I was listening to a podcast the other day. I think it was an interview with Alex Hormozi, and they were discussing the concept of “skill stacking.” The idea is that learning any one skill has inherent value and increases your potential to earn greater income, but learning more will exponentially increase your potential output. Basically, 1 + 1 = 3. They gave several examples, and I think one of them was writing a book, getting it published, and then marketing it online. Knowing how to do any one of those things is a valuable skill that you can use to generate income, but knowing all 3 could unlock much higher potential overall.

While on that topic, they pointed out that the fastest way to learn a skill is to simply attempt it. Alex said he put off learning how to build a website for years because he “wasn’t a tech guy,” and then one day admitted to himself that he was smart enough to learn it and was just being lazy about it. He set aside a whole day to learn how to build websites, and ended up learning at least 80% of what he needed to know in about 4 hours.

All of that was pretty fascinating, but then they said the thing that hit me like a ton of bricks: Anybody can learn how to self-publish an ebook in less than an hour, and they could start by just uploading a one-page PDF to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (or KDP for short) to learn the process and get over the fear of starting. I looked into this a little more closely and learned that the same exact platform will publish actual paperback and hardcover copies of your book as well, not to mention the audio version if you make it.

This blew my mind because I had always thought you needed some kind of publishing deal with an established company to write a book and get it out into the world. It turns out that Amazon has made this super easy for anyone to do.

Lights started turning on in my head. I was getting all kinds of big ideas, but I didn’t want the energy to fizzle out before I actually accomplished something. I scoured through some Google docs until I found a script outline for a potential YouTube video I never made. It was called “5 Things I Wish I Knew In My 20’s,” and I thought, that’ll do.

The goal here was to learn how to publish an ebook by uploading something short. What started out as two pages ended up as a little over forty in a matter of days. I used small pockets of time to complete more and more of the thing. I watched videos on how to format the document for paperback vs ebook. I learned how to make a cover on Canva. I learned how to make an email list that my friends and family can subscribe to for updates on when I’ll release it. There’s still a few steps left in the process, and I’m intentionally leaving some things out of the equation this go-around or I’ll never get it done. But I do feel like I’m learning a lot in the process.

I’m stacking all of these skills, and can’t wait to see what I might do next with them.

-woodrow