2020 was a make-or-break year.
I talk to people about 2020 and you will hear stories like, “That’s the year I switched jobs,” or “That’s when I began my career,” or even “That’s the year I found Jesus.”
I feel that. Something shifted in the world.
And something shifted in me.
That was the year I decided to build online.
My classroom got shut down. Public schools were in chaos. We were sent home with no plans. Just vibes.
I remember sitting there watching the news thinking, this is insane.
And I had a simple thought:
If the world is going to be this ridiculous, I’m going to create my own.
So in May of 2020 I started The Art of Purpose on Twitter.
I had no plan I literally just decided I was going to post every single day for a year. But I was going to go all in with this… and when I mean all in I really mean all in.
And I meant it with almost a borderline psychotic commitment level.
Ultra focus. The kind of focus that makes normal people uncomfortable.
That one decision and level of commitment changed my entire life changed my entire life.
And here's how it can change yours…
In this article I'm going to break down exactly how I did it in one year, step by step, so you can do the same and change your life in 365 days.
Month One: Make a Commitment
At first I had no clue what I was doing.
I just knew I was going to show up every day.
Post my ideas. Post my thoughts. Post what I loved. Art. Faith. Culture. Masculinity. Purpose. The stuff that actually changed my life. I figured at this chaotic time there were other people that could benefit from my past experience.
One thing I've learned as a teacher is that most people don’t fail because they lack talent.
They fail because they never commit.
They “experiment.” They “see how it goes.”
You don’t change your life by dipping your toe in.
You change your life by deciding that for 365 days, this IS YOUR NEW IDENTITY.
And then you just make it happen…
Month Two: Burn the Ships
I remember in grad school reading about Admiral James Stockdale. He survived seven and a half years as a POW in Vietnam. Tortured. Beaten. Isolated. Years in solitary confinement.
He once said something that burned into my brain:
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.”
Stockdale said the optimists were the ones who broke first. The guys who kept saying, “We’ll be out by Christmas,” and then Christmas came and went.
That’s the mindset.
Around month two is when doubt hits. You start thinking, maybe this is dumb. Maybe I should focus on something else. Maybe I should go back to the old version of me.
That’s the test.
If you keep one foot in the old life, you’ll crawl back.
If you decide this is your world now, you adapt to it. You master it.
BURN THE SHIPS
Month Three: Make Friends
Now that there is no exit you need to make your new realities as enjoyable as possible.
This is the secret sauce to succeeding at anything: make friends.
So around month three I started DMing other small creators online. I figured those guys in the same position would want to be friends first. Other guys posting every day. Other rebels trying to carve out space online.
It wound up connecting me with some of the biggest names out there (no names dropped here), all starting from scratch together. We’d hop in group chats, share ideas, crack jokes, and have a good time.
Other people start to pick upon the energy that energy. And because of that my writing was able to get some kind of special flair and was able to stands out from the noise.
Even now, I wake up with ONE GOAL: have as much fun as possible
Usually it's with my audience or with my clients or with my tribe.
That’s why I never miss a day. Because if I do I feel like I'm missing out.
Month Four: Break Your Old Identity
By month four, I crossed 10,000 followers which felt huge back in 2020.
I had a fan base messaging me regularly; it was surreal.
But this is when the past starts tugging at you. I remember one night lying in bed, thinking I’d delete everything because work was calling me back.
Woke up the next morning and realized that was the dumbest idea ever.
You see at this stage of the game your old past is going to try to visit you, you're allowed to hear it but you're not allowed to obey it.
Because at some point on your journey if you want to change your life, you have to stop being loyal to the old version of you.
Months Five and Six: Make it TANGIBLE
At this point, you’ve got to cement your spot as an expert in your field sooner than you are comfortable doing.
I know some people might think this is crazy trying to position yourself as an expert in 6 months but let's be real if you've been psychotically going after ANYTHING for half of year you should know much much much more than the average man.
This is where you just take all of your notes and put it together.
And here's another misconception…
You creating the great work makes you the expert.
Take all the your notes, lessons, and skills you’ve stacked up so far and turn them into something tangible. A manifesto, a course, whatever fits.
For me, I bundled my EVERYTHING I learned into the course “Create 24/7”
That course went on to sell nearly THREE thousand copies.
But it wasn’t magic. It was just six months of obsession packaged clearly.
So if you want your breakthrough year, you need to build something real.
A manifesto. A book. A course. A system.
Something that plants a flag.
Months Seven and Eight: Seek Brutal Feedback
When you publish something real, don’t hide from criticism.
You want people telling you what they loved, what sucked, all of it.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Constantly seek criticism. A well thought out critique of whatever you’re doing is as valuable as gold.” - Elon Musk
Most people crave praise. LEGENDS want feedback.
But here's an important caveat…
Don’t grab random opinions; seek it from invested folks. Such as your trusted friends, your inner circle, the ones in the trenches with you. Honest, raw input.
If you nail this, whatever you’ve built over the past months will level up with you.
Months 9-10: Create an Infrastructure
Build the runway that lets you take off and never look back.
I was getting tons of positive feedback on “Create 24/7,” with people begging for more. So, I launched my community, the Masterclass Community at this point.
I knew that by launching this community and by having it be successful that I would never have to or want to go back to my previous life.
MC is now hitting its 5th anniversary as the longest-running, best social media community in the WORLD. This is all because there was no skimping, no corners cut. An absolutely no chasing quick bucks.
If you want to have permanent change in life you need to build some kind of structure around you that's going to allow us you to be supported for the next decade (minimum).
Make it a place you’d want to hang out in forever.
This infrastructure locks in your progress for the long haul.
Months 11-12: Retire and Go Full-time
If you’ve followed every step, poured your heart and soul, burned the boats, made friends, dropped your great work, and built the infrastructure you’ve outworked everyone else… then this is the best part because you're going to reap the rewards.
By the end of my first year obsessively chasing my goals I had a huge online audience, satisfied customers, income, and community.
So I retired from teaching and never look back.
You can learn from my story…
But here's the honest truth in a lesson for you:
Changing your life in 365 days requires unreasonable level commitment.
Borderline obsessive focus. You may even say psychotic.
Because that level is what makes change possible.
If you pull it off, your life changes forever.
If not, maybe you just didn’t want it bad enough.
- Dino Anthony
