Don’t waste time studying billionaires like Musk or Bezos.

It fills you with survivorship bias. It’s inspiring, but very misleading.

Instead, it’s much more useful to study people who are 2–3 years ahead of you in pursuing the same goals you have.

Here are a few examples:

1. If You’re Earning 30K as a Junior Software Developer…

Study people making 60k. Learn the skills required, and how to position yourself for those jobs.

2. If You’re Building a Startup…

Learn from a founder in the same space who has grown to make 10K MRR.

3. You’ve Started Working Remotely With a Location Indexed Salary…

Learn how someone in your country, with similar skills, transitioned to a role paying a US salary regardless of location.

4. If You’re Feeling Stuck in Your Career, and Want to Pivot…

Reach out to someone working in the role you’d like to move into. Ask them about the job. Also, ask them what skills you’d require to learn to get such a job.

5. If You Work Full-time, but Would Like To Start Freelancing…

Learn how people with similar skills and years of experience made that transition. Reach out to ask about their struggles and how they mitigate those. Use that to prepare.

6. If You Want To Write Online but Don’t Know Where To Start…

Learn how someone with your skills and experience built an audience of tens of thousands of engaged followers by writing content you can relate with.

All of these folks are just a comment or DM away.

Reach out, provide value, and ask questions. Those connections can change your trajectory.

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