There comes a point when trying to reach more people begins to interfere with reaching the right people. What we create, discover, and offer in earnest does not need to resonate with everyone, nor should we expect it to. There is a certain freedom in recognizing that our task may simply be to put forth what feels true and worthwhile, as clearly and authentically as we can, and allow those who are ready for it to find their way there.

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One thing you will learn as you go along building a career — if you want to call it that, whether it be in writing, artistically expressing yourself, or sharing ideas and things you’ve learned — is that as you’re seeking the truth in all things, learning, and unraveling all the lies, deceptions, and distortions about this earthbound life, there’s often this secondary impulse to appeal to the broadest possible audience because you feel tasked with trying to “awaken the masses.”

Eventually, you come to realize that this is folly. It is a misguided aspiration based upon a misunderstood capacity that has little to nothing to do with your truer and more meaningful purpose. Unlike commercial aspirations, many of which tend to be reduced simply to “a numbers game,” it isn’t the same concept at all when seeking something of more substance, something lasting, and an audience that is more durable, intimate, and engaged than simply broadcasting across civilization and hoping for the best — or, perhaps worse, believing that what you’re offering really is so fundamental and important, transformational and paradigm-shifting, that everyone simply must partake lest they be missing out on something essential to their existence.

To appeal to the broadest possible audience would mean you are seeking to be a pop star, a celebrity, or a politician. And certainly, there are those who pursue these paths in life in earnest, and while there may be some sort of reward in that — be it material, financial, or simple narcissism (which is as rampant as ever in our era) — it’s not for most of us. And it is especially not for those of us who seek to share what is real and true about our reality and our world, and what is authentic and genuine about discerning our purest values and priorities, living our best lives, and expressing our humanity in the most healthful, individually and collectively beneficent way possible on this plane.

Scott Scheper’s book Penpreneur, which I read recently, circles around an idea that’s been repeated many times before: finding your niche and really zeroing in on your “1,000 true fans,” as it were. It is an interesting and informative read, though ultimately it missed the mark for me.

Regardless, there’s a lot of power in that “true fans” idea. As an aspiring musician, I’d heard versions of it long ago in a few industry-related books. It’s not so much about the relatively small number of fans that would be required to maintain a certain level of income, stability, or simply motivation to keep pressing onward while pursuing whatever it is you are driven to pursue, but about focusing your energy deliberately and providing the greatest value to those who would benefit most and align most closely with what you are offering.

Those people, perhaps eventually to become true fans, may come across your ideas whenever they might best benefit from them because ideas, books, teachers, mentors, podcasts, and all manner of information tend to come across our radar when we are living, expressing, and emanating in that particular range of frequencies. It is only then that we are most likely able to hear it, see it, or resonate with it whatsoever. If we’re getting close, perhaps only in the general vicinity of the idea, we may buy the book, bookmark the webpage, or make a note to get back to it “soon,” but it is just as quickly forgotten. You don’t need that kind of fan. They’re not your audience. At least, not yet.

There is something inherently and perhaps uncomfortably powerful about eliminating as many people as possible from your potential audience so as to best serve the select few who, right now, genuinely align with what you are offering. You are not trying to exclude people. You are simply no longer trying to include everyone. Rather than appealing to all manner of strangers who have no genuine interest whatsoever in what you are putting forth, you are allowing what you create to find those for whom it actually has meaning.

The others won’t hear it. They won’t see it. And worse, especially if you’re trying to force an idea into their reality bubble by being clever with language or sales methodology, you’ll likely just attract the trolls who have nothing better to do than waste your time and clutter up your comment section or email inbox with nonsense and stupidity because their belief system, or perhaps their very paradigm, is in opposition to what you are offering.

This isn’t to say that critique, criticism, and outside perspectives and opinions offered in good faith aren’t useful, because they are among the more useful ways in which we may continue to improve. If you’re honest, they’ll likely be echoing something about what you’ve put forth that you were already aware of, but decided to post, publish, or share anyway. Lesson learned. Regardless, as we go through the iterative process, as we continue to research and learn and grow and share (or build, create, invent, and produce) in earnest, we will inevitably have to refine our process, our ideas, and, perhaps most critically, our beliefs. We’ll have to adjust and shift our paradigm, if not break it entirely, over and over again.

So don’t waste your time trying to cater to the broadest audience, chasing the most clicks and engagement, impulse buyers, or guilt subscriptions from friends or family, because that’s all defeating the greater purpose. If you are doing something genuine and of real value, in pursuit of love and truth, those who resonate and matter most will find it. And they will be happy to support you and even pay you for those offerings because what you’re creating speaks specifically to whatever their heart, mind, or spirit needs to hear at this particular moment.

Just as the time may feel right for you to share it — to feel uplifted, excited, and eager to put it out into the world — so too may the time be right for those who find it, willing, able, and open to receive precisely what you have to offer.

Solvitur ambulando