The 4 systems of creative sovereignty - a business model for deep thinkers

Becoming the person you want to be

In 2022 I walked away from, what some called, a glittering career.

I had the title, the status, the salary, the stress, the worry and worst of all the deep seated feeling that I was dreadfully out of alignment with my true self…It was almost as if I were performing someone else’s life…in a system which did not serve me.

Performing inside someone else’s system can cost you your very self, and if you’ve lost the essence of “who you are” building back up can be a painful process.

In order to create a system which actually serves you, you must have a deep sense of who you are and what you want - this all starts with identity.

The uncomfortable truth is this:

Success, failure, morality, the good life: these are not fixed principles, they are cultural artefacts.

They are defined by the time, place, and system you inhabit. In one political system, ambition is noble. In another, it’s selfish. In one industry, burnout is a badge of honour. In another, it’s a sign of weakness. To one generation, staying in a secure job for 30 years is proof of integrity. In another, it’s seen as fear of change.

Most people live their entire lives inside inherited systems and never question who built them, or what they were designed to optimise.

But the internet changed something. It gave us the tools — for the first time in history — to build our own systems. To design lives and businesses that reflect our values. To opt out of default definitions of success, and construct something more sustainable and ultimately more sovereign.

And that’s what this essay is about. Because the creator economy is not just a playground for creativity. It’s a pressure chamber for identity and if you do not focus on a grounded vision it will reward the version of you that aligns with its own systems — fast content, performative visibility and hustle masquerading as entrepreneurship.

Without doing the deep identity work you will start to morph into that version without even noticing it.

Building the right systems isn’t just about output or being able to consistently publish a certain amount of content each week it’s about making sure you are becoming the person you want to be. The person you can look at in the mirror and feel a sense of pride.

You can grow in a way that doesn’t cost you your soul. That’s what I’ve spent the last few years learning. Not how to post more. But how to build better for trust and coherence. There are four systems that made this possible:

• A system for creation: protects your rhythm.

• A system for thinking: deepens your worldview.

• A system for growth: builds real relationships.

• A system for income: protects your sovereignty.

Once you build these for yourself everything changes.

1. A System for Creation

This is the fundamental foundation on which everything else rests and is where all beginners must start.

It is difficult to put time frames on this as everyone is different but expect the development of your own personal system for creation to take months, not days…it is only after months of continued output that you can prove to yourself you’ve created a system which fuels your creativity and protects you from burnout.

For me, that structure became what I call the 15-Note System. It gives my voice shape. It stops me from second-guessing every idea. It’s how I publish consistently without resorting to content gymnastics or reactive posting. I know that many people hate the idea of frameworks and see structure as restrictive but the deeper truth is this:

Your brain needs a container.

From a neurological standpoint, the brain is a pattern-seeking entity. It thrives on structure because structure reduces cognitive load. It automates the familiar so that you can focus your energy on what’s new. That’s why you can drive home on autopilot but writing a new post still feels like climbing a cliff.

Without a system, everything feels novel. Novelty is exciting but also cognitively expensive. It burns attention, drains motivation and over time, it leads to paralysis.

A good creative system isn’t there to limit you — it’s there to protect your energy and preserve your voice. It frees up your attention to do the real work of refining ideas and deepening resonance, so that consistency becomes part of your identity.

In short the system isn’t there to stifle you, it’s there to hold you when you lose clarity, because you will. And when you do, your system is what carries you through the fog.

This all takes time. Most people start off very strong with a burst of energy which quickly fizzles out and dies. I recommend doing the opposite. Start off slow, find a rhythm that slots into your life relatively naturally. If that means only writing and publishing something once a month then so be it. That is your starting point. Do not force it. Creation is something you should look forward to, it should give you more energy than it takes. If you feel stressed or drained something is wrong and you need to take a step back.

2. A System for Thinking

“Writing, the process of transforming thoughts into symbols, is one of the most powerful tools for focusing attention, organizing information, and integrating new experiences.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

If short-form builds a creative rhythm, long-form builds critical depth. My thinking system is slower and messier but no less essential.

Throughout the week, I collect stray ideas, emotional threads, unresolved tensions, patterns I notice in conversations or in my own Notes.

They don’t always connect. Some sit in my Notion page for weeks before I touch them. But when I sit down to write a long-form essay, I return to them. I reread. I reframe. I rewrite entire paragraphs until they feel honest and until I’ve actually metabolised the idea.

When I first started writing, one of these posts took me at least 2 weeks, sometimes four. I’ve reduced that down to roughly one week per letter but sometimes I’ll have an idea and won’t be able to finish it for months because I’m still not entirely sure what my beliefs are.

This is what most people miss: writing isn’t just a way to share what you already know. It’s the mechanism through which you discover what you actually believe.

When we encounter ambiguity, or try to form new mental models, the prefrontal cortex lights up. That’s the seat of complex thought, working memory, and focused attention — and it’s also exactly what’s activated when you try to articulate something difficult on paper.

Writing forces clarity. In the cognitive, biological sense. It demands the brain stop running on autopilot and instead form connections between emotional residue and intellectual structure.

This is why the most coherent thinkers are often the most consistent writers.

Montaigne didn’t write essays because he had conclusions, he wrote as a way of trying to come to conclusions. Each essay was a testing ground for a different lens on the same question: How should we live?

“Only thoughts reached by walking have value.”

Nietzsche

You could just as easily say the same about writing. To write long-form is to walk slowly through an idea. To resist the temptation of instant reaction. To stay long enough inside an uncomfortable thought that it begins to evolve.

This is intellectual sovereignty.

A system for thinking gives you something deeper than quick takes or recycled opinions. It gives you weight, voice and texture. Over time, it sharpens your discernment, not just about what you want to say, but what’s worth saying in the first place.

And this is where systems matter. When you treat essay writing as a weekly ritual, not a random event, your thinking compounds. You don’t start from zero each time. You build a body of work that mirrors your own development, because you stayed with the questions long enough to outgrow your first answer.

Key takeaways

• Capture thoughts on a daily basis.

• Prioritise writing something of depth regularly.

• Publish that writing - it is only through contact with the real world that your writing and by extension your thinking will improve.

• Thinking takes time, it can be slow and frustrating and it is also normal to encounter contradictions.

3. A System for Growth

The first two systems are focused on internal growth.

They are all about you and your own personal journey. The focus is to develop rhythms, structures and systems for yourself. Only when you have succeeded in that are you able to truly serve others and think about growing your influence and reach.

This is where most creators fall into one of two traps: either they avoid growth completely out of fear of “selling out,” or they become addicted to chasing it.

But real growth is neither passive nor performative — it’s relational, which is why it requires a completely different skill-set.

Full disclosure. This is a skillset which I have not yet fully developed, but I have been here long enough to understand how growth works and it has very little to do with the actual writing.

Everyone thinks growth is the fun part, but in reality, this is the part that breaks most creators because they never learn how to build real relationships in public.

The biggest creators don’t just randomly “go viral” they collaborate. They’re name-dropped, referenced and shared. Essentially they are invited into the conversation.

Look at the top of any platform and you’ll notice the same patterns:

They go on each other’s podcasts. They host conversations. They co-sign each other’s work. They get recommended, not just by the algorithm, but by other humans. None of this just “happens.” Even in the supposed meritocracy of the internet, social capital compounds, and if you’re not consciously building it you’ll stagnate, no matter how good your ideas or writing are.

That’s why I call this a system. Because it’s a discipline and very few people do it well.

So what does it look like in practice?

Step 1: Know Your World

You have to know who you’re trying to connect with.

→ Which voices inspire you?

→ Which creators serve a similar audience but speak from a different angle?

→ Who’s already in the room you want to be in?

This is about about positioning yourself inside a larger conversation.

If you don’t know what conversation you’re contributing to, your voice will always be background noise. This might seem obvious but choosing the right people to collaborate with is extremely important. Just because someone writes about the same topic, doesn’t mean they are automatically a good fit.

Step 2: Make Yourself Visible

Not with links to your posts, A.I comments or forced tagging, but with consistent, thoughtful engagement.

→ Reply to Notes with care.

→ Leave intelligent comments on their posts.

→ Link their work in your essays.

→ Highlight something they said and reflect on it.

Make yourself valuable without demanding attention in return, because the people worth connecting will always notice. You would not believe how easy it is to stand out in the comments section.

The people who I ended up collaborating with first started a conversation. This is just like dating. I, and I would argue you anyone of worth, find it a serious turn off when people want to go “straight to bed” with zero context. Why would I recommend your substack, if this is the first time I’m hearing from you?

Step 3: Build Cross-Pollination Loops

Once you’ve earned trust, collaboration becomes possible.

→ Offer a cross-post.

→ Invite them to an interview.

→ Pitch a live session or podcast swap.

→ Create something worth sharing and send it with no pressure attached.

This does not happen overnight, it takes months and years of concerted effort and is one of those things where nothing happens and then everything happens…all at once. The relationships that grow slowly tend to be the ones which last.

Step 4: Reciprocate Without Scorekeeping

Don’t just reach out. Lift others up. Recommend their work. Mention them in rooms they’re not in.

Help people get what they want. Sovereign creators aren’t in competition. They’re in conversation. The more people you bring into that conversation, the more you grow together.

This is what most people miss: Growth is not an event, it’s not a one-time hack. It’s a living ecosystem.

Unless you’re actively nurturing it, you’ll always feel stuck, even when you’re doing everything “right.”…do not forget that this comes after you’ve got your creative output and enhanced thinking systems in place.

This part is more social than strategic. It is extremely difficult especially for those of us who prefer the solitude of writing. But the good news is that sustainable growth is human centred, not algorithmic. When you treat growth as a relational system — not a performance — the entire experience changes.

4. A System for Income

Let’s be blunt: you cannot call this a business if there’s nothing to buy.

So the first step is simple:

Have a product. Even a small one. It’s not about making thousands overnight. It’s about closing the loop - moving from publishing to offering.

I am not going to go into detail here because this letter is getting too long and this deserves it’s own standalone article. These systems should be implemented in the order in which I presented them.

I know that there are many people saying the opposite - “monetise from day 1". “Prioritise growth” “you could be making thousands with just 20 subscribers”….maybe that’s possible if you already have a product and write for a specific high net worth market but for those of us figuring it out as we go it will take time and you cannot do this all at once.

Writing, growth and sales are three interrelated but altogether very different fields and it is unrealistic to think you can master them all at the same time. So take them one at a time and enjoy the process.

That’s it for now. We will talk about growth and income in the coming months.

If you are struggling to stay consistent and find short-form difficult check out the 15-Note system.

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