How to become an antifragile creator in a fragile world

Most of the creators you see embarking on a journey of creating and sharing their ideas don’t last long.

They second-guess themselves or quit at any sign of things not working.

Nassim Taleb warned about this when he coined the term ‘antifragile’ — the difference between things that break under pressure and things that become stronger from it.

Don’t be that guy who builds a house made of toothpicks and honey.

But many creators don’t just survive change. They feast on it like a top-tier mustard hot dog from Jake’s Dogs in the city.

Here’s how to thrive in the inevitable chaos of modern online life while thousands fold under the pressure:

Make volatility your friend.

When algorithms change, noob creators panic. But antifragile creators are spurred into action.

They see disruption as a chance to adapt and improve. Platform changes become an opportunity to be creative. The greatest opportunities show up when there’s blood in the streets.

Disorder can absolutely be to your advantage.

Put skin in the game.

Don’t just share safe opinions.

They actually make you more vulnerable because you’re unremarkable. Take real risks with your ideas.

Stand for something that matters. When you have genuine skin in the game, your audience will trust you more than those who play it safe.

Your willingness to risk reputation shows you mean what you say.

Look at Russell Brand. Every controversy, media attack, and attempt to cancel him has only grown his influence.

His YouTube subscribers jumped up during his most controversial period because he stood his ground.

Create from your core, not the crowd.

Building based on trends means you’re at the mercy of change.

A trend disappears, and so do you. But when you create from deep conviction, market shifts make you more relevant, not less. Your voice gets clearer as others get confused.

The more turbulent the market becomes, the more people crave authentic voices they can trust.

Be unwavering in your convictions so you become an anchor in the chaos.

Master the art of subtraction.

Removing those things that complicate your life makes you stronger.

Cut unnecessary junk that detracts from your focus. Drop the projects that drain you. Eliminate complexity.

What Taleb calls ‘via negativa’ — addition by subtraction — often creates more strength than adding more stuff.

The more you remove, the harder you become to disrupt and the more precise your message becomes.

Use ‘redundancy’ as your shield.

Is there such a thing as optimising too much? Yes, there is.

People try to streamline everything and remove overlap. But this efficiency actually makes them more vulnerable.

This does not conflict with the previous point if your goal remains to reduce complexity, which is a different thing. When one system breaks or one strategy fails, its operation collapses.

You don’t want this, obviously.

Clever creators build redundancy into everything they do.

They create backups of their information. They operate on several platforms. They create multiple income streams. They might even (as I do) get hold of several residency permits so they can legally live in multiple countries with multiple passports.

They are acutely conscious of the need to create fallback options in anticipation of potential changes and losses.

With redundancy, it becomes hard to lose.

Let stress strengthen you.

Like a muscle needs resistance to grow, your brand needs productive stress.

Regular challenges, controlled risks, and strategic discomfort build resilience.

But you needn’t feel stress doing these things. You just choose the things most avoid, and you find a way to enjoy it. It’s all in the mind, anyway.

Take risks because you’re stronger than most. This will set you apart.

Make setbacks work for you.

Every ‘failure’ gives you:

• Better stories to tell

• Deeper insights to share

• Stronger connections with your audience

• Clear signs of what doesn’t work (data)

• Material for future content

• Wisdom that can’t be bought

Each setback becomes ammunition for future success.

Focus on timeless principles.

Trends come and go, but fundamental human needs remain.

Build your work around these, and the chaos will increase your value. For example, the more technology advances, the more valuable timeless wisdom and human understanding becomes.

Your superior understanding of human nature becomes your competitive advantage.

Keep your downside small.

Naval Ravikant said the best decisions are often those with minimum downside and massive potential upside, like starting a blog, a podcast, or dating more people before finding a suitable wife.

Don’t get weighed down with long-term, inflexible commitments or expensive systems that will smack you if things go south.

This requires some thought before you make decisions.

It also requires you to have the foresight to anticipate future change so you minimise any potential losses.

Build micro-feedback loops.

This is crucial in the world of online business.

Be open to making little mistakes and testing ideas quickly. Get fast feedback. Fail forward, but don’t fail catastrophically. Adapt rapidly. Let market responses make you stronger.

Make each interaction you have with your users be a chance to improve.

The faster your feedback loops, the quicker you evolve.

Don’t just sit there. Move.

Embrace productive paranoia.

Stay alert, but don’t fall into anxiety.

Be conscious of change, but don’t fear it. Use that awareness to spot opportunities others miss.

Turn your natural caution into a superpower that helps you see around corners while others stumble around like the walking dead.

Become a ninja at seeing change, threats, and problems to solve.

Your vigilance becomes a sidekick to help you make the most of change.

The goal in all this isn’t just to be better prepared or resilient. It’s to become stronger from the very things that can break others.

You can expand and thrive with each disruption, controversy, and market shift.

The future belongs to creators who manoeuvre themselves to benefit the most from chaos and uncertainty.

Become aware, so you can join them.

Want to build an antifragile writing career?

Online Alchemy course guides you through all 16 secrets to writing that resonates and builds a personal brand.

Your brand is an essential asset in an uncertain world if you want a community around you, create new income streams and make an impact.

Alex

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