How To Become A Deep Creator (The One Who Stands Out From The Crowd)

"Be authentic."

"Your niche is you."

"It's okay to steal ideas if you are adding your own perspective."

Well…we need to talk.

All of this advice is true - but are you applying it? Moreover, do you UNDERSTAND how to apply it? Do you know how to build a personal brand that stands out from the crowd?

…And I'm not saying this only because people who give out advice like that will copy & paste tweets from someone else later that day…

These days, winning the game of social media comes down to 1 thing:

Being “original”.

Or at least make people think that you’re original.

But…the real problem isn’t originality. It’s depth.

Let me explain…

We are all copycats

Every single creator is getting ideas from other people's content. This is how creativity works after all.

But most people go about it the wrong way.

They consume & “mentally retweet” every idea that seems sexy to them. Even worse, whatever they read, they treat it like dogma, without even questioning it or pursuing the concept deeper.

And that is hella wrong…and here’s why:

Every piece of content anyone has ever put out is only a mental representation of a concept. It's a product of someone else’s mind. It's not the reality. So leaving it without questioning it or looking at it from a different perspective means that you’re missing out on a lot of creative potential.

And the worst part:

Hundreds of thousands of people learn & spread ideas mindlessly every single day, and only a few are willing to go deeper.

Only a few people understand the depth behind the advice they’re sharing.

Only a few people understand the connections.

Only a few are willing to question the norm.

Those hundreds of thousands are copycats. Those few are the real creators.

Copycats vs Thinkers

Every single day, more and more people are joining social media, which means more and more copycats are kicking in.

This leads to creating more and more signal, but less and less noise.

The goal is to become irreplaceable. To become opposite of a copycat.

A thinker.

Deep Thinker.

Consider your favorite accounts:

Most of them aren't just creators. More than that, they are great thinkers.

They either brought clarity or a novel perspective to you.

Think of these giants:

James Clear? Great thinker.

Charlie Munger? Great thinker.

Alan Watts? Great thinker.

I call these deep creators.

And today, I’ll show you 3 ways to become one.

But before we start, I want you to realize 1 thing:

You can’t expect to become a deep creator if you aren’t

• playing with your mind & ideas

• making new connections

• projecting onto your limiting beliefs

• going in-depth into topics

• questioning the norm

Are you catchin’ what I’m throwing?

Sweet.

Now it’s time to get going.

#1 Question The Norm

The strongest personas online are the ones who are willing to question the norm.

My favorite example is Erica Schneider. 

Everyone knows that Twitter is taken over by bros. Damn, that’s a great rhyme. Anyways...

She’s the one who goes agains the bro-hustle culture. And that’s what she’s known for.

Another great example is, again, Dan Koe & the way he questions conventional business & social media branding advice.

So what’s the practice here?

As you consume content, ask 3 simple questions:

“Why this has to be true?”

“Who said that this has to be true?”

“Why can’t I go about it any other way?”

And remember:

It’s ok to agree.

But it’s not ok to not question & go deeper behind the common perceptions.

See? Critical thinking.

Also, there isn’t enough space for questioning these on social media only.

You need to create long-form content as well. That’s where you’re able to display the most depth. But that’s for another point…

#2 Deep Dive Into Ideas That Excite You

That is the big one.

This is how you build your Personal Playbook - aka a repertoire of a few concepts that stand as pillars for most of the things you talk about on social media. These are the concepts you are well known for them, and to most people, they seem unique.

But how do you manage to do that?

Always keep in mind this:

The best knowledge comes from the rabbit holes only you can go down.

So…spend tons of time exploring different topics until you find that one thing you learn about & practice 24/7.

This is the topic you want to write about. Not just tweets. Long-form content. 

Because again, shallowness is our enemy here.

You want to go deeper. Form new connections. Connect your past experiences to it. This is how you create stuff that is “unique”.

And this can’t be done with tweets or threads.

So whenever you find an idea that excites you…

Write the hell out of it.

If you want to, use these questions as prompts:

• How do you understand it?

• What quotes come to your mind when you hear it?

• To what concepts is it similar?

• How is it related to your life & personal experience?

You can use this as a building block for your newsletter, podcast, or YouTube video.

#3 Study content from different perspectives

Every perspective on a topic is relative.

And that’s why it’s worth to explore more of them.

In fact, it’s even ok if you consume content on things that aren’t even related to the things you are writing about, because everything is related.

Every single subject has the same core principles, but the way of applying & articulating them makes them different.

And that’s why it’s worth studying ANY topic that grasps you.

Because again, why couldn’t you? Who said that you can’t be interested in martial arts if you’re a copywriter? Who said that you can’t play guitar as a marketing guru? Who said you can’t write novels & self-improvement posts?

Attacking things from multiple angles is what makes you see the deeper truth.

A truth people who stick only to 1 perspective can never see.

And that’s what’s going to make YOU, my friend, irreplaceable.

And…that’s it for today

But before I leave you, let’s finish with a punchy quote:

Btw, Jay has a great newsletter The Creator Letters, and I would argue that this is the most entertaining yet the deepest newsletter on the internet.

You can subscribe here.

Talk next Sunday,

— Claudia "Deep Creator" Stellner

P.S.: Don't forget to catch some sunlight ;)

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