What I Learned About Winning Formulas After Restarting Online Writing
Writing can lead to complete freedom.
Previously, I operated a Medium account under a different pen name, and within less than two months, it stabilized at over 500 reads per day, earning $30–50 per day. However, due to regional restrictions, the account’s MPP was revoked.
The previous account’s swift success was largely due to luck. I stumbled upon a highly adhesive niche, and I had hundreds of articles accumulated from my previous blog in that niche, combined with some SEO experience, which resulted in decent outcomes within two months
After resolving the regional issue, I started a new Medium account with my real identity. I no longer focused on a specific niche, but aimed to express myself in the most authentic way and truly achieve success as a writer. The first month felt very challenging, as not many people read my content.
I wanted to make a breakthrough, so I started seriously studying the strategies of some high-income writers abroad.
The first one I noticed was Eve Arnold, who treated writing as a side job for two hours a day, earning over $10,000 a month within three years. Her methods are highly practical, suitable for everyone to learn, and replicable.
Then I noticed Tim Denning, whose writing style is extremely “passionate” and very compelling. He achieved an annual income of $1 million over eight years.
Tim Denning recommended many online writers who earn over a million dollars a year, and even tens of millions of dollars. The one who ultimately caught my attention was Dan Keo, who has risen to prominence in recent years. Dan Keo earned $10,000 in his first year of online business, $100,000 in the second year, $3.5 million in the fifth year, and now maintains over $5 million annually, continuing to grow. In Tim’s words, Dan is undefinable and surpasses everyone’s understanding.
Dan Keo greatly intrigued me. I wanted to understand why his growth and revenue from writing and content creation could be so much higher than others, and why his content was so widely and actively shared by many.
My initial attribution was based on the depth of the person and the structure of the content.
Dan Keo’s content is practical and interconnected with a clear internal structure.
At the same time, he is a deep researcher in philosophy and spirituality, with a passionate curiosity about the underlying laws of the world. He is well-versed in new religious movements, Leo Gura, Eckhart Tolle (author of “The Power of Now”), and Ken Wilber. He is very adept at using aesthetics, metaphors, and visual symbols.
He understands the significance of what he is doing for shaping collective consciousness and finds the most practical entry point that everyone needs — the philosophy and practical path of pursuing one’s passion to achieve financial success.
Incidentally, every creator and participant in self-media is also shaping the collective consciousness. We are transforming this world with our thoughts and will. We cannot assess the impact of a butterfly flapping its wings on the world.
I recently finished reading his book The Art of Focus and immediately read two chapters of 10x is Easier than 2x. The contents of these two books have a strong resonance. I have gained new insights into Dan Keo.
You need a vision, a clear big goal, long-termism, and patience.
My recent reflection highlights the interconnectedness of these four aspects: a clear vision inevitably leads to a clear goal, which in turn fosters long-termism and patience. If we cannot be patient, we need to reflect on whether our perceived high cognition and vision involve self-deception.
The ability to actively create and maintain flow is commendable.
When in a state of flow, many people experience bursts of efficiency and creativity, but they are not very good at actively creating flow for themselves. However, this is a key factor in making a qualitative change in life — the dividing line between the mundane and the sacred.
Always pursue 10x.
The rule on the internet is that if your content is 10% better than others, your returns are likely to be several times higher; pursuing 10 times the quality rather than quantity will bring profits hundreds or thousands of times greater than others.
Extreme 2/8 principle.
Continuously iterate, retain the most valuable 20%, cut or outsource 80%, and optimize the workflow to form a continuously extreme efficiency flywheel; five years of time have brought hundreds of times the value and income growth.
There is much to learn and share about these two books, and I will gradually write related content, as it is the most efficient way for me to learn.
In addition to writing and content creation, I have another significant gain — a deeper understanding of freedom.
A few years ago, I began experiencing “complete freedom,” completely letting my soul fly.
Now, my understanding of freedom has undergone a significant transformation.
“You can have all the external freedom in the world and still not be free. Conversely, even if you lose all external freedom, you can still be free.”
“There is a space between stimulus and response. In that space, we have the power to choose our response. “Our growth and freedom are contained in our response.”
“Ultimately, freedom is an internal choice and commitment, no matter what specific game you find yourself in at any given moment.”
“Freedom and desire transcend context. They operate above context. Specific contextual rules do not constrain them. Instead, they use higher levels to completely change the context and the game (i.e., reality).”
If you can feel the power of these words, you will certainly understand what I am about to say:
In any situation, if we still need to make choices based on “I need,” then we are certainly not free.
Choices and creations based on “what I want” will bring us complete freedom.
From these most outstanding writers, I have learned a whole set of philosophies and specific paths to help us achieve this complete freedom.
I will continue to summarize, share, and practice.
To summarize and share the Winning Formulas of these millionaire writers at the end of this article:
Personal Depth: A passionate curiosity about the fundamental laws of the world, with deep philosophical and spiritual research.
Content Structure: The content is highly practical with a clear internal structure.
Vision: Having a clear big goal and long-termism, maintaining patience.
Flow: Actively creating and maintaining a flow state.
Pursuing 10x: Improving content quality tenfold, with returns hundreds or thousands of times greater than others.
2/8 Principle: Retaining 20% of the highest value, optimizing 80%, forming an extreme efficiency flywheel.
Freedom is Abundance: Making choices based on “what I want,” using end-point thinking to achieve complete freedom.
If you are interested in exploring together, welcome to follow and communicate with me.
百万美元作家的秘密：重启在线写作后我学到的制胜公式