Start Contributing, Not Possessing

Rich people want more time.

Poor people want more money.

Middle class wants more money and more time.

Looking at the majority of people, not matter how many belongings they own, there's always a feeling of not having enough of something. Seems like there's an eternal room for complaining which once triggered, it rapidly scales up.

Did you ever look from the other angle of this problem? Instead of planning what's the next thing to achieve, ask what it is that you're not satisfied already.

Since you're reading letter, my guess is that you've had moments when you responded something like: "well, I want to be better and better, so how can I be satisfied with the things I already have? That would lead me to stagnation."

I want to clarify the both sides of this coin:

• You can be satisfied with what you have, and thrive for the better
• You can be aimless with your life, and crave to possess more like a headless chicken, because you're scared to address what's really bothering your present

Possessions fade, but contributions endure.

Let's focus on the second face of the coin by picturing a realistic example:

You're earning good money as an employee, with a Monday to Friday schedule, 8 hours a day. You don't have any concerning health issues, you own a car, you're into a relationship and have a stable home.

Besides, there are some city breaks, holidays, shopping, hang outs and some hobbies you're attending to. And still, you don't feel good with yourself, there's something making you nervous like everything you have can vanish in the next moment.

We have two anxieties in this case:

• Not having enough - in comparison with others
• Losing everything you possess

The first anxiety can simply be put into one word: ego. Realise that no one is really giving a f*ck about how much do you have compared to them. At most, if they're touched, it will be in a way that their ego will be triggered in the end, and they will just care about how to get even more than you; so again, it's about them, not about you.

The second one is more profound, as it gives rise to our main topic. While suddenly losing the things you possess is feasible, think about Ukraine, there are parts that will never be taken away from you:

• A job experience
• Everything you learned in an adventure or holiday
• The knowledge acquired so far
• Your intelligence, in any form
• The consciousness and the soul

These are also parts that you possess, but because you cannot physically see them, they can be forgotten, or worse, not even seen.

Treat all your possessions that are not in the physical life like a gold mine. Seek and harvest them.

All right, you're saying that you're aware of all those values, understood they cannot be taken away, but still feeling unfulfilled and empty? Say no more, it's time to go even deeper.

I was there myself. In the past, I promised myself that only if I'd have just a few things, I'd be extremely happy:

• A high-paying job
• Being muscular and attractive
• A car
• Be educated and politely
• Hang around with girls that were amazed of what I have

The good part? I managed to fulfill my dream and ticked every single item from that list.

The terrible part? I went into a depression after just a few months of living that "good life" I imagined.

There's nothing worse than being rich and feeling lost. Become a grown person and let money come as a consequence of that.

Notice that I mentioned that the girls would be amazed of what I have. That's the root problem. As I've been taught, everything I need in life is money and status. I was only thinking of how much can I achieve, instead of building the response for who am I.

Frankly, that mentality works. You can go all in and achieve a lot of money, belongings, women or men, because the law of attraction does its job. But the environment only gets more toxic and more dangerous. You'd be surrounded by empty people, focused on possessions in the hope of finally feeling fulfilled.

Since you're going to feel like a king or a queen and still feel empty, what's left to do? This is where today's subject comes into play: contribute.

The feeling of emptiness cannot be filled with physical things. It's the inner work that has to be done to find the root cause.

How often do you take into consideration how your actions, thoughts or behaviours contribute to the world? Probably never, and it's not a shame. I've been on that road myself, we can change.

You're doing a bunch of things that propagate into the world, which some are done daily:

• Interacting with clients or colleagues
• Gossiping with your friends
• Posting Instagram stories
• Leaving comments on Reddit or YouTube
• Reading books
• Enjoying a holiday

Humans are meant to be creators. Look around you, we started from absolutely nothing. It's insane to think about our evolution. Furthermore, with the AI era, our creativity is even more enhanced at a cost of close to $0.

If you don't contribute something to the world, emptiness will be your daily feeling.

You may say: "I don't know how to contribute". Neither did I know until I digged into what I already knew and what I loved doing. I tried a bunch of things that worked for other people on YouTube, but they weren't for me.

Look, this was my small kick-start list that after a year brought here:

• I know programming
• I love going to the gym
• I'm into self-development
• I like talking to people in a way I could help them achieve more

Everything started last year, with a simple Pomodoro Timer, free to use, without ads, so 0 revenue. My contribution was to help people struggling to focus on a single task.

Then I aimed for something bigger, ending up building my website and started to write these letters. My contribution was to inspire as many people to take their life into their own hands and finally pursue their dreams.

After that, Balance Battle came in. My first product ever which is meant for people trying to adopt new habits in a gamified way.

It didn't have success at all, but I gained experience and I've come with the idea of having a software that does the math for me to build muscles faster: Just Overload, which was my first monetized product!

The best part? This is just the beginning of my contributions, as ideas come after every iteration in everything I build. I don't even make tremendous amount of money from them yet, but the feeling of contributing with something into the world is simply priceless and keeps my drive relentless.

When you ask how you can contribute, don't compare yourself with Elon Musk. Just be you, start small and authentic.

Don't think about money first.

Your contribution should be your hobby done publicly, so other people can benefit from it. Just try to inspire others and feel the moment of appreciation. This is what you'd want to look at in the beginning. It's gonna be something new.

Later, when you're having a growing audience, sure, capitalize it by creating a product that can be sold to the people following you. There are plenty of examples of hobbies:

• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Programming
• AI prompting
• Better sex tips and tricks
• Plants and flowers
• Reading
• Painting
• Dancing
• Cars maintenance
• Writing
• Travelling
• DIY home decorations
• Candles
• Fitness
• Basically.. everything you do

If there are already plenty of people doing the thing, it doesn't mean it's saturated. It means that domain is validated and other people are paying for it.

Letter's Quest

This time you'll need to write to bring all the pieces of the puzzle you're going to solve just in front of you.

Take your time and answer to these questions:

• What are the hobbies you love doing?
• From those hobbies, which ones would you do for free?
• If you were to pick one of them, which one would it be?

You don't have to be good, but curious about it. Moreover, it can even be a "what if I would.." thing (like writing was for me).

Once you figure it out, go deeper and visualize how other people can feel inspired from that thing you're doing. What are the ways other people can see what you're doing?

How does it feel to imagine people feeling inspired directly by you?

That feeling is what you're looking for to have a fulfilling life on a daily basis. What you need is that one thing that would contribute somehow to other people.

Money is essential. But feeling fulfilled besides having money is like living in heaven on Earth.

Until the next letter, I wish you success in everything you're up to!