Mr Average - Insights From a Motivational Speaker

You know

Online is really like the wild west

it’s open for anyone to come

and stake a claim

pan for gold

drill for digital oil

try your hand at finding fortune

 

and online has it’s own binary versions of

gunslingers

card sharks

cattle rustlers

and moguls

 

and remember those earnest families

who headed west

in a covered wagon

with nothing

except a belief in themselves

and a sense of hope

 

That’s me

I’m the online equivalent

of that family

 

I have no specific training

no connections

no rights

 

All I see is opportunity on every horizon

 

There’s millions of others like me too

we started coming over the last two decades

We’re dotted all over the internet hills and plains

 

many of us have come together in small communities

and just as many like to hide up in the hills

keeping to themselves

and then when you think it might be getting a bit too crowded

you just walk to the crest of a hill

and over the side

is endless plains of potential

as far as the eye can see

 

The internets already 2 decades old

but it’s still the early days

this really is the time to saddle up

hitch your wagon

and come stake your claim

 

A while back

If you had asked me

what qualifications do you need

to be able to share your knowledge online

and create income from it

I would have said none

 

But after 8 years of earning income online

and immersing myself and studying

as well as ‘doing’

I’ve got a different answer now

 

I’ve been here long enough to see patterns emerge

who’s successful

Who sticks around

who arrives with fanfare and bells and whistles

then silently vanishes in the night

 

I’ve noticed 2 qualifications

that the ‘successes’ share

Success is not just monetary

Success is not just massive tribes of people buying your products

I have moderate financial success

and moderate tribes of people that engage in what I do

 

The success that I am talking about is

longevity and sustainability

 

I’ve noticed that the people who manage to do this

whether they influence 100 people or 1 million people

They have these two particular qualifications

 

And let me point out

that everything technical you need to know

you can learn

and I’ll be able to help you with all that

so put that to one side for now

 

there are 2 qualifications you need that you cannot learn

and if you haven’t got them by now

it’s probably too late.

 

The first qualification you need …

I can tell you by way of a poem

this spells it out perfectly

 

It’s called the careful builder

 

I saw them tearing a building down

a gang of men in my home town

with a heave and a ho

and a yes yes yell

they swung a beam and a big wall fell

 

I said to the foreman

are these men skilled

like the ones you’d use

if you had to build

 

and he laughed and he said

oh no indeed

the most common labour’s all I need

for I can destroy in a day or two

what it takes a builder

ten years to do

 

so I thought to myself as I went my way

which of these two roles am I willing to play

am I one who’s tearing down

as I carelessly make my way around

 

or am I one who builds with care

so my family and my community

are a little better

because I was there

 

 

 

that’s it

that’s qualification number one

you need to actually want

to make things a bit better

than before you arrived

 

You need to be the sort of person

who wants to leave a mark, not a stain

 

This mindset

this outlook

this works really well online

 

You’ve go to understand that different currencies work online

Trust is the new online currency

Reputation is the new online currency

 

So if you want to come in

and do a quick cash grab and run

best of luck to you

you won’t make it long term

because you can’t hide online

your reputation is what Google say it is

 

then some people want to come in

and just do a half hearted effort

and not contribute

They take more than they give

 

then let me save you a lot of time and effort

this teaching and learning area of the internet

this isn’t for you

 

but if you are thinking

I have some knowledge to share

and this knowledge is useful

and I’d like to be part of something

growing and positive

something called the bright side of the internet

then you my friend are well qualified for this

you want to start watering the horses

and packing supplies for the journey

 

 

 

Qualification number 2

 

If you’re listening

and this episode

is the first time you’ve ever heard my story

then you’ll need to know

that in one of my previous tailor made careers

I was a magician

now this next bit will make sense

 

There’s a principle we use in magic

called ‘hidden in plain sight’

that’s where we hide something

by putting it in a place that is so obvious

that no one would ever think of looking there

 

Magicians love doing this

its so much fun to hear someone say

oh my god, I cant believe it, it’s just disappeared

and they say that as they are looking right at ‘the thing’

but they can’t see it

because their mind has said

don’t waste energy looking there

you need to look elsewhere

 

The same can be said of qualification number 2

 

qualification #2 is that

you need to be a unique

because being unique online pays dividends

you need to be like no other person on the planet

you need to have a unique face

a unique voice

a unique back story

 

and even though you possess each and everyone of those qualifications

this seems to be one of the hardest things for people to see

to grasp

that they are already unique

you come out of the womb that way

but just like the magic trick, this is hidden in plain sight

it’s so obvious that we can’t see it

 

it is so common for people to fall into the trap

of wanting to mimic those

who

in their eyes

appear successful online

 

because we think that by doing what they do

we too will have a better chance of being successful

it’s completely human

I get it

problem is, it doesn’t work

 

because in the process

you blend into the overwhelming sameness

that you become indistinguishable from the rest

 

which is such a shame

unique fascinating individuals 

becoming boring clones

by sacrificing their greatest asset

on the alter of conformity

 

and to illustrate that

being unique

and having a desire to help people

pays dividends online

I’ll tell you about Mr Average’s Incredible journey

 

  

In 2009 I was just a few years into being a professional children’s entertainer

 

Youtube was already pretty big

and it was a place I frequented a lot

because there were already thousands of magic trick videos there

that I could learn from

 

What I noticed was they were all very much the same

a set of disembodied arms

showing hard technical sleight of hand moves

and by and large these videos were made by 20 year olds

 

What the magic scene on Youtube definitely ‘wasn’t’

was a place where 50 year olds posted videos of easy to do tricks

that could be made with bits of paper and string and odds and ends

that you’d find lying around the house

 

It definitely wasn’t place where you posted videos

that showed you performing a trick with a presentation routine

so you the viewer could actually

have the courage

to present their newly learned magic trick.

 

It was

in short

a place for the young and the technically hip

 

It was with real trepidation

that crusty old me posted my first 4 videos

 

I shouldn't have worried

cause no one looked at them

 

so I pushed that aside

and a few months later

I posted a few more

 

The next few days though

there were these comments on the videos

like

yay, he’s posted some new videos

 

Huh? people are actually watching

and they want me to do more?

 

so I posted a few more

and I got more positive comments

 

over the next year I made more than 100 videos

and it just became more and more popular

people liked that I was just being me

saying what I thought was the truth

telling bad jokes

trying to help people who maybe couldn’t afford magic

or who had never been exposed to magic

to actually access magic tricks

and maybe use them in their lives

 

My youtube channel

called Julian’s Magician School

now has 30 million views and about 130,000 subscribers

 

and that’s all well and good

but that’s not the ‘good’ bit

the good bit is this

 

 

I was at the beach one day, my phone rings, I look at the number and it’s an international call … I’ve got no idea what the country code is?  I answer and all I hear is honk, honk, beep, beep. Hello … is that Mr Julian? … you are my teacher Mr Julian

 

The honks and beeps I was hearing were the sounds of cars and motorcycles. The call was coming from the streets of Calcutta in India (now called Kolkata). It was a 21 year old student named Annan Aman

and he was passionate about magic.

The free videos I had put on Youtube

had given him the direction he needed,

enough to get his magic career kick started.

 

Remember I was just some 50 year old bloke,

at home,

at my kitchen table,

in Australia,

posting uncool videos on Youtube.

I wasn’t anybody.

 

Then I get a Facebook message from a guy named Kancho Jim in the UK.

I’ll read it verbatim

and I’ve got Jim’s permission to share this

“Your tutorials helped save my life.

I suffered depression and your magic was my cure”

 

To cut a long story short

Jim hovered way too close

to the edge of suicide.

Jim is now leading a happy enough life

and we are in contact every few weeks.

 

Remember I’m just an average bloke

putting my thoughts and knowledge onto the internet

using simple technology that is available to everyone. 

I don’t have any more qualifications than that.

 

I got an email from a mother in the USA

named Alison Mass .

She’s got a  daughter Annelise,

Annelise has she has

many of the same symptoms of Autism

and after watching my videos,

Annelise got hooked on magic

which really helped her

confidence and learning.

 

I’ve built a relationship with this family now

and continue to work with them

she’s doing school shows, library shows

and 10 year old Annelise

has already had a dozen TV appearances

 

As her mum said

This is a long way from the little girl in the corner

rocking with a blanket over her head

 

 

I’ve got plenty more of these stories.

 

The point of all this is

if I had succumbed to the stories in my own head

that I wasn’t good enough

or worthy enough

or that I wasn’t like all the others already doing it

and believe me those are very real things that existed in my head

then none of these wonderful connections would have been made.

 

So, no, you are not too old

you are not too different to everyone else

you are not too uncool

you are perfect the way you are

 

and you are definitely not too late.

 

I hear people say that they should have been doing this 5 years ago.

There’s already too many people doing this.

That people won’t pay for knowledge anymore.

Bunkum.

It’s just getting going.

Like I said

it’s like the online Wild West out there

and the land grabs and the gold claims and oil strikes are still up for grabs

 

plus how many doctors and dentists are there in your neighbourhood?

There are so many in my area

But I never complain there are too many

It’s great having the opportunity

to shop around and find one I feel comfortable with

 

No one can say something

the way you can say something.

Whatever it is that floats your boat,

even if its been said hundreds of times before,

the way you say it,

the way you interpret it,

the way your life experience impacts it,

makes anything you say … original.

 

and it makes the way you say it

resonate with certain people.

You will attract certain people

and not others.

You don’t want the others.

When your people find you

they will thank you

and say where have you been.

I’ve been waiting for you.

 

I love this quote by the Dalai Lama,

If you think you are too small to make a difference,

try sleeping with a mosquito

 

I’m not saying all this happens immediately

as if by magic,

but it does happen.

I’ve lived it.

This is a wonderful reality of our time.

There are 7 billion people on our planet

and for the first time in history

it’s pretty dang easy for all of us

to find people and connect.

 

You only need a thin slice of the 7 billion pie

for this to be worth your while

 

What will you do with this opportunity?

Whose lives will you impact?

here’s the truth:

your actions will inspire others,

some where,

some how

and always

when you least expect it.

 

You just have to be yourself

and want to somehow be useful

and be of service

to your fellow humans

 

That’s the only qualifications you need to start creating

your own tailor made career online.

Ride west my friend.

 

 

and if you come to a mighty canyon

don’t leap and hope to grow your wings on the way down

and I’ll share why in the next episode

 

 

The passage draws a parallel between the early days of the internet and the Wild West, highlighting the opportunity for anyone to make a mark online. The author shares their personal journey of building a career from nothing, emphasizing the importance of two key qualities for success: the desire to contribute positively and the uniqueness of one's identity. The author also shares stories of people positively impacted by their work, showing that individual contributions, even from seemingly average people, can make a significant difference in others' lives.

Lessons Learned:

• Success requires a long-term mindset: Building something sustainable online is more valuable than quick gains.
• Positive contribution is key: You need to leave a mark, not a stain. Success comes from improving things for others.
• Trust and reputation are essential online: These are the new currencies in the digital space.
• Being unique pays dividends: Mimicking others leads to blending in, while embracing your uniqueness stands out.
• Everyone has something valuable to offer: Your experiences and voice make your contribution original, even if the topic has been discussed before.
• It's never too late to start: Regardless of age or when you begin, opportunities are still abundant.