Joe Patchell

Curated Marketer

Founder, Writer

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Currently building curatedmarketer.com to 10K newsletter subscribers.

Writer

Account Director at LeverBrands | Follow me for posts on Personal Branding, Career Growth & Personal Development | Subscribe to Building Leverage ☄️

Hi, I'm Thomas Pearce, Co-Founder @ LeverBrands.

Follow along if you want to see content about:

- Personal Branding
- Career Growth
- Personal Development

Thomas Pearce

One of the most underrated career skills:

Never stop learning.

I see many people stall because of the opposite.
They do stop learning, and they get a little too comfy.

The reality is...
If you aren't willing to get uncomfortable, you aren't going to grow.

That includes learning in your 5-9 and weekends.

Which can sound like a LOT to some people.
But to be honest, if it does, you aren't a high performer.

Don't expect great results without great effort.

1. Set delusional goals.
↳ In order to learn, you need to have goals first.
↳ Neuroscience says the more delusional the better!

2. Capture ideas in your Notes app.
↳ This has honestly changed everything for me.
↳ Take notes as they come to you, and expand on it later.

3. Take time for tiny reading sessions.
↳ In a spare 5-10 minutes, don't open Insta.
↳ Read a fic or non-fic book instead!

4. Mimic the very best.
↳ Look at someone who has achieved what you want to.
↳ Follow their blueprint and avoid their mistakes.

5. Utilise Repeat Exposure.
↳ You don't remember stuff you learned once.
↳ Repeat the learning and your brain will remember it.

6. Sacrifice your free time.
↳ I'm not saying don't have fun, not at all.
↳ But spending too much time on that limits growth.

The compound of all of these is incredible.

Lock the F in for a year every single day...
The person you'll look back at will be unrecognisable.

What's your favourite learning habit?
Share your value in the comments! ⬇️

♻️ Repost this to inspire your network.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more career content.

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P.S. If you're interested in learning about personal brand...

I have a free learning resource for you right here: https://lnkd.in/etevrBhi

It's a weekly newsletter read by 2,000+ legends.

Very few want to see you winning.

But the value of those that do is unparalleled. 

In my short career so far, 
(Although I keep saying that and I'm 26 now...)
I've learned an unfortunate truth:

The Spotlight Effect is very much real.
People aren't focused on you. They're focused on themselves.

They don't necessarily want to see you win.
These folks see life as a zero-sum game.

The thing is... you don't have to lose for me to win.

The most successful people, they just get that.
And therefore, are willing to give a helping hand!

I was surprised when years ago, with zero experience, just simply reaching out to people ahead of me for advice, they would *actually* help me.

Surrounding yourself with the right people is like a superpower.

Here's my advice for finding them:

1. Ask your friends or family who they know. 🧑‍🧑‍🧒
↳ If a family member happens to know somebody...
↳ That is actual stardust. It's the warmest of intros.

2. Connect with those one step ahead of you. ☄️
↳ Go on LinkedIn and search your ideal job role.
↳ Send them a connect request with a personalised message.

3. Get on networking calls weekly. 💻
↳ It might seem pointless at first.
↳ But meeting face-to-face makes you memorable.

They will think of you first for referrals. 

Next, you need to audit your network regularly. 

✅ Who supported you without chasing?
❌ Who downplayed your achievements?

✅ Who made that warm intro to a valuable person?
❌ Who gatekept someone of value in their circle?

✅ Who had uncomfortable conversations to help you grow?
❌ Who didn't challenge your excuses when you needed?

You honestly need to be kinda brutal with your network.

Because they contribute enormously to your 'environment.'

Which is a huuuuge factor in your career success.

So, who's lifting you up in your career?
Show your appreciation in the comments! ⬇️

♻️ Repost this to help those who need to hear it.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more career content.

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📌 We've built an awesome community of 2,000+ legends with Building Leverage.

It's our free weekly newsletter dedicated to personal branding.

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It has 5 video courses & 5 GPTs to help kick off your LinkedIn journey.

Co-Founder @ LeverBrands | Follow me for posts on Personal Branding & Career Growth | Subscribe to Building Leverage ☄️

I spent years striving for "perfection."

Honestly, that was my biggest mistake.

I was a classic serial overplanner.
Google Docs, Notion pages, Trello boards... 
I did it ALL. Relentlessly. 

Eventually, I realised something we all eventually realise.
If you don't make mistakes, you don't make progress.

In truth, big changes always comes with fear attached.

I think this is the biggest problem with education in 2026.

We're taught the theory, and occasionally practice.
But mistakes are discouraged, and they shouldn't be.

We're taught theory, and sometimes, practice.
But mistakes aren't actively encouraged. They should be.

Take it from me:

❌ I failed on LinkedIn for years... 
✅ Until 2024, I now have 92,615+ followers.

❌ I changed direction multiple times post-graduation...
✅ Now I've co-founded a ~£2m ARR startup inside 2 years.

❌ I used to be, quite frankly, a terrible leader.
✅ Now I feel more competent at leading and delegating.

I wouldn't have gotten to where I am without several errors!

If you have self-limiting beliefs or fear of failure...
You will not achieve the level of success you want.

At the end of each week, try this exercise:

1. Reflect on your week overall.
2. Write down 3 mistakes you made.
3. Create an action plan to fix the error.

Make mistakes and learn ma people 💪

What's a recent mistake you've made?
And how are you learning from it?

♻️ Repost to help others learn by doing.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more career content.

Visual credit to GrowthByVisuals on IG.

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📌 You CAN also learn by consuming the right content...

We've packaged all the information you need to know to start building a personal brand here: https://lnkd.in/eETgNu-N

It's a FREE course that has 5 video modules + 5 GPTs to help you get started. Enjoy!

"LinkedIn is dead in 2026." Yawn, it isn't.

You just need a different approach:

Thanks to Chris Donnelly for the epic sheet.

So many people post randomly and run out of steam.

But if you have a system for it...
It can legitimately change your life.

(I would know, it changed mine for sure!)

Chris made a video breaking down the changes in 2026 here 👇
https://lnkd.in/exygJjTi

But for a full written breakdown, read on:

1. Your North Star

You need one clear North Star for the next 90 days.

Ask yourself, what does success look like in 12 weeks?

2. The Positioning Triangle

Personal brands succeed when three things overlap:

1. Your expertise
2. A painful market problem
3. Your point of view

3. The Audience Clarity Map

There are only 3 groups you need to speak to:

- Buyers: The people who will pay you
- Aspirational followers: The people who amplify you
- Learners: Early-stage, curious, watching quietly

4. The Content OS

This is the perfect content system:

1. Teach - frameworks, tactics, step-by-step
2. Think - opinions, observations, contrarian takes
3. Build - behind-the-scenes, lessons, mistakes
4. Sell - results, stories, clear offers

5. The Attention Engine

Consistency requires a weekly execution system.

1. Idea Sourcing (60 minutes)
2. Batch Writing (2 hours)
3. Daily Engagement (15-20 minutes)
4. End-of-Week Review (20 minutes)

6. The Trust Ladder Framework

People buy from you because you've earned their trust based on:

1. Awareness
2. Relevance
3. Authority
4. Proof
5. Action

7. The Content Feedback Loop

Your audience will always tell you what to create next.

Each week, analyse:

- Your highest-performing post
- Your lowest-performing post
- Which topic resonated the most
- Which format could be repeated

8. The 3-Level Personal Brand Funnel

Your funnel should follow:

1. Top of Funnel: Content aimed at getting reach
2. Middle of Funnel: Deeper educational content
3. Bottom of Funnel: Proof and testimonials

9. The Growth Scorecard

You only need 5 metrics to know if your brand is performing:

- Number of views
- Follower growth
- Engagement rate
- Inbound leads
- Newsletter signups

Your personal brand can be a huge life advantage.
Or a complete waste of time.

The difference is having the right strategy.

Like I said, Chris recorded a great full breakdown video here: https://lnkd.in/exygJjTi

It's a new channel so go show some love.

♻️ Repost to share this with your network.
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📌 For further, weekly, personal brand education & systems...

Subscribe to our newsletter, Building Leverage: https://lnkd.in/gqBfBzvU

You will be sent a FREE LinkedIn Starter Pack by default.
5 video modules, 5 free GPTs, all ready for you.

Don't just "create" content anymore.

Build an always-on replacement. Here's how:

Absolute banger sheet by Josh S..
He's releasing incredible content at the moment!

You see, most people are still writing every post from scratch.

But those that are posting high-quality content, consistently...
They have an agent, handling research, drafts, and repurposing.

All before they've even had their first morning coffee.

Here's how to build your first AI content agent in 9 steps:

📋 Pick one content task

Research or repurposing, which one?
Write one sentence: given this input, the agent produces this output.

📍 Map it like a process

Break it down into 6-7 clear steps before you open any tool.
You decide what goes in... and what comes out!

🌱 Choose where it lives

LangChain, LangGraph, and CrewAI are great starting points.
Start simple and ramp up when you need to.

✔ Define inputs, outputs, and tools

Pick your input: a topic, URL, or a transcript.
Give it the exact output format you want in return.

📝 Write the job description

Your system prompt is basically the brain of the whole thing.
Include your role, boundaries, style, example of best posts...

💭 Add memory and context

Add recent posts, performance data, tone of voice, and ICP.
If it has no context, the output will be generic!

🛡️ Add guardrails

Always a human review before anything goes live.
Guardrails are what makes it safe to trust the agent.

⚙️ Build a simple interface

One input field. One run button.
If it takes effort to access, it won't get used.

🧪 Test on 5 real posts

Analyse the output compared to your own writing...
Use your human judgement to say if it's good enough!

Most people think their content is too personal to systemise. 

However, after a few months of posting, your voice is documented.
Then, it becomes a repeatable process.

But remember that you still have to use your brain folks!
This is a tool to help with execution, but not the thinking.

Will you be giving this a go?
Let me know in the comments.

♻️ Repost to help people stop doing content manually.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more like this.

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P.S. We give these type of guides in our newsletter, Building Leverage.

You can subscribe for free here: https://lnkd.in/gqBfBzvU

You will be joining 2,000+ people enjoying it weekly!

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Joe Patchell

Thomas Pearce

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The Battle

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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);}Thomas Pearce's LinkedIn Performance

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