QUOTED.
[THE MANIFESTO INTRO] Stop writing for the algorithm. Start writing for the archive.
I hate to say this …but most people are uninteresting and have no understanding of what they’re doing…
Even when it comes to understanding business.
To sell from the soul.
To market from your intuition.
To hunt for your stuff.
To pull from your intelligence some profound THOUGHT.
Because 500 years from now, no one will remember your content calendar layout, nobody will remember your hook formula.
Nobody will remember the template packs you bought in 2024 or the trending audio you used to get 20,000 views in 3 days on Tiktok. What they will remember about you?
What they will quote — is the person who had the audacity to say something audacious and profound when everyone else was performing for likes, and produce for tokens. Like, what are we doing??
That is the standard.
Somebody else is not your standard, you become the standard.
“Quoted” means someone’s exact words were repeated or referenced.
It can also mean:
Recognized: Your words mattered enough for others to repeat.
Cited: Your ideas were used as a SOURCE.
Remembered: You said something that stuck with people.
Who Are We, and What Are We Actually Trying to Accomplish?
In my mind, when they said “Content Creators” — I was like, OKAY….here we are, the writers, educators, philosophers, the healers, the artists, the coaches, practitioners are up next!
Never have I thought that so many people would drop the ball on this era to the point we’ve become savages, uninteresting and thieves of other people’s style and it’s disappointing! They build audiences before they build identity.
They sell before they know what they stand for.
They cultivate relationships without knowing what they are actually offering the people they are in relationship with.
Do we still have conversations with the people that we’re trying to impact?
Do we still have experiences in the world that allows to listen and hear before we start yapping?
Do we still write without listening to someone on a Tiktok or Youtube and have Gemini or ChatGPT copy their whole transcript and post it as if we came with it??
The people who say they want to grow their businesses have nervous systems so burned up that they don’t even want to SELL. It’s like pulling teeth to get people to write content that speaks to their buyer.
What the helly??
Simple question: YES OR NO.
ARE YOU QUOTED??
I don’t give a damn about Fortune magazine or you being featured in Black Enterprise…because none of the generations even read that stuff. And no one cares. I’m talking about in the philosophical and psychological power of this age…do people share your shxt??
The biggest coward right now — is the person that doesn’t have the “balls” nor the “tits” to sit down and create for their own namesake. Your whole library of content is the works of another’s anointing. YOU have your OWN thing.
True content creation is not about telling all your life’s business, cause frankly I could care less about your ex messing up your credit or how you love this particular BBQ place, let’s stomach past the algorithm.
I’ve had about 4 people in the past 2 weeks to tell me they shared my Substack/newsletter with people at conferences and their coworkers. BECAUSE THEY LOVED READING MY WORKS.
Your works are more important than your brand colors. I have to block another person that I have worked with months and months ago for completely taking everything that I discuss and pass it as her own.
I know I carry the Great Mother energy, and “the children” are lost without me showing up. I know it. I can tell when they are hungry because they steal from my cupboard instead of drawing from the work that they were doing but wasn’t true to.
Content about content, how to grow your content, on top of making content. Nothing about creative energy, drawing from books, reading, doing appreciative inquiries, having conversations of depth instead of discussing someone’s content style.
When are “the children” going to recognize that they are the creatives??
It is about voice. And voice is built through character development — the kind that happens when you stop being intimidated by the room you are in, stop shrinking your perspective to fit someone else’s method, and decide that your point of view is worth you teaching on.
Oprah Winfrey does not quote Toni Morrison because Morrison had the best content strategy.
She quotes her because Morrison wrote from a place so soul-deep and so specific that the words became universal. It hit the soul.
Maya Angelou did not optimize her cadence for engagement. She wrote from power — from the full weight of her experience, her loss, her grief, her joy, her refusal to be reduced.
Marianne Williamson did not soften her spiritual conviction to make it more palatable.
She said the hard thing, the true thing, and the world leaned in.
“But Jai, AI is taking everything!” — and? baby, you are living this life right now and I’ll tell you, Claude is still dragging tokens for filth, and you still have to yell at ChatGPT because it got your prompt wrong for the 4th time. You got a minute before they do anything. Claude is about to release Opus 5. They’re still working.
You got a minute. Plus (and soon), trademarks and all these copyrights won’t mean a damn thing either. But if your name can stand during the test of time and you can become known for your works more than your potential, you’re going to be fine.
That is the timeline we are building in.
The world should know who YOU are, not how you can remix someone else’s program or theory, or content style as your own.
If you’re going to lead, dammit LEAD.
xo,
Jai
P.S. We are filling up the Outreach Optimizer Clinic — if you don’t have clients or need more clients, then it would behoove you to get your head in the game and run in. It’s $197 now but it will go up soon: https://stan.store/thedigitalleadher/p/the-outreach-optimizer-clinic
✨A closely related essay that ties all this together (I’ve been doing this a long time):
become "un-copyable" with your content.
TA - DAHHHH! 🔥 (now, take out your notebooks CEO…it’s time to learn and grow okay?)
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This was great! I’m going to keep writing. I know it takes time so I’ll keep going.
Whewwwwww this whole article!!!! My Lord. All I can say thank you for being you. Thank you for all you give and thank you for continuously lighting a fire under our asses. This was an excellent breakdown. I’m gonna have to read this again! This was a great start to my morning 🔥🔥🔥🔥