He couldn’t get the beautiful woman to look at him…
And, oh, how he damn tried…
He used all the foolproof regular pirate tricks that his uncle, the Great Pirate Jim, had taught him.
He drank a whole bottle of gin in one breath right in front of her.
He told her filthy tales of his many great and sordid adventures across the ocean.
He farted loudly for a full 15 clicks of his pirate clock.
He even danced a jig with Scruff, the ship’s one-eyed pirate dog.
But the beautiful damsel barely cast her mysterious green eyes upon him.
He threw himself, frustrated, into his bunk in the ship’s hold as the next pirate took his turn.
That pirate also:
Drank a whole bottle of gin.
Told outrageous and fictitious tales.
Farted until his wind filled the ship’s sails.
Danced a jig with poor old Scruff.
And so the pattern continued…
In trying to be the most performative, the most pirate, the most of everything…
No pirate stood out.
None was memorable.
None turned the head of the pretty passenger.
Sometimes, trying harder, putting in more hours, and fighting for more scant attention is just about the worst thing you can do.
For the Modern Day Pirate (the solopreneur), the key to success is simple:
How do you become someone who is impossible to forget?
Both online and offline.
The keys are certainly not found in:
Copying the strategies of others.
Running copious ads.
Pumping out a huge amount of AI-created content.
You’ll just be another pirate telling filthy yarns, trying to get the attention of a pretty girl.
I’ve been there.
I’ve done this.
And the way to success is not through muscle and hustle.
The pirate who won the damsel was a sensitive young soul who could never really ride with the mob.
The gin hurt his belly.
He could not fart to save his life.
He had no tales to tell.
And he refused to dance with a dog in the presence of such a fine lady.
So he bought her his last remaining flower from dry land.
He smiled at her shyly.
And he played her a tune on his harmonica when she was feeling sad.
In a world of brouhaha, he went deep when the other pirates clamoured after the loud and superficial.
In a world of artificial, he went fully human and completely natural.
That’s how you will truly become a person who is impossible to forget in 2026…
Through your story.
By leveraging kindness.
When you truly connect and see others.
It’s a beautiful world (still), and an impossibly good life is more available to you than ever.
The answer is to step more fully into being you.
Online.
Offline.
On pirate ships.
Everywhere.
Join me tomorrow, onboard my ship.
I am teaching this to a bunch of folk, and the first 10 people who comment something decent and add to the conversation will get a guest pass from me.
Geoff x
Note: If you are a solopreneur, read more about our Modern Day Pirate movement here.
Nice. I run work laboratory in a cow barn for adults with LD. Been there 10 years now and they are still teaching me how to be real, to feel, to live simply in the moment and to use gratitude to crack open the door to joy. Shalom.