The Mindful Creator | I talk about mindset, creativity, & content writing | Building The Mindful Creation Blueprint

I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Five and a half years ago, my life was going the other way...

I was: 

🔹Drinking every day
🔹Running from myself

And one night alcohol took my right eye in a freak accident

That was my wake-up call.

I had two choices: 

1. Keep spiraling downwards (and potentially die) 
2. Rebuild myself

I chose to rebuild.

I got sober. 

Which forced me to face the sides of myself I’d been running from. 

And in the process, I discovered something most people never realize...

Your identity shapes your whole reality. 

Who you believe you are determines what you're capable of creating. 

That lesson became the foundation of everything I do now.

When I started my consulting business...

I was in college studying audio engineering.

Just a normal guy who had to figure it out from scratch.

Since then... 

I built my consulting business to six figures organically on LinkedIn.

And I've watched my clients break through the same walls I had broken through in my own life.

Today, my mission is simple:

To help established leaders and creatives get to $20K/m by doing the inner work combined with the business work.

Because I know what it feels like to lose everything.

And I also know what it takes to build yourself back stronger.

Darion Rae

7 years ago I had my right eye removed after a drunk accident.

6 years ago I lost my job, my place, and my girlfriend because I was drinking everyday.

5 years ago I got sober and turned my life around.

Today I’ve generated almost half a million for myself and clients over the last 2 years using LinkedIn…

And I’m writing this from Medellin where I’ve been for the last 3 months working from my laptop. 

The road here wasn’t smooth (actually it was bumpier than anything)…

But now I get to:

🔹Travel the world
🔹Decide when I work and what I work on
🔹Make ‘internet money’ (as the kids would say)
🔹Pursue what I’m interested and curious about
🔹Find pleasure and happiness in the little things

All because I chose to bet on myself, start an online business even though it was scary, and not give up until I started winning. 

People love to tell you what you can and can’t do.

They also love to tell you that you can’t change. 

But you get to choose who you want to be. 

So show up every day as someone you’re proud of…

And make the story cool.

60+ 1:1 Clients Served | Helping solopreneurs build 6-figure service businesses on LinkedIn

Sales Navigator trying so hard to get me back it's even telling me Tony Robbins is a potential lead haha

One of my clients has a hard to deal with client of her own.

Here’s how we handled it…

She told me on a call that one of her clients keeps responding to her messages later than agreed upon and also pays her invoices late every month. 

So 2 weeks ago, I got her to send her client an email.

I won’t tell you what the email said exactly.

But let’s just say it demanded respect from her client in a polite way.

(Most solopreneurs are afraid to do this because they fear they’ll lose the client)

Here’s what happened next…

Her client apologized, signed up to an automated subscription (no more late invoices), and agreed to respond within 24 hours as their contract stated. 

She was shocked but obviously happy.

I told her…

You have to set expectations with your clients and then hold that standard.

If not… they’ll walk all over you.

I didn’t start in the online space with authority or expertise.

Nobody did.

You build sh*t offline, keep stacking proof.

Share your wins (and losses) publicly. 

Then and only then will your credibility and status start to rise.

People will doubt and judge you, but you need to keep delusional self-belief…

Because you can’t let not having a bunch of authority yet be the reason you don’t keep building.

--

🔷 I created a 3-day mini course breaking down The LinkedIn Acquisition Triangle that I’ve used for me and my clients to generate almost half a million on LinkedIn.

You get instant access to it when you join my free Skool community, Identity & Income Breakers. Find us here: https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

Be bold.

Speak your truths.

Being too agreeable and aiming for broad engagement stops you from sharing your own opinions on topics. 

This forces you into the same broad vanilla content that’s all over LinkedIn right now.

Do this right…

And you’ll magnetize your people.

--

🔷 I created a 3-day mini course breaking down The LinkedIn Acquisition Triangle that I’ve used for me and my clients to generate almost half a million on LinkedIn.

You get instant access to it when you join my free Skool community, Identity & Income Breakers. Find us here: https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

I hit my first $5K month with less than 5K followers. 

I also went on to hit my first $10K month with less than 7K followers. 

Proving to me once again the dirty little secret most LinkedIn gurus don’t want you to know (because you’d stop liking and commenting on their posts so much)

→ You want your dream clients to respect you more than they like you. 

You’ll grow slower.

You definitely won’t be ‘LinkedIn famous’.

But you’ll actually make money here.

--

🔷 I created a training breaking down my LinkedIn Acquisition Triangle that I’ve used for me and my clients to generate almost half a million on LinkedIn.

It’s inside my free Skool community, Identity & Income Breakers. You can join here: https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

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Founder

Co-Founder

Meaning comes from progress.

When you're moving towards something you've decided is important to you...

Your mind has something to focus on.

This removes distractions and gives significance and meaning to your life.

I used to be an engagement junkie on LinkedIn 2.5 years ago.

Here’s what I mean…

I thought success on LinkedIn meant likes, comments, and impressions. 

So what I did was find top performing posts, then write them out by hand on a piece of paper. 

Then I would look at the structure, flow, and rhythm, and write my own post on a different topic following it to the letter (down to the same number of words per sentence). 

It got me engagement, but never any clients. 

At first I thought I was winning because my follower count was growing…

But after almost 5 months I still didn’t land a single client. I was frustrated. 

It wasn’t until I learned about targeted content that everything shifted for me.

I started writing to build trust and authority with the people I could help only (no more broad generic posts). 

2 months later I hit my first $5K month… then a few months after that my first $10K.

All from this one shift. 

Look if you’re here to get some LinkedIn fame and some likes, more power to you. We all have different goals. 

But if you’re here to actually magnetize and land clients (and currently aren’t)… 

Maybe it’s time to switch your approach.


---

🔷PS. I’m doing a live deep dive into writing targeted content this Thursday inside my private Skool community.

I’ll be teaching the same strategy me and my clients have used to generate almost a half a million dollars on LinkedIn over the last 2 years. 

You can join us free here → https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

I’ll be doing some Q&A + content audits for people who are live on the call… so don’t miss out.

2 years I ago I joined my first coaching program.

Here’s what surprises most people…

The guy who ran it didn’t have a huge following (around 10K subs).

When I found him on YouTube, he wasn’t famous.

And his videos weren’t high production, they were just him talking into the camera. 

But I still paid him $7K anyways. 

Here’s why…

I knew he could help me grow my coaching/consulting biz. 

He had the client proof. He had the authority. He had done it himself. 

And his content was relevant to where I was at and what I was struggling with. 

In other words, he knew his niche inside and out. 

Why does this matter to you? 

Because if you want to actually make money from LinkedIn…

The same rule applies. 

Stop trying to be LinkedIn famous and start aiming to be niche famous.

--

🔷 I created a training breaking down The LinkedIn Acquisition Triangle that I’ve used for me and my clients to generate almost half a million on LinkedIn.

You get instant access to it when you join my free Skool community, Identity & Income Breakers. Find us here: https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

The number 1 reason solopreneur’s content fails:

They focus on engagement, not relevance. 

🔹Chasing viral topics/trends
🔹Writing for everyone instead of who they help
🔹Checking how many likes they got before ‘who’ actually liked it

All this creates is empty numbers with no leads. 

Here's the switch I made:

Went deep on the person I help (their fears, frustrations, desires) → Created content for them (not just teaching, but leading from experience) → Wrote as if I was speaking to them 1:1 → Saw what they resonate most with (then did more of it) → Repeat

Stop trying to go viral and write for everyone (if you want to magnetize potential clients)

Start writing for the people you want to work with. 

Most content here looks this same, this is how you stand out from everyone else.

--

🔷PS. I’m doing a deep dive tomorrow on how to write targeted content inside my free Skool community.

If you’re a solopreneur and your content isn’t attracting the right people (or anyone)… you have to be there. You can join us here → https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

PPS. I’m doing a Q&A and real time content audits at the end for a few people who show up live… so don’t wait and sign up now.

After working with 60+ solopreneurs 1:1, 

Here’s the biggest mistake they all make on LinkedIn…

→ Trying to be liked by everyone

Instead of:

🔹Writing targeted content relevant to the people they help
🔹Standing up against their dream client's injustices and enemies
🔹Engaging with potential clients and building relationships with them

They:

🔹Write broad generic content to get empty engagement
🔹Never have bold stances or opinions on topics in their niche
🔹Spend their time on big creators’ posts hoping to get a response (and when they do it’s usually a VA)

The goal here isn’t just to magnetize your dream clients…

It’s also to repel people who aren’t. 

Authority with the right people > being liked by everyone

--

🔷 I created a training breaking down The LinkedIn Acquisition Triangle that I’ve used for me and my clients to generate almost half a million on LinkedIn.

You get instant access to it when you join my free Skool community, Identity & Income Breakers. Find us here: https://lnkd.in/dNFDt2yC

The most powerful sales tool I own isn't a piece of software.

It’s relationships…

One of my clients followed me for 8 months before he decided to work with me.

Another one was on my email list for 3 months before she joined my program. 

The first coaching program I ever joined was from a guy I was following and consuming on YouTube for 5 months before I booked a call with him.

The point → Nurture more.

Everyone is going for a quick sale, a connect and pitch, cold outreach…

With no trust and no relationship. 

This is the wrong game. 

Instead… (I feel crazy for even saying these because it’s common sense)… get to know people. Get them to know you. Show them you care and understand them.

It’ll get you a lot more work than cold outreach, and your positioning will be 100X stronger. 

Nowadays with automation and spam rampant everywhere…

This is your competitive advantage.

“Over 1 million impressions! Can you believe it only led to 1 newsletter sign up and 0 dollars?!”

This is what the ghostwriting agency owner said to us on the writing team after a post went viral on Twitter. 

Here’s what’s shocking… this is not uncommon. Back when I was ghostwriting… 

I saw this a lot. 

Everyone aiming to get likes and impressions (the vanity metrics).

All which led to nearly no clients signed which means…

No money. 

This showed me firsthand why being respected online by your niche is FAR more important than being liked.

---

🔷 If you're struggling to write content that feels aligned with you while still attracting your dream clients on LinkedIn...

I ran a workshop teaching my 6-figure content system & strategy.

Catch the free recording here:

https://lnkd.in/eUqPr7vK

Most solopreneurs approach content wrong. 

They write broad to get engagement, but struggle to magnetize clients. 

That same time you spend writing for likes and impressions you could be spending on building authority and influence. 

(The type of authority & influence that brings clients to you instead of you chasing them)

Because the longer you stay stuck in the engagement trap…

The longer you’ll struggle to consistently attract clients. 

One of the core pillars I teach my clients on how to magnetize is → targeted content. 

The goal is to write content that resonates with the right people (and repel the wrong people).

This is how you squeeze the most dollars out of the time you spend each week writing content. 

I made this shift myself just over 2 years ago…

And it led to my first $10K month from LinkedIn. 

My client Abby went from 0 clients to working with 5 just from writing targeted content. 

The trick is it has to be done right. 

Which is why this Thursday at 1PM CDT I’m doing a live deep dive on targeted content inside my private Skool group.  

I’m also going to do a Q&A at the end + some content audits for people who are there on the call. 

Just comment ‘TARGETED’ below and I’ll send you the calendar invite (it’s free to join).

🔷PS. I also put together a ‘targeted content’ checklist + a swipe file with examples from me and my clients for you to reference and use as frameworks.

Yours to keep if you show up live.

Graduate corporate life for entrepreneurial freedom — without jeopardizing your income or family 💚 | Pod: UncageYourself.FM 🎧

You make great money... and you're suffocating.



I coach Directors, VPs, and Executives through Corporate Graduation®: the transition from Corporate Dependent to Corporate Optional — in one year.



Whether you're still inside corporate or recently out, if you've spent 15-25 years building career capital, you're probably running some version of this:



1) Sunday nights feel heavier than they should.

2) You keep starting things and stopping.

3) Family and health get whatever's left.

4) You're going through the motions and no one can tell.

5) You've been doing the math in your head for months.



That was me.

Divorced. Burnt out. 

Going dark inside a career everyone envied.



So I got to work:



I made my employer my investor.

Compressed the job.

Built a founder-grade business.

Graduated corporate for good.



171+ Directors, VPs, and Executives have done the same.

The methodology: Space → Self → System.



1) SPACE: compresses corporate and clears the conditions.

2) SELF: recodes the identity underneath.

3) SYSTEM: deploys your career capital into a founder-grade business.



Skip a step, and you replicate the cage with a different name on the door.



What we do together:



✅ Compress your corporate role to 20 hours/week

✅ Package your career capital into proprietary IP

✅ Build a founder-grade business around who you are

✅ Install founder identity, not someday — now

✅ Exit with runway, not regret



Ex-BCG. 4x dad.



This is the work I was built for.



START HERE:

go.corporategraduation.com

Matt Doan

1 week of founder growth = 5 years of corporate growth.

Here's what just happened for me:

(Save this)

Last week, New Media Summit in Austin with 500+ builders. This week, a 3-day intensive mastermind with some of the most badass founders around the world.

Back to back. Intense. I'm drained.

→ In corporate, growth is slow. Incremental. Safe.
→ Same room, same conversations, same container.
→ You don't notice it b/c environment never changes.

One week in the right rooms reoriented how I think, build, and move. That compression becomes normal when you design your life around it.

If you're still inside corporate making great money but feeling the pull toward something more, these are the things nobody tells you about the other side.

5 things worth sitting with:

---

1) Your TOP job as a founder is content.

Not sales calls. Not funnels. Content.

Every hour on a great YouTube video, podcast, or Substack essay pays you back for months (or years). Builds trust with people you'll never meet... until they're ready to buy. 

100X ROI. Nothing in corporate compounds like this.


2) Nobody cares about you. Just their transformation.

I walked the booths at the summit. Companies winning had names like selfpublishing.com, The Scalable Company, and GrowLetter. Crystal clear outcomes. Zero "I help X do Y" language.

That's consultant energy. One-man band.

Category design means framing, naming, and claiming your own space. Shine the light on the category, not yourself (see Category Pirates).


3) Sales is hard when marketing is weak.
Marketing is weak when positioning sucks.

Every founder I met who struggled with sales had the same root cause two levels up.

Vague, safe, and generic positioning.

When positioning is sharp, marketing writes itself. When marketing works (which should be 80% of your days), sales becomes enrollment, not a pitch.


4) People don't haggle anymore. They binge and decide.

They want to experience your thinking through long-form content. YouTube, podcast, Substack. Non-negotiables, no matter your business type.

Buying decisions happen before anyone books a call.


5) When you see a window, throw a brick through it.

(Because windows close.)

Go pro. Not "I'll start when I'm ready."

The corporate →  founder shift means someone saw an opening and went all in. They know their audience intimately. They produce at volume. They treat content like a pro athlete treats training.

My positioning with Corporate Graduation® is locked down (legally, even). Category claimed. Now it's building a trust-building marketing machine — YouTube at the core, with podcast and Substack, all feeding one engine.

I'm going pro in marketing.

---

If you're reading this from inside corporate, leaning toward something more, you're not going to figure it out in your current room. Or at your current pace.

Change the room.
Build the machine.
Go pro.

PS - This is the message you needed to hear.

Corporate Graduation® Founder | Directors & VPs → Founder in ONE Year | 173 Graduates | Ex-BCG | go.corporategraduation.com

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The Battle

Darion Rae

Matt Doan

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Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Darion Rae's LinkedIn Performance

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