I want to write a book. Indeed, I’ve wanted to write a book for a long time now, at least 3 to 4 years it’s re-surfaced as an idea. Somewhere I have a draft version of what I thought I wanted the book to be. Now I know that whatever that draft was, the timing wasn’t right, and it just wasn’t meant to be. This is an article about my thoughts today. It’s 06.31 am Wednesday 15 October. My daughter is listening to her storybook on a Yoto player and drawing, my son is polishing off a banana, having both of us just had a steak together. This is me creating, before I consume…

So why?

Why…?

Why would you put yourself through the obvious pain of writing a book? It’s simple really: I have something to say. A story to tell. A tale to recount. A set of ideas, experiences, and a vision, that is bubbling to the surface, it want’s to see the light of day. But why? Well, because I want to… Who is it for? Well not to sound pig-headed, as my mother might say, but it’s for me, it’s something I want to do, which alone is a good enough reason. Will others find it valuable? I think so. What’s for certain, that unless I put some time, effort, and energy into the idea, some action, then I will never find out. Action leads to clarity. Time will tell. The market will respond.

Sorry, I paused, my son needed some more banana…

So what’s this book about Jake? I hear you asking. Well, there’s a few angles, but first and foremost I believe that what I have experienced over the last decade, adopting a Bitcoin standard, is not only unique to me, but very relatable to others, and extremely powerful as an idea. What if we’ve solved the wealth problem? Actually solved it. Forever. Companies, as an inter-generational wealth transfer tool, obsolete. Gold, as an inter-generational wealth transfer tool, obsolete. Government bonds, the “risk-free” rate-of-return now the norm of the last 50 years of wealth management, obsolete. This would be disruption. Creative destruction. A new world.

Zzzzzzzzz. Bore off Jake. We’ve read all the Bitcoin books, how can you have anything different to say? Fair. Very fair. But there are some obvious counter-points. 1) everyone’s journey to Bitcoin is unique 2) we’re insanely early to this innovation so there’s plenty of space for more voices 3) information doesn’t travel fairly, and if I work on this in a way I know I can, then I will get this book into more hands than any Bitcoin book so far. Ok, nice, point 3 in particular big and bold. So how do you do that? Well this is where this gets fun. This is where I get inspired. How do you write a book that is considered a “bestseller”? What do you need to do to get insane traction with a book? How do you write it? How do you market it? I don’t know. Yet…

Again, a pause to butter some toast… Kids need feeding…

Fun. This needs to be fun. Absolutely critical that it unfolds with ease, kindness, and grace. So I watch. I wait. It will unfold when it’s ready.

Sorry another pause, this time to put some stickers on a card.

The life of a home-schooling Dad. Juggling personal aspirations, with the reality of hands-on parenting. This is the test. This is resistance. How to make enough space for oneself, without jeopardising the magical experience that is being a parent? Always a case of learn by doing. Get it wrong, re-correct. Get it right, do it again. Our time is our most scarce asset, and how we decide to spend it everyday is the best reflection of what we deem valuable out of anything. Akin to “Ask a man what he owns, now what he thinks” in an investment perspective. Point being, balancing the urge to write one hell of a story, must be tempered with the reality of my alternative commitments. Plenty to learn here. 
So what inspires me? Well as I touched on, it feels like a calling to some extent. But this week I’ve also been thinking about other authors and their books that would be relevant. Three came to mind, and were the most prominent of all the ideas. “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, “100 Million Dollar Offers” by Alex Hormzi, and “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. How on earth do you write books as successful, impactful, and valuable is these authors? Well one thing for sure, if someone has done it in the past, then somewhere there is a blueprint that you can also follow. It’s up to me to find that. To learn from it. To execute on it.

Ideally I write a book that is timeless. Is not at risk of dating. Is not too niche. Is full of actionable suggestions. I keep coming back to the extraordinary fact that globally 2/3 adults are financially illiterate. THAT’S INSANE! 4 billion people. And it just so happens that the set of unique experience in my life made me a sophisticated investor, and very financially literate, specifically with the Austrian School of Economics lens of sound money and Bitcoin. This changes everything. All those 4 billion people are being stolen from, and they have no idea, they do not have the information they need to understand that. Well what if you could write a book that solved that? Simple. Accessible. Shareable. And of course, a great story. This is the challenge.

So what next? 
Well this throws up more questions than answers. That’s great news. And this, is the first article, of what I hope to be many, as I put pen to paper, hands to keyboard, at the start of each day. Initially I will post as a long read on Nostr. I think I’ll do that a few times. I’ve also been toying with the idea of a blog or newsletter feature via my website https://jakewoodhouse.io/ so this might well be a precursor to that. I will also of course spend some time creating some podcast episodes about this process.

Thank you

Best Jake

Ps - if you enjoyed this, please let me know why in the comments? I’d love to know 1) why this would work? 2) why this wouldn’t work?

Pps - if you send a zap, I’ll zap you right back