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The 5 Levels of Becoming a Legendary Creator & Thought Leader
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The 5 Levels of Becoming a Legendary Creator & Thought Leader

How to climb the Content Pyramid and create new, differentiated ideas.

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Category Pirates 🏴‍☠️
Feb 19, 2024
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Category Pirates
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The 5 Levels of Becoming a Legendary Creator & Thought Leader
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This is a 🏴‍☠️ Founding Members–Only 🏴‍☠️ post. Founding Members get access to our private AI Librarian, actionable insights, full audiobook library, access to 100+ mini-books, and more. See the Founders Deck here


Dear Friend, Subscriber, and Category Pirate,

When people scroll through their social media feeds, they’re (usually) not looking to be challenged.

So, the most viral content caters to the lowest common denominator emotions:

  • Rage

  • Joy

  • Wonder

  • Sadness

  • Shock

  • And so on

As a result, most people do not define “being a thought leader” as having something unique and different to say.

The world defines a “thought leader” by measures of public approval.

How many followers do you have? How many views does your content get? How many subscribers are on your email list? How many books have you sold? How many recognizable names say you’re important?

Since this game is often about external signals of credibility, it makes sense why so many smart, well-intentioned, successful people decide to optimize for the path of least resistance.

Out of nowhere, they start posting BGOs (Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious) because this sort of non-threatening content is the easiest way to get Likes and climb the perceived ladder of success without ruffling any feathers. 

We call this content-free content. 

Zero nutritional value, full of empty calories, and left feeling stupid.

In order to be a “thought leader,” you must be willing to LEAD WITH YOUR THOUGHTS.

The big question is, “How?”

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