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🎥  Dan Koe: The 2 Hour Morning Routine (That Has Made Me $10 Million)

The $10 Million Morning Routine: 30 Minutes Walking + 90 Minutes Writing

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🎥  Dan Koe: The 2 Hour Morning Routine (That Has Made Me $10 Million)

VIDEO INFORMATION

The $10 Million Morning Routine: 30 Minutes Walking + 90 Minutes Writing
Dan Koe
Approximately 25 minutes


HOOK

A simple morning routine of 30 minutes walking followed by 90 minutes writing has generated over $10 million by leveraging two high-leverage activities that build digital assets and attract an audience.


ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

A powerful morning routine that builds scalable income through digital assets prioritizes a 30 min walk for ideation and research, followed by a 90 min writing session to develop skills and cultivate an audience.


SUMMARY

This video presents a deceptively simple yet powerful morning routine that has generated over $10 million for the creator: 30 minutes of walking followed by 90 minutes of writing. The creator explains that this routine works because it focuses on high-leverage activities that build digital assets rather than filling mornings with random, unproductive habits.

The video begins with the creator establishing credibility by mentioning the $10 million result, not to boast but to demonstrate what's possible with this approach. He explains that this routine has scaled his income from $10,000 to $100,000 to $1 million and finally to $10 million over five years, proving that income can increase without doing more work…a counterintuitive concept in a culture that values grinding.

The core philosophy presented is that humans are creators who can leverage available tools to solve problems and build solutions. The creator argues that writing is the most efficient morning habit because it combines learning, thinking, and earning—the three traits of highly successful people. Writing serves multiple purposes: it's a meditative practice, a way to clarify thinking, a method to document growth, and a mechanism to attract supporters.


The video explains why walking precedes writing in this routine. Walking provides low-friction movement that improves health markers, reduces stress, and creates uninterrupted thinking time. During walks, the creator listens to educational content and jots down ideas, which serves as the research phase for his writing. This approach ensures that when he sits down to write, he already has material to work with rather than facing a blank page.

The creator then breaks down his writing routine: 30 minutes for social media posts and 60 minutes for newsletter writing. He emphasizes that newsletters are particularly valuable because they represent direct access to an audience, serve as the foundation for all other content (which can be repurposed across platforms), and are the primary channel for promoting products or services.

A significant portion of the video addresses common objections and misconceptions. The creator explains that most people fail with writing because they don't understand the complete system. Instead, they focus only on creating content without mastering distribution or building products/services to monetize their audience. He emphasizes the importance of playing both the "shallow game" (social media for broad reach) and the "deep game" (newsletters for building trust).

The video concludes with practical advice on monetization, stressing that platform monetization features (like AdSense) are insufficient compared to creating and promoting your own products or services. The creator recommends aiming for $0.50 to $1 per follower per month as a metric for success.

Throughout the video, the creator emphasizes that this routine works because it's focused, efficient, and builds scalable assets rather than just trading time for money. He presents it as an antithetical approach to the complex morning routines popularized by others, arguing that simplicity and focus are more effective than complexity.


INSIGHTS

  1. The Leverage Principle: Income can scale without increasing work hours by focusing on high-leverage activities that build digital assets rather than trading time directly for money.
  2. Writing as Multitool: Writing simultaneously serves as a meditative practice, thinking exercise, skill developer, and audience builder; making it perhaps the most efficient morning habit possible.
  3. The Digital Asset Economy: The internet has created a new class of assets (media and code) that anyone can build without capital, connections, or credentials—leveling the playing field for wealth creation.
  4. The Shallow/Deep Game Strategy: Successful creators must play both the "shallow game" (social media for broad reach) and the "deep game" (newsletters for building trust) rather than focusing on just one.
  5. The Content Repurposing Multiplier: Creating one high-quality piece of content (a newsletter) and repurposing it across platforms is more effective than creating original content for each platform.
  6. The Monetization Myth: Platform monetization features (AdSense, etc.) generate minimal returns compared to creating and promoting your own products or services to an audience you've built.
  7. The Routine Efficiency Principle: The most effective routines aren't filled with countless habits but focus on a few high-impact activities that deliver multiple benefits simultaneously.
  8. The Audience-First Business Model: Building an audience through valuable content before creating products or services leads to more successful launches and sustainable income than creating products first.


FRAMEWORKS & MODELS

The Two-Hour Routine Framework

  • Components: 30 minutes of walking (ideation/research) + 90 minutes of writing (creation/distribution)
  • How it works: Walking generates ideas and content through research and thinking; writing transforms those ideas into digital assets that attract an audience and generate income
  • Evidence: The creator's progression from $10,000 to $10 million over five years using this exact routine
  • Significance: Provides a simple, focused alternative to complex morning routines that often lead to procrastination rather than productivity
  • Application: Implement by dedicating the first two hours of your day to these activities, using walking time for research/ideation and writing time for content creation

The Digital Asset Creation Model

  • Components: Idea generation, content creation, audience building, monetization
  • How it works: Ideas generated during walking are developed into written content, which attracts an audience; this audience can then be monetized through products, services, or other offerings
  • Evidence: The creator's success in building a business that generates significant income through digital assets rather than traditional employment
  • Significance: Demonstrates how anyone can build wealth in the digital economy without traditional advantages like capital or connections
  • Application: Focus on creating valuable content consistently, building an audience around that content, and then offering products/services that serve that audience's needs

The Content Distribution Ecosystem

  • Components: Newsletter (core content), social media (distribution), other platforms (repurposing)
  • How it works: Create one high-quality newsletter, then repurpose it as social media posts, YouTube scripts, and other platform-specific content
  • Evidence: The creator's newsletter analytics being double his YouTube analytics despite having 900,000 fewer subscribers
  • Significance: Maximizes the impact of each content creation session while ensuring consistent messaging across platforms
  • Application: Write one comprehensive newsletter weekly, then break it down into smaller pieces for social media and expand it into longer-form content for platforms like YouTube

The Monetization Hierarchy Framework

  • Components: Platform monetization (lowest return), affiliate marketing (medium return), own products/services (highest return)
  • How it works: Start with platform monetization for validation, quickly add affiliate offers, then develop and promote your own products or services
  • Evidence: The creator's comparison of making $300/month from Instagram's monetization features with 1.7 million followers versus significantly more from his own products
  • Significance: Provides a clear path for content creators to progress from low to high-income streams
  • Application: Aim for $0.50 to $1 per follower per month as a metric for success, focusing primarily on promoting your own offerings rather than relying on platform payouts


QUOTES

  1. "If nothing in your morning routine directly generates income, you're doing something wrong."
    • Context: Discussion about the purpose of morning routines
    • Significance: Challenges conventional wisdom about morning routines by emphasizing income generation as a primary objective
  2. "Your income can scale. Your income can increase without doing more work."
    • Context: Explanation of how the routine has led to increasing income over time
    • Significance: Presents a counterintuitive concept that challenges the cultural value placed on working longer hours
  3. "Writing is a meditative process. Writing is how you practice thinking. Writing is how you document your growth. Writing is how you attract supporters to your work."
    • Context: Explanation of why writing is central to the routine
    • Significance: Summarizes the multiple benefits of writing, positioning it as perhaps the most efficient morning habit possible
  4. "Ideas are the new oil. Digital media is the new real estate. Creators are the new interest-based education system."
    • Context: Description of the digital economy
    • Significance: Reframes traditional economic concepts for the digital age, highlighting the value of ideas and content creation
  5. "If you want to achieve any form of success, you need to strike a balance between art and business. You must care about what you do, but so must other people."
    • Context: Discussion about creating content that resonates with audiences
    • Significance: Emphasizes the need to balance personal expression with audience appeal for sustainable success
  6. "Newsletters only grow if they are physically placed in front of other people, and it is extremely unlikely that they will grow just because they're good."
    • Context: Explanation of why newsletters need promotion
    • Significance: Challenges the "if you build it, they will come" mentality, emphasizing the importance of distribution
  7. "I want to play the long game. And that's not for a lot of people. If you need cash and you need it fast, you can either get a job or you can study customer acquisition strategies for a service business."
    • Context: Conclusion about the routine's approach
    • Significance: Acknowledges that this approach requires patience and isn't suitable for those needing immediate income


HABITS

  1. Morning Walking Routine: Begin each day with a 30-minute walk, using this time for listening to educational content, generating ideas, and planning your writing. This combines physical activity with mental preparation.
  2. Structured Writing Session: Dedicate 90 minutes to writing each morning, divided between social media content (30 minutes) and newsletter writing (60 minutes). This creates a consistent output of valuable content.
  3. Content Repurposing System: Transform your core newsletter content into multiple formats for different platforms, maximizing the reach of each idea without creating entirely new content.
  4. Audience-First Promotion: Focus on building and nurturing your audience before creating products, then promote offerings primarily through your newsletter rather than direct social media sales pitches.
  5. Skill-Development Focus: Continuously study the mechanics of social media, marketing, and persuasion rather than just creating content. This ensures your content creation efforts are effective.
  6. Value-First Monetization: Promote products and services in a way that provides value first, building trust before making sales offers. This leads to higher conversion rates and better customer relationships.
  7. Simplicity in Routine: Resist the temptation to add numerous habits to your morning routine. Focus on the few high-impact activities that directly contribute to your goals.
  8. Long-Term Perspective: Approach your creative business with patience, understanding that sustainable income growth takes time. Avoid shortcuts that promise quick results but don't build lasting assets.


REFERENCES

  1. The Four Hour Workday: Book/concept referenced by the creator as background for understanding how income can scale without increased work hours.
  2. Substack: Newsletter platform mentioned by the creator as his preferred tool for publishing newsletters and building his audience.
  3. Perplexity: AI research tool mentioned by the creator as part of his research process during walks.
  4. Twitter/X: Social media platform where the creator began building his audience and developing his writing skills.
  5. YouTube: Video platform where the creator distributes content and mentions how his newsletter content gets repurposed into video scripts.
  6. Instagram: Social media platform mentioned by the creator as having low monetization returns despite high impression numbers.
  7. LinkedIn: Professional networking platform mentioned as one where the creator cross-posts content from other platforms.
  8. Click-funnels: Marketing platform referenced as an example of sales tactics the creator avoids in favor of a value-first approach.



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