things that go UNSCRIPTED

[ZF Lee]

In anticipation for @MJ DeMarco 's upcoming hit book UNSCRIPTED , I was full of excitement about the further discussions and insights his next book will bring. Not only will it discuss Slowlane mediocrity causes (or THE SCRIPT), it will definitely cut into the entrepreneural failure tumour and roadblocks and get to the bottom of it.

Immediately the title and the sample content got my brains turning.
Despite my work in creating my Fastlane path, I realised that much of my actions were pretty much SCRIPTED.
SCRIPTED means predictability, and you give a director control over how you talk and act. I realised most of the tools, resources and knowledge I use to provide value are still SCRIPTED, following a set pattern....and the results weren't splendid.

Most businesses seem to follow a conventional SCRIPTED pattern of 'earning enough to pay the bills', 'compete based on price', 'network with big shots', 'do undertable money', and as a result, they got SCRIPTED earnings.

UNSCRIPTED means ad-libbing, manipulation of variables according to one's desire for control and liberty. In movies, the best actors are those who ad-lib or do UNSCRIPTED motions which make the movie more splendidly emotional and dramatic. For example, Indiana Jone's ad-libbed gun duel with the Arabian in Raiders of the Lost Ark made him immortal.

Really, UNSCRIPTED can do wonders.

For starters, many things can be considered vital to the Fastlane. Action, sales, marketing, copywriting, diesel and coffee, scaling, etc. But UNSCRIPTED to me has began to mean so much more than these things.

I have a few ideas on what UNSCRIPTED might mean.
Here are a few:

SCRIPTED: Just give only the bare necessities, or what they asked for.
UNSCRIPTED : Give better, with more add-ons that improve its value and solve the client's OTHER problems. For example, I'm creating a video for a class project. Most college project videos are crap and boring, not to mention low-quality and long. I'm introducing a storyline so that it will connect to them emotionally. I'll do editing, soundtrack selection, subtitles, so that the viewer experience is better. I'll keep the video short and simple.

I didn't have to do all these. The project was not even counting to my grades. But I'll do it, because I ABSOLUTELY hate seeing other group's SCRIPTED work.

I became the go-to video guy. The guy who 'makes videos' as my classmates would call me. And I was only using Moviemaker and an Iphone camera!

If this were a fastlane business.....a killing can be made. A nice Fiverr gig, a sales ad, an informercial,.....all from just 'doing small UNSCRIPTED things'.


SCRIPTED: Help only those who will give you money. Get business from only those whom you know, i.e your friendly neighbourhood uncle or shopkeeper. Stay local, stay small, stay safe.
UNSCRIPTED : By all means, offer services to those who pay. But UNSCRIPTED demands the opposite. I went on Quora to find consumer insights, and I found some chap who's a disabled guy running an Ontario online travel guide service. Although I was no expert in that field, I knew WHAT he lacked, and HOW to fill it in.

I gave him some pointers, especially on copywriting and infographics, since I was already dealing with them firsthand. He thanked me profusely, saying (and I quote)

'Also thanks for your comment re: disability. I refuse to let it stop me. I've had a year of claiming disability benefits whilst I try and come up with a decent, feasible plan and get used to the adjustments I've had to make, but I'm getting the itch again. I don't want to make millions, just enough to live comfortably!!'

NOW WHY WOULD HE TELL ME HIS LIFE STORY?
Why would he be so honest with me? He could have said, 'Oh, I'll be fine!' He just blurted out his harsh struggles, his dreams, his hopes! A look into his life!

Simple. He trusted me. No matter how comparatively SMALL my value was, he appreciated it. If I were selling, he WOULD pay for it. (and then I would have to provide more value....and a business service)

Trust = Money
If I had clicked my Fastlane 'ARM' button 'ACTIVE' on the Fastlane missile delivery system, I'll have a sale locked on. But I decided not to. I was only scouting on Quora, so stick to the plan.

There are many more UNSCRIPTED things I could come up with. What's yours?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

There are many more UNSCRIPTED things I could come up with. What's yours?

Writing a 432 page non-fiction business book whose length was determined by what was needed to be said, versus what the appropriate size is for a non-fiction book.

Writing a 432 page non-fiction business book whose sole purpose is to open eyes and change lives, not to enlarge income streams and fatten sales funnels.

 

[ZF Lee]

I'll add a few more:

SCRIPTED: Just 'going by' to survive by merely 'showing up' at your classes, jobs, businesses. You just fake work, do the bare things that will keep you not fired.

Trust me, it's stupid to fake work and do the bare necessity. I've done it before in leadership positions at school (thankfully not now in my Fastlane!) and it sucked. Crap work with no soul, that doesn't provide meaningful value of any kind, kills you as fast as cancer.

UNSCRIPTED : Don't just show up. ACT UP.
I was a social introvert. I couldn't even order a cup of coffee in a cafe if I wanted to.
Serious!

My only friends were the friends of my brother's...who fortunately studied in the same class in high school.
Then what changed me? What made me break out of my comfort zone, and stop being a social recluse?
PROBLEMS.

My high school had tons of problems:
'Our club leaders are unqualified!'

'The magazine writers do shoddy articles!'

'Our next event needs more manpower...but nobody wants to volunteer.'

I hated seeing problems like that which were degrading our student experience. A school with a ton of unsolved problems is like having a business running at a loss. So even though I was afraid, grossly unqualified, and a coward of a kid, I threw myself into things. I wanted those problems to go away. Magical things happened:

-I got promoted to leadership positions faster than my friends
-I got into camps reserved for the more 'talented' teens.
-I learned loads of new skills, skills which have made my Fastlane path smoother.
-I extended my network 10x. I was communicating and meeting with other school club chapters on a daily basis, discussing numerous events.

And I was no longer some scared shivering introvert!

You see, if money is not your concern, or if you don't have a business yet, the Fastlane or UNSCRIPTED can still work for you! Now to think of it, I had found the Fastlane long ago....but I didn't realise it well enough to put a name on it. It's all about solving problems as efficiently as you can get, providing value all the way. Not easy, but it's meaningful.

Writing a 432 page non-fiction business book whose length was determined by what was needed to be said, versus what the appropriate size is for a non-fiction book.

Writing a 432 page non-fiction business book whose sole purpose is to open eyes and change lives, not to enlarge income streams and fatten sales funnels.

I think no one looks at size anymore. Non-fiction biographies and business books like Richard Branson's Loosing my Virginity, Jobs, and my recent read, One Man's View of the World by Lee Kuan Yew, the late Prime Minister of Singapore (good read for international relations, trade, global perspective of the future) are probably bigger, but packed with tons of content.

As long as the cake is sweet, wholesome and hearty, I think people will keep chewing on it, no matter how big it is.

If gurus or money chasers want to continue to flog the book-horse for more income, they'll have a hard time at it. Just recently, I checked back some of the gurus' books on Amazon, and a new plethora of 1-star customer reviews had slammed them anew....game over

Which reminds me of this:
SCRIPTED: Provide just the bare essential of content marketing...freebies like free e-books five pages long that is about as valuable as a dog's fart, free reports that are plagiarized from another blogger or forum, expired deal tickets, fluff sales talks. Make a Wordpress blog with three posts that can be written by a 10-year-old kid.

UNSCRIPTED : Even though the content marketing (articles, books, reports) may or may not bring in sales, write DAMN GOOD shit which will change readers' businesses, increase their gains and inspire them! TFLF is a good example. There's GOLD and NOTABLE threads here. SAMPLE pages for UNSCRIPTED and TMF .

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Some business forums don't even organize their best materials properly....I won't name them.