Levels To Level Up

JKLTip Don’t overthink who you work with, if it is enjoyable, do it, if not, don’t
Apartment Building Levels Justin Nolan Helping Others Level Up

The idea that there is a creative hierarchy people must follow is an interesting one. Why do we tell people to level up? Do people feel that there is a finite amount of success possible?

Why is there such a judgemental approach as to who people will work with? What if we focused on giving, with a belief that there is enough opportunity for everyone? 

It’s easy for me to stay motivated in my creative journey because I hope to be able to help others someday. I’ve recently been dipping a toe into the content creation culture. Over the last six months, I have started putting out blog posts, social media posters, videos, and messages. 

Why Do It At All

What’s my goal? To help people. I would like to help everyone, but especially youth. I know you have it in you to follow your dreams. I’ve learned over the years that it’s impossible to tell people how to accomplish goals. I need to show people. 

While looking into what it takes to grow a following online, I have come across an interesting culture. Creators seem to reinforce the idea of levels, or a hierarchical structure. 

The truth is there is no actual hierarchy when it comes to creative pursuits. It’s true. There is no hierarchical ladder in the open marketplace of creatives. Innovation and entertainment are lateral and constellation like. It is not a rank order. 

A Quick Example

Say you have 540 thousand subscribers and you think that other people need to reach your “level” in order to work with you. At any given moment someone can publish an incredible song (White Iverson), or video (Cash Me Outside) and things change. All of a sudden Post Malone and Bhad Bhabie fly by you in terms of data. They have over 10 Million subscribers each now. 

Do the roles reverse? Do they now get to tell you to get to their level before they will work with you? Imagine you had the humility to put them on in the first place. Maybe you would be supporting each other to this day. 

Do you think there is a finite, or infinite amount of creative opportunities? 

No matter where I go from here, the number of projects I could do, or people I could work with is endless. In my lifetime I will never be able to work with everyone I would like to. It will not be possible to create all of the ideas I have. But I can try. 

It’s Not Necessary

It’s funny because we know that content creators would never want a social media platform to become bureaucratic. In the very nature of creativity is the belief that we can all create across a massive playing field. Results are subjective.

It’s fascinating how people can say “level up” before you get a chance to play with them. If we judge someone on views, subscribers, or income, we miss an opportunity to know them for them. 

I was listening to a relatively popular, but really not that popular podcaster the other day. They were laughing on air about the fact that someone had DM’d them to do a video. When they “checked them out, they had like no subscribers”. They proceeded to say, people don’t realize they need to “level up first” before they reach out. 

This is a confusing topic because those same hosts are interviewing people with far greater followings than them. Moreover, what is the metric upon which we measure such levels? Is it money, fame, or status? 

At first, it made me hesitant to engage in this world of content creation at all. But, then I thought the opposite. The reason why I need to work hard to quote, unquote “level up” is to set a better example of how we can treat those at “lower levels”. I want to show the community that we need not force people to “level up”. The world has enough abundance that we can lift others and get along just fine.

*Come Write A Guest Post: 8 Billion People
** Read Why Just Keep Learning: JKL Post


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