The Greek Way to Be a Creator

It’s my third year in a row spending extended time in Greece, so I decided to learn Greek.

While it’s horribly frustrating compared to easy languages like Spanish or French (I almost gave up Greek several times), it has tons of fascinating curiosities when it comes to word meaning.

I never fail to share these juicy tidbits with my girlfriend who, at this point, can’t help but roll her eyes at all my captivating linguistic findings.

Today it’s your turn to suffer!

And bear with me. It does make sense for creators. It’s not just an excuse for me to be a language geek today (really).

In modern Greek, the word for “explain” is “εξηγώ” (“exigo”). It comes from the Ancient Greek verb “ἐξηγέομαι” which we can break down as:

ἐκ/εξ- = out, out of

ἡγέομαι = to lead, guide

In a way, the Greek language says that explaining something means leading someone out. Out of what?

Do You Lead Out?

The world is a confusing place. For any problem we may have, there are countless paths we can take to solve it.

Your fans are no different.

They’re confused which tax rebates they can apply for, lost in the maze of never-ending policy changes.

They’re distracted by shiny objects, and unsure which business strategy is really feasible long-term.

They’re discombobulated (I always wanted to use this funny word) because Greek is so different from Spanish and French and they want someone to hold their hands as they brave Greek cases, genders, and verb aspects.

AI can provide information and maybe even suggest the “best” way.

But that’s where its role stops. It gives you information but it doesn’t actively lead out.

Out of what?

Out of confusion into understanding.

Out of fear into courage.

Out of inaction into action.

And note that these mental states can come simultaneously or reappear throughout your follower’s journey. As a result, a human creator in these AI times needs to offer a continuous guiding presence.

Coaches actively lead their clients one-on-one toward results but creators who don’t offer coaching services can do that, too.

How? Through these three types of emails.

1. Just do what I say

Each of us is sometimes a leader and sometimes a follower. As a creator, your job falls squarely into the “leader” field.

Leaders make our lives easier. Instead of deciding ourselves, we can delegate that to someone else and follow their lead (pardon the pun).

Be that person to your subscribers. Tell them exactly what to do. Don’t be wishy-washy like AI. Give a clear process with confidence. That will boost your subscribers’ confidence, too, and help them take action.

Some time ago I became interested in rope flow, a relatively recent movement practice that promotes spine and shoulder flexibility and health (among other benefits).

There’s a variety of videos on YouTube showing how to do it.

But leading me out of confusion on how to actually progress? That’s much more rare.

Fitness creator Nsima Inyang does exactly that in his free rope flow course which he offers through his Skool community.

Through each lesson, he guides me out of confusion into more and more understanding. Because of that, I trust him even more now. Guess who got my money for the paid course when I finished his beginner one.

2. Look how others did it

Case studies, testimonials, even your own experience. We can have all the information in the world but it will often be a story that will finally make things click for your subscribers or inspire them to take action.

Case studies not only inspire but also sell proof that you know what you’re doing. If you don’t have case studies, rely on your own experiences or find other people who (even if they don’t know you) follow the same process that you recommend.

Vary your stories as much as you can.

To lead one person out you may need a story of a 25-year-old single woman living in a big city. But to lead another person out, you may need a story of a 60-year-old widower living in the countryside, a burned-out 40-year-old executive on sick leave, or an entire family that followed your advice and changed their lives.

3. “What you’re feeling is completely valid”

We don’t actively choose to feel incapable or be afraid. It’s completely valid to feel powerless.

Instead of scolding your subscribers, write an email in which you acknowledge their issues and help work through these problems first.

And this doesn’t have to be a pretend therapy session. Let’s go through some examples.

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1. If you appeal to busy managers, they may have not followed your tax strategy advice because they’re too overwhelmed micromanaging their employees.

Instead of giving them yet another tip on how to save on taxes, help them reduce overwhelm first. Acknowledge their reality and work with it, like a fitness coach who adapts to the needs of clients with varying fitness levels. Lead them out of the unproductive mental state and then toward their desired goals.

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2. If you help people reduce their back pain and they still haven’t taken any action because it just takes too much time, accept that excuse first.

Empathize with that mental state of being stuck in a vicious cycle of busyness. Help them figure out their schedules and see how they can make them more efficient. Only then provide ways to achieve some results regardless.

Maybe your easy 15-minute foam rolling session is still too much and you need to provide a 1-minute session instead.

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3. If you help people become artists and they still haven’t shipped anything yet because they’re afraid of harsh criticism, make them feel understood that it’s normal to be apprehensive.

Share your own stories of how afraid you were to publish your own works of art. Suggest how to take a tiny action to push the resistance back.

Work with the burning problem first. Focus on the shipping part later, when your fan discovers confidence to actually do that.

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Send each kind of email regularly to gently move your subscribers toward their desired future. Don’t leave them fending for themselves. Lead them out of the cave into the light.

All the best,

Martin

P.S. The goal of every email subscriber is to experience a metamorphosis. That’s Greek, too: μετά means after while μορφή means shape or form. In a way, your job as a creator is to shape your followers into a new, better form. You’re kind of an ancient Greek god to them!