years old
⇢ Annual income - $400,000+
(I won’t reveal the real number because he hasn’t done so publicly)
Me (shameless plug):
⇢ 29 years old
⇢ Annual income - $450,000+
How the hell are these creators making more money than most baby boomers before 30?
They chose to:
✧ Build an audience
✧ Craft a unique Digital Identity
✧ Offer valuable products and services to their fans.
This has been a hard pill for me to swallow.
By comparison, I didn’t scale my ghostwriting agency to $500,000 ARR until I was 29 - But it only took 6 months.
I’d being taking the blue pill:
Go to school, get a job, and live happily ever after with my white picket fence.
Hmmm, this just doesn’t seem to work anymore.
If you took the blue pill, have an honest conversation with yourself, is it working?
Is this what you spent 14, 18 even 20 years in education for?
(FYI, I’m not anti school, I’m anti the system that says you can’t achieve much after you leave and stick you in an office box, and makes you work like a dog and peak your career at 40).
Real life matrix.
Which is why I’m writing this to you now.
No matter what age you’re at or what career choices you’ve made.
It’s not too late to build your Digital Identity.
To pursue:
✧ Writing online
✧ Create a life of infinite earning potential
✧ Become an influential creator and monetize your skills
I started building mine in January of 2022.
It took me roughly 2 years to raise my income ceiling from $42,000 per year to $500,000+.
If I had started at 16, with the right execution, I could’ve achieved this by 18.
If you’re starting at 50, you can achieve it by 52.
Take the leap.
Commit:
✧ Energy
✧ Time (even 2 hours a day)
✧ What resources you have
To going all in on building your Digital Identity.
It won’t be easy but I promise you it’s easier than struggling in the blue pill world.
If you're new to the digital economy.
And have no idea where to start:
You can learn from me (and the creators mentioned like Dan Koe, Lara Acosta, Kieran Drew, etc).
In my university level cohort where you’ll learn how to:
❖ Define your Digital Identity
❖ Build an audience
❖ Monetize your skills
I have 29 spots left.
Doors close Friday. Class starts Wednesday April 10th.
Join here:
Until next time,
-Taylin John Simmonds
