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    CONTENT CREATION
    36m 13 min read 19,913

    Content That Builds BRANDS! (Fireside w/ Neel Dhingra)

    Chris Do and Neel Dhingra outline a blueprint for combining business acumen with creative content to build an authentic personal brand.

    Chris Do

    Chris Do

    Founder, The Futur™ · March 29, 2025

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    The Bilingual Imperative

    There is a false duality that haunts the modern entrepreneur: you are either good at business or you are a creative. One side speaks the language of spreadsheets, funnels, and profit margins. The other speaks in visuals, narratives, and aesthetics. Most people assume they must pick a side. They are wrong.The most successful people are fluent in both. During a fireside chat with marketing expert Neel Dhingra, The Futur’s founder Chris Do pointed to Todd McFarlane, the visionary behind the comic book character Spawn, as the archetype for this new breed of professional. McFarlane built a media empire not just because he was a brilliant artist, but because he was a savvy businessman who refused to stay in one lane. In an interview with Complex, McFarlane explained his edge. “Artists are really good at speaking the language of art,” Do recalls him saying. “I'm bilingual. I speak the language of Art and I speak the language of business.”

    This ability to bridge two seemingly separate worlds is the foundation of a powerful brand. While Do often coaches creatives who are terrified of business, he finds many entrepreneurs face the opposite struggle. They are skilled in operations, finance, and strategy, but they tell themselves a limiting story.

    “I'm not creative,” is the constant refrain.

    This single belief paralyzes action and sabotages growth. It is a lie we have been conditioned to accept. Citing the work of the late Sir Ken Robinson, whose TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” remains one of the most-watched of all time, Do argues that creativity is not something we learn. It is something we unlearn. “We don't grow into creativity,” Do explains, echoing Robinson. “We grow out of creativity.”

    The systems of socialization, from school uniforms to raising a hand to speak, systematically strip us of our innate individuality. The goal is not to learn a new skill. The goal is to remember the creative soul you were born with and give it permission to reappear. You do not need to become a creative. You need to remember you already are one.

    Redefining Creativity: From Clown Nose to Remix

    The block for most business-minded people is a fundamental misunderstanding of what creativity is. Many imagine it as an act of performative genius, a spectacle involving a clown nose, Bozo shoes, and green hair. This theatrical image is intimidating and, more importantly, inaccurate.

    Creativity, in practice, is far more subtle. It is the art of the remix.

    Do points to the work of Kirby Ferguson, whose documentary series Everything is a Remix expertly deconstructs this idea. Ferguson argues that all creative output, from blockbuster films to pop music, is built upon what came before. We copy, we transform, and we combine. It is a process of making one small, incremental tweak to something familiar. Do references director George Miller, the visionary behind the gritty action film The Road Warrior who also, surprisingly, directed the animated children's movie Happy Feet. When Kevin Costner’s producers pitched the infamous box-office flop Waterworld, they used a simple remix formula: “It’s like Road Warrior but on the water.”

    This is the engine of pop culture. It is also the engine of great marketing.

    In the music world, producer Danger Mouse famously created The Grey Album by mashing up two iconic works: Jay-Z’s The Black Album and The Beatles’ The White Album. He did not create from a vacuum. He took two beloved things and combined them into something new, electrifying an entire online generation.

    For a masterclass in this principle applied to business, Do advises studying Apple’s website. You will not find hyperbolic language or technical jargon. You will find familiar phrases twisted into something new and compelling. Instead of talking about processing power in megahertz, they reframe the concept of speed and efficiency. They take a well-known axiom and alter it.

    “No pain, all gain,” Do says, highlighting their play on “no pain, no gain.”

    He continues, “If you just go through the entire site, it's them doing hits after hits after hits.” This is creativity in its most effective form. It is not about shocking the audience. It is about taking what they already know and presenting it in a way they have never seen before. This approach is central to developing a unique voice, a key component in any powerful personal branding strategy.

    Another brilliant example comes from Johnny Earle, the entrepreneur behind the apparel brand Johnny Cupcakes. His logo, a cupcake replacing the skull in a classic skull-and-crossbones design, is instantly recognizable and iconic. It is a deceptively simple act of genius rooted in the remix principle. Earle saw the aggressive, skull-heavy aesthetic of the rock music scene and wanted to inject his own personality. He took a symbol of danger and rebellion and replaced its central element with something sweet and friendly. That single choice built an empire.

    Confronting the Inner Saboteur

    Understanding that creativity is a remix is the first step. The next is confronting the force that prevents you from even trying: the inner saboteur.

    This is the voice of self-doubt, the inner critic that judges every idea before it has a chance to breathe. This is the voice that says your face is stupid, you hate the sound of your voice, and your ideas are not good enough. Do is blunt about the outcome of listening to this voice. “Your words shape your world,” he warns. “The most dangerous thing is to use those words and define yourself in this way.”

    When you approach a camera with a mind full of negative self-talk, your body follows. Your jaw tightens. Your posture closes. Your energy becomes uncomfortable. And the audience can feel it right through the lens. You are nonverbally telling them, “I'm not comfortable, please do not watch this.” So they do not. Then, the saboteur gets its victory. “See,” it says. “I told you this wouldn't work.”

    This cycle of self-sabotage is a universal struggle. Even Do, a seasoned creator with millions of followers, admits to battling it daily. He describes the elaborate procrastination rituals he invents to avoid recording a video: cleaning the studio, offering to do laundry, suddenly needing to exercise. “I'm doing everything I can to delay this,” he confesses. The fear is real, but it must be managed.

    Do shares a piece of wisdom from his interview with marketing guru Seth Godin. “It's probably not realistic not to be afraid,” Godin told him. The goal is not the absence of fear. The goal is to change your relationship with it. Godin’s reframe is powerful: we have to learn to dance with fear. We embrace it, bring it close, and use its energy. Fear can be a teacher. It can force you to rehearse more, to clarify your point, to bring more emotion and humanity to your work. Fear is not the enemy. Paralysis is.

    This is why the mantra Progress over Perfection is so critical. The goal is not to create a masterpiece on day one. The goal is to do the reps. “Like in many things in your life, you get better at what you repeatedly do,” Do says. The first 50 posts might be terrible. That is not a sign of failure. It is a sign of discipline. Kobe Bryant did not pass the ball to teammates who showed up five minutes before practice ended. He passed to those who put in the work.

    The Asymmetry of Authenticity

    The antidote to the inner critic and the fear of judgment is radical self-acceptance. Instead of hiding what you perceive to be your shortcomings, you must learn to lean into them. This is the core of authentic branding and a key theme in how to build a brand rooted in vulnerability.

    Do explains this using a principle from military strategy. “I'm oddly fascinated by weird things like guerrilla warfare,” he says, referencing Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The core concept is asymmetrical warfare. When you are outmatched, you cannot win by playing your opponent's game. You must change the rules. “You make your weakness your strength, and you make your enemy's strength their weakness.”

    In personal branding, your opponent is often the sea of polished, perfect-looking competitors. Your weakness is your own perceived imperfection. The strategic move is to flip the script and make that imperfection your greatest asset.

    Johnny Cupcakes provides a perfect example. Do recalls a moment when Earle discussed his forthcoming book, which he plans to call “Short Stories from a Short Guy About Short-Sleeve T-Shirts.” The title is brilliant for several reasons. First, it uses repetition and a pattern interrupt to create a memorable, smile-inducing phrase. But more importantly, it weaponizes his perceived weakness. Earle is not a tall man, and instead of ignoring it, he puts it right in the title. As Do points out, the title would lose all its charm if it were “Short Stories from a 6-foot-2 Guy.” By owning his height, he makes it a source of connection and relatability.

    This is a lesson most people get backward. We are conditioned to hide the things we think others will criticize.

    • “If you're old, don't run away from being old,” Do challenges. “That's an asset. You're seasoned.” But often, older professionals lament not being young and hip.
    • “If you're young, what do you do? I don't have any experience. I'm an impostor.” Young professionals discount their fresh perspective.

    “No one is happy being themselves,” Do observes. The work, he insists, is to heal the wounds that cause this insecurity. This often requires professional help, like therapy, to unpack the origins of these negative self-perceptions. You are asking yourself to create an oil painting masterpiece, but your paint is dry. You must first give yourself the raw materials of self-love and permission to be who you are, flaws and all.

    The Storyteller's Playbook

    Once you are ready to embrace authenticity, the next step is to learn the mechanics of telling a good story. This is not about rambling on camera. It is a structured process that begins with writing.

    “Writing is the beginning of thinking,” Do states, crediting business advisor David Baker with the idea that you gain clarity through articulation. Before you ever hit record, you must write out your story. This allows you to see the structure, edit for impact, and cut unnecessary details. It transforms a spontaneous, meandering talk into a purposeful narrative.

    But what makes a story compelling? Do offers several frameworks. The first comes from Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling. The very first rule is the most important for content creators: “The audience admires characters for their struggles more than their success.”

    This is where most personal brand content fails. It becomes a highlight reel of wins, a relentless flex that is both boring and alienating. No one wants to follow an advertisement. They want to connect with a human being. Sharing your struggles is not a sign of weakness; it is a prerequisite for connection. This is a crucial distinction for crafting content people actually care about.

    To find these stories, Do suggests an exercise from storyteller Kindra Hall. She recommends brainstorming nouns: people, places, and things that hold emotional significance. These are the buckets where your best stories reside.

    • People: Who has touched your life in a profound way?
    • Places: Where have you lived? What memories does each home hold?
    • Things: What objects carry emotional residue, like a comic book collection your wife threw away?

    For those looking for inspiration, Do passionately recommends The Moth Radio Hour, a podcast featuring championship-level storytellers. He singles out a recent episode from Kentucky, where a man tells a story with such masterful cadence and rhythm that it becomes a masterclass in itself. “When you have a template of what works, it's much easier to do something similar to what works,” Do says. He recommends buying the audiobook version of The Moth's book, How to Tell a Story, to hear the performances directly from the storytellers.

    The most crucial piece of storytelling advice, however, is to start with the end in mind. When we watch a movie, the plot is driven by the creation and release of tension. A story with no tension is boring. A story that gives everything away upfront is pointless. To manage this tension effectively, you must know your destination. Write the ending first. This forces you to be clear about the point of the story, the lesson, or the mic-drop moment. Everything that does not serve that ending can be cut.

    Do illustrates this with a story from the event itself, where a speaker named Rick gave a great talk but ended it abruptly. Dhingra and Do coached him to add the conclusion he had omitted. Rick then shared off-mic that his business process transformation had allowed him to run three marathons and, most importantly, win the love of his life. “Dang, bro, like that's it,” Do recalls thinking. Nobody will remember the business form he shared, but they will never forget that story. That is the power of knowing your ending.

    The Fallacy of the Hidden Agenda

    Even with a great story and an authentic voice, much of the content online falls flat. It feels transactional. It reeks of a hidden motive. This is because every piece of content has an agenda, and your audience’s BS meter is finely tuned. They can smell it a mile away.

    “Anybody that calls you or DMs you in your social accounts, you know what their agenda is,” Do says. They want to sell you a coaching program, set an appointment, or pitch you a service. This unspoken, yet obvious, agenda creates a wall between the creator and the audience before the first word is even spoken.

    Do explains that his own approach puzzles many people. At events, other speakers have a clear, often not-so-secret, agenda: get sign-ups, sell a course, or book more speaking gigs. They see Do get on stage, teach passionately, and then leave without a hard sell. They cannot figure him out.

    The best way to not have a hidden agenda is to not have a hidden agenda.

    Do’s philosophy is simple. His primary agenda is to be the best, most effective teacher he can possibly be. His first duty is to the person who booked him, ensuring he honors their trust and investment. His second duty is to the audience, delivering so much value that their time is respected. He treats every talk as an opportunity to test new material and refine his craft. The focus is on service, not sales.

    This is the mindset of a creator who is playing the long game. When you consistently show up with an open heart and a clear mind, dedicated solely to providing value, the audience will find a way to give you money. This is the essence of what Google’s Neil Hoyne calls the Zero Moment of Truth, where a customer makes a decision to buy long before the point of sale. Do describes it as spending seven hours with someone across eleven touchpoints and four different places. After that level of generous contribution, when you finally do make an offer, the audience is ready and willing to buy. It’s a core philosophy also discussed in building a brand that attracts ideal clients naturally.

    The only exception to this rule is when you are explicitly selling. In those cases, Do advocates for radical transparency. He opens webinars by stating his intention directly. “The purpose of this live is to let you know about my program,” he might say. “I'm here to sell you something.” By putting his cards on the table, he removes all suspicion. There is no sneaky Trojan horse. The agenda is clear, honest, and out in the open, allowing him to then teach freely without the audience feeling like they are being manipulated. This is a stark contrast to the creator whose every “value” post is a thinly veiled setup for a pitch.

    Becoming The One

    The transformation from a business person who is scared of creating to a bilingual professional who moves freely between both worlds is not just a tactical shift. It is a deep, internal one. To illustrate this, Do turns to one of his favorite films, The Matrix.

    In the movie, the protagonist Neo is told he is “The One,” a savior destined to free humanity. But he does not believe it. He is sent to see the Oracle, a wise figure who confirms his doubts. “Sorry kid, you're not the one,” she tells him. But as he leaves, she adds a cryptic line: “Not in this lifetime.”

    Later, Neo is killed by Agent Smith. He dies. But he is resurrected by Trinity's love, and in that moment of rebirth, he finally becomes The One. He no longer has to dodge bullets; he can simply stop them. The constraints of the world no longer apply to him. He has been reborn.

    This, for Do, is not just a movie plot. It is a lesson. “I believe most really well-written media plays, they're not designed for you just to watch,” he says. “They're lessons. They're sending a signal to you.”

    He sees himself as Morpheus, looking at every entrepreneur and creator struggling with self-doubt. “You are the one,” he insists. “But not in this lifetime.”

    You do not need to literally die, but a part of you does. The part that believes you are not creative. The part that is afraid of judgment. The part that tells you to play small. That self must be shed to allow for a rebirth. It’s an idea that resonates with the call to stop chasing superficial metrics and instead focus on profound, internal shifts.

    When you achieve this, you realize there are no limitations except for the ones you impose upon yourself. Your weaknesses become your strengths. Your fear becomes your dance partner. Your content becomes an act of service. The only question left is whether you believe it or not.

    You are the one. It is time to act like it.

    TRANSCRIPT

    so there are people who are really good at business but they're not creative and then there's also people who are creatives but they're terrible at business the best is when you can do both not only is this possible there's actually a blueprint for this the thing I hear so much from all of you is but I'm not creative I'm not creative we don't grow into creativity we grow out of creativity so you don't need to learn to be creative you just need to remember your creative soul and you need to let that Part Shine that's the part I think people are worried about is like hey I want to create more okay I I feel like my ideas aren't good seek progress over Perfection like in many things in your life you get better at what you repeatedly do the goal of what we do isn't perfection what's the strategy to get better at that is it simply reps how do they get better to be more consistent because everyone is asking how can I be consistent on social media if you start so for today's guest on the podcast I wanted to bring on my friend Chris doe Chris is an Emmy award-winning designer he's built up millions of followers across social media platforms he's helped me and our group do so many cool creative things which has led to insane business success so what I've done today is I've taken questions and I've taken all the things that people really want to learn about building your personal brand and marrying these two things being good at business but then also being creative and so first before we get started are people just born creative or like if you're not are you screwed like how do you how do you get there okay before I answer that question I want to speak to this thing about this Duality that we have and where your part business or maybe part creative but you're not like all cohesive the most successful comic book artist is a guy by the name of Todd McFarland some of you might know who he is I watched this interview with him from complex magazine and they asked him why are you so successful Todd he goes you know what here's the thing artists are really good at speaking the language of art I'm bilingual I speak the language of Art and I speak the language of business and when you look at the Empire he's been able to build it's because he's able to bring those two together now typically the crowd that I talk to are super creative and terrible at business they they have low self-worth they have negative selft talk they negotiate before they even talk to the other person and that's what they suffer with but what's interesting about this group is you guys are battling on the opposite side which is I think we're really good at business I'm pretty sure most of you have way more money than me and you're struggling with is there a creative person inside of me and the the the thing I hear so much from all of you is saying things like I'm not creative Chris but I'm not creative I'm not creative Sir Ken Robinson probably one of the top 10 TED Talk before he passed away he gave this talk he says we're not we don't grow into creativity we grow out of creativity that the system how we're socialized the school system especially he's got a bone to pick with education I do too it strips us of our individuality we wear uniforms we raise our hand before we can talk and if you act out too much then you're the problem kid I have a hard problem with this because I just look at the children of the world and maybe we're all just one large Global family and this is what's being destroyed and taken out from us and it hurts me and this is something I want to try to counteract so you don't need to learn to be creative you just need to remember your creative soul and you need to let that part shine like in many things in your life you get better at what you repeatedly do so the more you do it you'll make a little tweak and it's something that my business coach used to say to me all the time seek progress over Perfection the goal of what we do is imperfection and I know it's plaguing a lot of you because it hurts my community too which is Chris I need to know every step like what happens after that and after that and after that and after a while I I learned that it's really not them asking what the next step is it's just a stalling tactic it's the way to procrastinate or to avoid what I think is the inevitable so the most beautiful thing that you can do is like who cares what the next step is just do the first step see how it feels if it feels good do the next step and so if someone wants to be creative what is that first step okay I I think maybe we zoom out we talk about what is creativity and I think sometimes in our mind we've we're having these discussions at table so I'm sorry if I repeat myself I think people think of creativity as like you get on stage and you wear a clown nose and you wear uh Bozo shoes and you have green hair and they think that's what creativity looks like and it kind of feels like that sometimes but creativity just taking what we know and making one small tweak to it there's a guy's name is Kirby Ferguson if you look this up everything is remix he explains creativity really beautifully and he looks at Pop Culture to help us understand something right what we do is we love love things and we love more of what we love so what we do is we remix things like if you think of the road warrior which is a beautiful film George Miller incredible director Visionary he's the same guy who directed Happy Feet by the way which blows my mind and then when they went to pitch this movie about with Kevin Cosner on the wat they say it's like Road Warrior but on the water and green lit one of the biggest Hollywood flops and it's just like you just remix things there's a guy name is Danger Mouse does anybody here know Danger Mouse is some of you do it's kind of obscure for some of you Danger Mouse took the Beatles White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album and created the gray album and the internet went crazy for him so it's just taking an idea and tweaking a little bit taking a phrase that you know we mentioned something if you want a master class on how to write really good copy that doesn't feel tricky and overworked just go to Apple's website for sure I'm an apple Fanboy but just look at how they talk look at anything they launch their iPad their their watch and read the copy it's they have the world's best advertising agency and of those people they have the best art directors and copywriters working on one of the most valuable companies in the world for sure the bar is going to be really high and you're going to be shocked it's not the clown with the shoes and the hair and the nose it's just taking a very familiar phrase that you've heard and changing it ever so slightly so when they talk about the processing power of a computer they don't talk about how many megahertz it has or or how many operations you can do they just say something like no pain all gain cuz you've heard of no pain no gain they just took one word and they just replaced it if you just go through the entire side it's them doing hits after hits after hits and this is what they do to enroll you into their program their way of thinking their ethos and that's what creativity is take one little thing and tweak it Mr Johnny Cupcakes Johnny Earl I love his logo I wish in my life I could design a logo this iconic that logo is so effective that if it's the size of your thumbnail you can still recognize it the size of pin head you can still recognize it and you blow it up bigger than the Empire State Building it's still cool it's not this act of Genius because if you understand his story and what he does I'll break it down for you he's he's like 17 18 he drops out of college I think he attended one semester he's in in a band like a rock band and if you know Johnny he's got a really big heart he's like about The Human Experience and he sees all these Hard Rock Fans with skulls and chains and doing all this kind of stuff he's like that's not the vibe so he makes fun of them he takes the Skull and Bones crossbones and he takes the skull away because that's kind of scary and he replaces it with a cupcake if you understand that that's kind of Genius most content today is just noise it doesn't stand out um but the stuff that does wins so one of the things that we have to do in content is teach we have to educate but I found that the most powerful thing I've done in content creation I know you've done a lot of this too is creating that connection with the audience right you you write and you share content that would allow people to really know you and connect with you so sharing more personal content like what's the thing that people need to do first before they do that because all tell them just be yourself share your real authentic thoughts and then they can't for some reason so like what's that step that they need to do to be okay with themselves before they put out to the world so others is going to be okay with it I I know I've said this before but getting to know who you are and loving yourself for all your faults and your strengths is the best thing you can do it's very hard to do this on your own so I really do recommend you you see a therapist that you like and trust and just give it a shot and see what happens because what what are you doing right now it's like I'm asking you to to make a masterpiece oil painting like Rembrandt or Caravaggio and the paint is dry and you're Chris I'm trying I'm trying my best right now so if we have really good raw ingredients and the beautiful thing is you already have all the things that you need you just have to give yourself permission to to be that person I'll give you an example and I'll tell you what the the philosophy behind this is Johnny Cupcakes talked to us about a book he's going to write that he's been working on it he's almost 80% done for five years going on you guys remember what he's G what he called the book short stories from a short guy about short sleeve T-shirts and we all smiled he's doing some very powerful things I want to break it down for you he's using repetition short short short and the third short is a surprise so he's creating an expectation short stories from a short guy for short attention spans you think but he's like short sleeve T-shirts and that pattern interrupt makes us smile what else is he doing that's making it really good he's a short guy and so now normally what happens in our world is we hide from what we think people are going to be critical of us about if nothing else from Johnny he's like super transparent I'm me if you like me you like me if you don't that's okay and so the thing that you need to learn is if you're old don't run away from being old that's an asset you're seasoned as the kids say you have experience and you've seen things and you've done things but here's what old people do I'm not young like the young kids and then you say if you're young what do you do I don't have any experience I'm an impostor you see the problem no one is happy being themselves and I've talked to you about this before when you can heal from that wound that you have what like somebody tease you when when you're too vulnerable we know that and we carry that with us until we're old and we don't even know why we we do the things that we do can you just learn to love that person okay so there's I'm I'm oddly fascinated by weird things like gorilla Warfare you guys understand gorilla Warfare and sunu the Art of War which like every business Guru tells you to read but I haven't read it but there's an idea in that it's like you you make your strengths your weaknesses and you make I'm I'm sorry your weakness is your strength and you make your enemy strength their weakness that's it because it's asymmetrical Warfare you cannot beat them by doing what they do they have more resources they're better equipped they're better trained and so you got to figure a way to make their strength become their liability and if you look at yourself Johnny's like my weakness is I'm a short guy he just flipped that around he made that an asset because that title does not work short stories from a 6 fo2 guy about shorts see how it doesn't work he just leans into that and you know I don't think John is still here I I saw him skate away but John's like saying to me like you know your fashion thing Chris I'm inspired by you I just can't do it I'm just not like you see the the voice of no and negativity like in one breath he can tell me three negative things about him already and I said to him John please don't talk to yourself like that it hurts me hearing that like I feel ill for you saying that why would you put a box around yourself and say I'm limited by all these things and you haven't done it before if somebody told you you can't be successful in this industry you're screw you if somebody says you can only make this amount of money you would say screw you but all of a sudden you go around and say I can't write content I'm not funny I'm not interesting I'm not charismatic I can't command people's attention on on stage well guess what that will become your reality your words shape your world so the most dangerous thing is to use those words and Define yourself in this way so what we need to do is we need to use less violent language when we're describing how we feel about things and we do it all the time we're judging ourselves we're judging others all the time and that's why no one will make anything like Neil there's 60 people hardcore in this room right yes how many people are making content on the regular in the spirit of the way that you think they should be making it let's not put anybody on notice but I'm just saying I would say 10 10 I mean Super consistently doing it well being themselves it's like 10% or no that's more than 10% yeah somewhere in the it's probably like below 20% of the room correct okay and I think you're being generous probably right I don't want to be me say like high high single digit and it's pretty standard you you you might start something and then won't do something for 3 months or you might do something and you know what happens you self-sabotaged cuz you know what you do you're like this is not going to work this is stupid my face is stupid I hate my voice and you know what when you go to the camera you sound terrible because you're like your jaws all locked up and you're like all tight and people can feel that they can feel it right through that lens what you're saying to them is I'm not comfortable please do not watch this so what do they do they don't watch it then you go see I told you this doesn't work I knew it it no one likes me no one cares I tell you this not from like a high and mighty place I've gone through this battle I still go through this battle on The Daily my team's like Chris you need to record this video I'm like oh my God I have to record this video okay what am I'm going to do I think I need to clean the studio first yeah honey do you need help with the laundry what can I do it's like I don't want to do this and you know 7 8 o00 rolls around it's too dark now I have studio lights that's a lie I know it's a lie it's too dark right now tomorrow's a good time to do this and then tomorrows R like I haven't exercised in a while Neil I need to go exercise now I'm doing everything I can to delay this so we're self-sabotaging and you know I just think that the devil doesn't need a friend and don't be the Best Friend of the Devil stop telling yourself these things yeah it's huge I think also you know what I've learned from people in entrepreneurship who are also creative this small segment I talked about at the beginning of the episode uh they just aren't insecure you know like they just stopped being insecure at some point and it's wild like how you can have incredible success with content and business by just not being secure it wasn't even that they're the smartest people they just stopped caring about like all this and and talking negatively about all the things that they do I'll share this thing that Seth Goen said on our interview he goes Chris is probably not realistic not to be afraid or to not not be afraid right he goes but what we have to do as creative people we have to learn to dance with fear we embrace it we bring it in it's like you know what I am afraid but I can I can build off this maybe being afraid makes me rehearse a little bit more or to make sure like I have a clear point or I'm articulating clearly or I'm bringing some emotion Humanity into this fear can be a good teacher so we can't get rid of fear but we can dance with it and I like that idea see how he turns that phrase dance with fear Dance I mean I hate dancing but it sounds fun we could do this dance with fear I want to share something personal on social should it be a video should it be a written post what if I ramble on and on you know like how do I make an effective personal post to share something vulnerable on social media okay thanks let's make the assumption that you're really not that comfortable on camera and you're you've not done like a thousand talks we'll start with that Baseline so I'll designer for that okay you don't want to try to just turn the camera and start talking because you will ramble you won't have a Point it'll go all over the place and then of course then it's a self-fulfilling prophecy again you'll say this I'm not good at this so I think you do need to write writing is the the the beginning of of thinking and and uh David Baker talks about this that you gain clarity through articulation let's just write so we know that if we were to tell you to write like a great play or a screenplay you would probably fall because you don't understand how these things work and these things are very formulaic once you understand the reason why your friends post worked is because he talked about his struggles and if you guys remember that slide I said Pixar 22 rules of Storytelling the first rule is what the audience admires characters for their struggles more for than than their success you know what we do we just go on the internet talk about her success all the time first of all it's really boring second of all it looks like you're flexing non-stop so the second mistake that you make when you're creating content is you'll make an ad I don't know about you I pay money not to see ads would I follow you no so if we can just stop if we understand just those two points we're going to do really well okay stop making ads learn how to be a good Storyteller build audience Community find your voice that's a valuable thing and when people start following you're like whoa I love making content now you guys like me you you you get value from this and then every once in a while cuz you got to make some money throw an ad in there but then the ad doesn't have to be a sneaky Trojan Horse thing you can just say hey buy my course join my Mastermind and they'll want to give you money because you shown up you've done that zero Moment of Truth you spent seven hours with him across 11 touch points maybe four places like if you can do that I'm I'm telling you and it's a long game to play I'm going to tell you this right now because some of you will get it right away but I almost wish for you that you don't get it right away because you need to have the discipline and also just putting in the rep so that you get really good you know some people are naturally talented at Sports and they just Excel but they don't have the discipline and I just saw this clip from Kobe Bryant and they were talking about Kobe Bryant's career and he said he's a ball hog he doesn't pass it to his teammates he goes well when I show up to practice and you show up five minutes before practice is over I'm not going to give you the ball so this is about you guys putting in like if whether you have talent or not the one thing I know that will make you better is having the discipline and the Reps and it's horrible it's like it's not going to be good for about 50 posts okay so we'd understand the audience wants to hear about how we struggle because then we become really relatable Johnny was up here he's not the best presenter by far he has like weird verbal ticks that he does sometimes his stories were a little disjointed he was like lost in his own slides I think but I think he won over almost everybody he had me all choked up like Johnny stop doing this I'm about to break down right now cuz he Shar shared so authentically about his business about losing his mom and trying to deal with that about someone burglarizing his place that he thinks is a former employee and he kind of broken his spirit for for Humanity about how he bought three homes next to each other so they can all be together so they what he didn't say short of saying is so we can all die together it was beautiful and it was dark but it was 1,00% Johnny and I'm sure many of you thought I'd like to work with this guy I want to tap into his geniosity but he wasn't up here trying to sell you on that they asked him in the back of the room can they hire I'm sure I'm sure and I mean many of you should work with him because he's brilliant I've known a lot of really creative people I don't know that many people like Johnny he's just it's kind of like deep in him it runs deep so when you're writing your story write it out ask yourself where does this story end Rick was a here earlier right and Rick told a great story and then Neil does what Neil does he's like bro where's your mic drop moment and he gave it to us and I got the girl and I ran three marathons he thought it wasn't relevant how could he not that's a book end you guys know what a book end is you open it up with something you kind of meander throughout and then you end it on the thing that you started out with the thing that Mike didn't let us have for whatever reason like we don't know who was on the phone yeah and so for people watching or listening the context is we just had a gentleman come on stage he told a process for his business that worked really well and at the end of his eight-minute talk he just said that's it guys thank you so much and walked off people plotted and I said great job Rick but you kind of left us hanging there bro like what's your story to end this with if you want to make it better and he said that hey you know what I have that story can I say it and he just yelled it off mic and he said hey man I have I've done uh this process has changed my life as I told you but the thing I didn't tell you was the biggest unlock was it allowed me to spend time with the people who I love the most and it allowed me to pursue my dream of running in a marathon and not only did I run in one Marathon I run three marathons and I got the girl and he pointed to his wife I was like dang bro like that's it like imagine like nobody will remember the form that he shared with the process but they won't forget him because he shared that story at the end so if you start with the end in mind everything becomes much easier right so know where the thing ends the reason why when we watch movies the reason why we watch the end it's because what they know how to do is create and release tension no tension no one's watching it's very boring and if they gave it all away then you're like okay I'm done I'm going to stop so if you write the end then you know how to tell the story so that it leads to that moment at the end and all the other stuff becomes unnecessary so start at the end what is it that how are you going to end this story that's going to force you to be clear about why you're telling the story in the first place it's like what's the lesson like what's that mic drop it doesn't even have to be a lesson to be honest it would be great if it's a lesson but just know how the story ends starting this is hard um in terms of content creation would you recommend for people who are not posting videos consistently what's the strategy to get better at that is it simply reps or should should they focus on writing how do they get better to be more consistent because everyone is asking how can I be consistent on social media if you start with writing it's going to get better because you'll see in words like visually like what's happening and how you can edit your story to build more attention or it's too crazy or this is unnecessary detail and then when you have something that you think is good give it a shot and try and tell that story and if that process works just rinse and repeat just keep writing and I think Mike had a really good exercise to give you prompts on stories there's one that Kindra Hall does which is like the nouns the people places and things just write nouns what are the people that have touched you in your life where are the places you've been where have you lived and she goes you can even dig into it in terms of like the homes in which you lived in we moved around a lot so every house has a story and a memory locked to it and though those become really great buckets for stories and the things like somebody I forget who it was was sharing a about their comic book collection and their their wife threw it away it was you you know so that had a story just look at all the things in your life if it has an emotional residue it's an opportunity to tell a story and just get into the practice of telling a good story not a not a mortgage story not a loan story not a like why I started my business story save that for when you're really good just keep practicing telling a really simple story and for some of you if you like podcast I'm going to recommend The Moth Radio Hour moth like the thing that flies around all they do is tell stories and they're like national champions International Champions of Storytelling there's one in particular it was uh the first time I think they had in Kentucky and it happened earlier this year so if you search for The Moth Radio Hour Kentucky there's a gentleman who tells a story and I was telling Mo you guys remember Mo some of you remember Mo I was like Mo you got to listen to this it's so good it is so freaking good he listens bro why is that so good I hate to say this but I said he's black I can tell now he has a deep southern accent but the way he told the story was like it was so beautiful the Cadence the rhyme structure I'm like this guy's like doing something on the side because he is so good he goes Chris it's not it's a white guy I swear to you it's a white guy I'm like I might be wrong looks it up black guy listen to that story that is a master class copy of that story it'd again something like we're at the foot of a cave we're about to enter it and remember there was a watch and something else and there were three of us as best I can recall I'm like I'm in wherever the story is going I'm in I just did a horrible version of it listen to it it's so good there's so many twists and turns in the story and the way he tells it that if you can learn from that you know what we do is like when we have a template of what works it's much easier to do something similar to what works study how they tell stories on the moth they have a great book it's called how to tell the story by The Moth do not buy the book buy the audio book because in the book you can just read the stories but when you listen to the audio book you can actually hear the storytellers in their own voice I can't tell you how many times I've been in the driveway like crying like hoping my kids don't see me like what is Dad doing and I just sit in the in the driveway I'm like I got to finish this there's no way I can stop wouldn't you like to be that kind of Storyteller that people look forward to hearing your stories that people invite you on stage to hear your story and by the way you sell mortgages or you're you're uh you're in the real estate business didn't even matter yeah they love you first so there's this guy uh I just listen I'm glad you brought this sub Chris because I was just listening to one of my favorite podcasts is my first million they talk to entrepreneurs and it's been blown up and one of the guest recently was this guy Mr Ballin and he was a Navy SEAL and he got out of the military and came back and um he wanted to become a content creator full-time he was posting content uh copying other people and nothing was working and his wife's like dude you need to get a job here like this is not working out so he leaves uh this he he tells a story much better than I am but he left that little vacation uh area with his wife his wife's telling him he needs to get a job figure this out and he went into the hotel room and just told the story about uh something that happened in the battlefield like all these things that he's talking about and it blew up like in the way he told it and then he just went Ham on telling stories years later he's hired somebody from the Mr Beast team and he's a full-time content creator now making tens of millions of dollars brand deals he's got millions of people across the internet and it all came from telling good stories so if you guys should check out that episode as well it's on my first million so what I want to do in the in the 10 minutes is uh if you don't mind Chris I want to ask you a few questions that people don't ask you so the first question is you everybody speaks and they have like a an agenda or a CTA or something at the end of their conversation or at the end of their talk or at the end of their video and when you're selling you're selling I noticed Chris like you're like hey I have this thing I remember doing a live with you and you told me the purpose of the live was to uh let people know about one of your programs and enroll them and I was like okay he's probably going to teach and then he'll let them know about the thing at the end we started the call and the first thing you said out of your mouth was the purpose of this live is to let you know about my program there's a link in the thing if you want to get more information and then we got into the conversation you like sold upfront um so I thought that was interesting but what I found was like for other stuff when you're not selling nobody knows kind of like what's your agenda I mean Trevor asked you this you were speaking at an event with us and we're like dude you spoke you did this what do you want to happen at the end of the talk like what's your agenda because everybody else had had an agenda you want people like you or what that's it I want people to like me but that's not why I'm doing it so just to give you context Trevor had asked this question every speaker on stage has an agenda and I said they have a secret agenda he go it's not a secret agenda because we all know what it is it's because they want you to sign up for something buy something or invite him somewhere right you guys feel that can you smell it a mile away and anybody that calls you or DMS you in your social accounts you know what their agenda is bro have you T have you thought about coaching programs like oh you going to sell me a coaching or how to run a coaching you need more appointments you're an appointment setter aren't you you can tell so he's like I can't figure you out you get on stage you do your thing and I don't know what it is you're trying to do so it made me really kind of aware of two things number one is you're not so secret agenda clear to everybody if it is there might be a reason why they don't want to tune in so the best way not to have an agenda a hit an agenda is not to have an agenda my agenda is to teach to be the best most effective teacher I can be so whenever I'm invited as much as I hate public speaking it's an opportunity for me to try new materials to see what sticks and what doesn't because every time I make some mistakes I go back to the lab I try to make it better so my only agenda is to be the best teacher I can be but before that my primary agenda is to make sure the people who book me Neil and Trevor to make sure I've honored the decision for them to bring me on because there's they're parting with time and treasure but also Goodwill with you if they run a bunch of really bad speakers up you might not show up again and word will spread as Erol Garrison would say do a good job they tell one person do a bad job they tell 10 and in my younger days I used to throw the event organizer producer under the bus and then I realized that's a bad thing I was doing because if the mic wasn't working display wasn't I'm like you know you think they could spend some money on the displays cuz it's not working I've grown up a little bit I just move on I'm like it's not working but that's okay we're going to get through this so my first order of business is to make sure he got what he came for that's why I spend time talking to him brainstorming what does your team want what does your audience want and I noticed a lot of times speakers will come on they could give a flying F what Neil wants now you might not know it but we talk about it in backst stage and what we say is they're probably not coming back they're probably not going to get recommended so my agenda is to serve to serve to my fullest and if I can do that then I feel good about myself and then you get what you want in the end what's that somebody books you for another thing somebody reaches out to you somebody reaches out to you with the business opportunity somebody wants to talk to you in the hallway and connect with you and hire you it's just crazy when people are real uh so many more benefits come and every single person you know yesterday Mike did this text thing where he said what do you think about Neil and then people texted in their thoughts about me and I'm sure they' be nice cuz I'm here but there's people who said um one or two of them I screenshotted he said Neil just tells it like it is I feel like I can connect with him it's relatable uh I think it's the hidden agenda thing you know like we're just here to serve the group and people can feel that and I think like you said people's BS meter is really high right now they're like really tuned in when it's salesy or even the hint of that they can check right away so I feel like many people have a hidden agenda with every piece of content they post and it's killing their content like yeah it's the reason why you're not getting any views cuz every single thing is like they already know your agenda yeah I think what what we're doing here is we don't realize this but I'm giving you an hour of my time but I'm taking 60 hours of your time the ratio should be something I need to think about and be aware of right so this should be an act of generosity I should be giving more than I'm taking and I have to like eat my own dog food so if I say lead with value don't worry about selling don't make ads cuz no one Tunes in for that then I have to lead with value and if your content is good enough if you've done this consistently enough with like a really clear mind and open heart they'll find a way to give you money they just will like I like you do you have a program is there something else that you do a friend needs some help with this can you talk to them or when you make a call to action like you said they'll take advantage of it oh I'll be clear about that yeah and the reason why I open up a webinar with I'm here to sell you something cuz I don't want there to be any secret about it I'm laying my cards on the table I want 10 of you to sign up for by the end of this webinar then I can do whatever I want and everybody's clear it's not some secret weird Trojan Horse thing yeah I love that so just wrapping up Chris the I wanted somebody mentioned this to me and I want to ask you I know you're a big movie fan you always incorporate movies into your talks and into your lessons and you talk about this all the time what does neo and the Matrix have to do with personal brand thanks for asking me this question this is Neil not Neil NE anyo Neo so I'm a big consumer and lover of Pop Culture right and the Matrix is like probably my top two three films of greatest films of all time and I'll argue with you to the death I'll die on that sword and so Neo wakes up from this thing and he's pulled into the rabbit hole or whatever Morpheus is talking to him and he goes I need to send you to see the Oracle cuz you're the one and I don't know if you no this but Neo is an anagram for one he is literally the one just scrambled the letters right he goes to see the Oracle and the Oracle says to him sorry kid you're not the one and Ne was not disappointed because he doesn't believe he's the one either he's like but Morpheus made me do it like my friend egged me on and here I am and he's about to get walk away and she goes not in this lifetime she just drops it right in there and the audience is like nah it's a throwaway line who cares towards the end of the movie Neil confronts the agents he dies and it's Trinity's kiss that resurrects him there's a there's a very Jesus Christ parallel here okay so he's like you can't be the one until you're resurrected because you have to realize something that the love that Trinity Trinity you know the father son the Holy Ghost kind of thing brings him back to life and then now he can see everything and he becomes the one in his resurrection and now the bullets that he was dodging before he just stops and he picks it up and casually looks at it throws on the floor and he fights them onehanded now it's not even a problem for him why do I love this story so much I believe most really well-written media plays they're not designed for you just to watch they're lessons they're sending a signal to you but most of us don't even see it so I feel like I'm Morpheus and I'm looking at all of you and you are the one you are the one but not in this lifetime I don't think you need to die but you need to be reborn you have to really dig into who you are and understand that so when I see these movies like I'm in tears my wife's like what's wrong with you I'm like you know what they're saying there's a message that's being transmitted through this light and it's telling you something but we just think it's a it's just a film to to entertain us when you can see this you realize that's not a wall that is not air you're breathing Neo there are no constraints to what you can do there are no limitations except for the ones you impose upon yourself I think you're the one it's a question if you believe it or not that's a bar that's so powerful man thank you so much Chris we appreciate you [Music]
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    “Your words shape your world.”

    — Chris Do

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