Hello from Los Angeles!

I have something embarrassing to tell you.

I haven’t sent an email in a long while because every time I sit down to write something for Wealest, the fire hasn’t been there.

For three years it was. But this year, I’ve been putting so much energy into trying to break into a very tough industry as a screenwriter, that I didn’t have anything left.

I’ve been so focused on timelines I can’t control, that I forget about effectively using the time I can control.

The other wrench in my writing was the public unveiling of ChatGPT.

If you haven’t heard about it, it’s an artificial intelligence assistant that is scary good at writing general, summarized info. IMO, the internet is about to be flooded with generic articles written by AI on keywords that drive Google search traffic.

And honestly, this bummed me out. How do I compete with millions of people generating entire articles in seconds?

Then it hit me - I can’t. I can’t compete that way.

Like I’ve been writing about for years, I need to escape competition entirely by filtering great ideas through my personal experience. That’s what an AI can’t replicate.

AI can tell you how to cook an egg sunny-side up, but it can’t express what it feels like to burn your hand on the pan.

So that is what’s coming for Wealest.

More articles that relate to my mistakes, my experience, and how they intersect with the ideas of all the great wealth creators we are lucky to have access to.

In summary: I’m back baby! And I’m so lucky to have you with me.

You Must Market Your Work, Even If It's Obviously Good

No one cares about what you’re doing at much as you do.

While your project - whether it’s a software product, novel, graphic art, screenplay, piece of code - whatever - is the most important thing in your life, as soon as you send it out into the world, it becomes the 10-20th most important thing to the person you sent it to.

This is why, even if your work is obviously good, you must market it aggressively.

Read Now

Don’t be so f*cking scared.

Years ago I read Felix Dennis' book How To Get Rich, and in it, he talks about waking up at 3 a.m. with this deep terror… and then telling that fear to f*ck right off.

Well, now that I work for myself, my “Sunday scaries” have been replaced by this early morning “fear visit.” I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and my head is racing with everything that could go wrong.

There is so much uncertainty when you work for yourself.

No one to tell you what to do, where to put your energy or time, or what’s going to give you the best return on your investment (in both time and money).

And the fear is real.

It’s what has kept me from developing digital products that can help other people.

It’s what kept me from writing weekly on this site.

It’s what has kept my confidence low and my excuses high.

But no more. To take a literal page out of Felix’s book - f*ck the fear.

Don’t ever let it stop you from trying and failing. Because that’s where the best lessons are.

Have a great week.

- Thomas

P.S. You’re an all-star. Go get it.