Lessons

You aim at what you can see

What it is

A count of people you actually know who are one step ahead of you. Not famous people. Not people at the top.

Why it matters

Nobody in this position is short of ambition. They are short of examples. Maybe nobody near you has ever set a price. Or said a number out loud. Or been paid by a stranger. Then no route to those things is visible. And whatever the people around you reached becomes the thing you call realistic.

The method

Count only people you could message this month and expect a reply. One step ahead, not ten. Close enough that you could copy their route, and recent enough that their advice still holds.

Example

Salma counted honestly and wrote zero. Nobody she spoke to regularly had ever set their own price and been paid it. That is not a fault in her. She simply cannot see anybody doing it. One message a month starts to close that.