It's 1 a.m. on a Wednesday night. I'm laying on the sofa in the living room watching Chris Williamson's Podcast and heard something that caught my eye.

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Chris: "Have you heard me talking about The Lonely Chapter?"

Will: "No."

Chris: "It's a period in everybody's life where they start to do personal development or change and they begin to become so different that they no longer resonate or can relate to their old set of friends but they're not yet sufficiently developed or different that they've built their new set of friends and they kind of get stuck in this middle section this lonely chapter."

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This is how I felt when I writing online and building my personal brand.

The typical conversations my friends liked to have (girls, going out, movies, sports, designer clothes, luxury watches, etc) no longer interested me.

I stopped caring about what YouTubers did.

And slowly, I started speaking less in conversations and gatherings.

Every time I met up with my friends I just wanted to go back home, read about things I'm interested in, write about what I learned, and help those who wanted help.

And for a long time, it felt like I was alone and it sucked.

In movies, The Lonely Chapter is a 2-minute montage, but for you and I that could be 2 months, 2 years, or 2 decades.

But the worst part about it is you never know if it'll all be worth it.

You have no guarantees that you'll be successful. You don't even know if it even works.

You keep journaling, meditating, writing, lifting weights, walking, running, eating healthy, learning, etc.

But you're never certain about the outcome.

And when you read someone else's success story it feels like they had it all figured out. That they knew what they were doing all along and success was inevitable.

But that's never the case.

The truth is they were under constant chronic uncertainty. It's crippling.

I know for certain I couldn't handle it—there were times when I wanted to quit because of all of the doubt I had.

It got to a point where I got addicted to social media to deal with the Lonely Chapter.

Escapism

People like to talk negatively about escapism—for the most part, they're right.

33.1 million people are addicted to social media in the U.S. — Spending 8+ hours of screen time per day is nuts.

They're injecting themselves with quick dopamine hits whenever they feel bored—humans aren't designed to have dopamine syringes at the palm of their hands.

But for some social media is the only escape they have from their miserable reality.

DC Comics (those who created Batman and Superman) had their big break during the Great Depression.

Adults used to line up to buy their comics.

Wouldn't it have been better to spend whatever money they have left and the time they have to do something better to improve their lives?

Probably.

But their situation was so miserable that the only way for them to experience some sort of happiness was through those comics.

"Maybe for the next 5 minutes life wouldn't feel as bad", is what they were saying.

And if you're in the Lonely Chapter, sometimes you just want an escape from your reality and find hope.

Like when a bodybuilder is dieting down for a show, they're starving themselves to win, but none of their family or friends understands why they're doing it.

So when he watches Cbum (a 6x Mr. Oplympia champion) struggle when he's dieting down, he relates to the struggle that Cbum is going through and it gives him hope.

And for a lot of people that's the only thing they have, hope.

I remember a show I watched a few years ago that also stuck with me, a girl asked a guy (who wasn't doing so well financially) "Why do you want to buy a new TV and not a bed?"

"Because with a TV you can see other countries and experience new emotions, with a bed you can't, you're stuck in your reality" the man replied.

Social Media is A Magnet

I used X (Twitter) as a place for me to write my thoughts and what I'm reading and learning about

With time, as I got better at writing, I started meeting other people. People who were in a similar situation as I am and had similar goals.

Then I realized that with writing, you get to build an island that attracts other people, those who are in their Lonely Chapter. The type of people who want to improve their lives.

Because here's the thing:

Most people on social media are looking for someone to look up to.

So if you are on X (or any other platform), sharing your ideas, wins, losses, lessons, and stories, you become someone interesting.

They start following you—and the more successful you become, you start giving people hope that it's possible for them to change their lives for the better.

Because you get to attract people who are just like you. They share the same beliefs and viewpoints.

This is why I'm a huge fan of writing online, exploring your curiosities, and sharing you’re learning.

My beginning was hell, staying up late at night, skipping meals, doubting myself, and showing up every day, wondering why am I spending all this time writing online.

But last week I had a thread about caffeine and it went viral. I wrote it after reading a book chapter and thought it was interesting to write about.

Had I given up before that I wouldn't have seen that type of success.

So if you haven't started posting about what you find interesting, start.

At first, it'll feel like no one is listening or watching your content, but people are always searching for your content.

They just haven't found you.

Thank you for reading,

— Hussain

PS:

This is somewhat different than what I'm used to writing about (I was even debating if I should just delete it), so if you enjoyed reading it, let me know by replying to this email.

(I read and respond to every email I get).