Most aspiring writers, bloggers, influencers are confining themselves to the “tyranny of one.” They write only for themselves. It’s either about themselves or their thoughts. No wonder most writers run out of ideas so quickly.

But the problem lies not just with ideas. Ideas are worthless without proper execution and abundant if you look for them in the right place.

The problem lies with the motivation, reason, purpose, in other words, the “why” for writing. When you’re writing just for yourself, it’s easy to lose it.

The solution? Write for someone else.

Your Job Is To Serve

Growing up in post-Soviet Putin’s Russia, nobody taught me that. Nobody cares about serving other people. It’s a dog-eat-dog, I-win-you-lose type of society, where people care only about accumulating riches for themselves. They don’t know — yet — that when you give generously, you’ll receive back ten-fold.

What gives us a sense of purpose, meaning in the world? Serving others. Fulfilling our promises.

If you’re a freelancer or working full-time, your responsibilities are pretty straightforward. You serve a client, a company, someone.

It’s less obvious if you’re creative.

If you’re a writer, you serve your readers. If you were brave enough to call yourself a writer and make a promise, “Subscribe, and I’ll entertain you with my writing!” then, by all means, show up.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you serve your customers. You created this business to make a profit, of course, but money is made by providing something valuable for others. The more value you provide — either in quantity or with the use of leverage, the more you’ll be rewarded. Not just in business, but in life.

When you switch your attitude from “What will I get out of this?” to “What can I give, how can I serve?” you’ll see miracles happen. People will flock to you. Clients will pour in. Life will become better. You’ll be rewarded with attention, money, success.

The best things in life are found by not looking for them. And when you focus on the giving, the “taking” will take care of itself.

Start By Serving One

When you’re just starting out, starting is hard.

What should your first blog post be?

What should your MVP be?

What should you talk about on your first keynote?

Here’s a trick I use, I learned this from an old friend of mine, a TV producer. When she worked on helping me produce my first show for YouTube, she often told me, “Sergey, imagine that your best friend — whoever that is — is watching you. Do it for them.”

You don’t need everyone. Start by serving one, and not yourself.

If you can serve one, then you can serve others — people like them.

Now you have an audience.

Art Isn’t Created In a Void

Whatever you do, you’re doing it for other people. Nothing — not even art — is created in a vacuum — everything changes when you start doing it for someone else.

Shakespeare wrote for the masses. So did Tolstoy. So did Dickens. And Kafka. And Picasso. And Dali.

You can’t make something for nobody. You’re always creating something for someone else, even if it’s just for yourself.

I like the argument that the best place to start — is by starting with yourself. As Srinivas Rao says, “Start with an audience of one.”

In today’s connected world, you don’t have to change your art to be liked by the market; you can adapt the market to your tastes. That’s the foundation on which Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 true fans concept is built upon. The idea is — in theory — that if you like what you’re doing, then somebody else will like it too.

But there’s a downside to that argument. It’s the same downside as with focus groups.

There’s a big difference between assembling ten friends, asking them, “Are you going to buy this?” and actually asking for the money.

When you create for someone else, you take your art outside yourself. It starts living a life of its own. It starts being judged. It starts gaining whatever value it can.

That’s one of the reasons why I write all of my thoughts on Medium, and not — as I used to, for years — in my Evernote.

It’s not art until it’s shipped.

Solving The Motivation Problem

When you don’t have anyone to do it for, there’s no motivation. There’s no risk of failure because you’ll forgive yourself. And there’s no purpose, because of the very definition of what art is.

Seth Godin says,

“Art is a gift that changes the recipient.”

It’s a gift — in the sense that you haven’t been waiting for it, and it “changes the recipient”, meaning, there has to be one.

You can’t be the recipient of your own art. If that’s the case, you’re not creating art.

Any undertaking will become worthwhile if you do it for someone else. When you have people watching you, hoping, caring — that’s what motivates us.

That’s what keeps us going forward.

Knowing that I am reaching readers — that’s what keeps me forward.

And yes, I am mostly writing to myself — for myself.

But I am also writing for someone else.