I talk about digital writing & personal progress

Here's a quick rundown of how I've spent my last 5 years:

1. Studied math and played football at Princeton. I graduated in 2018 with a degree in financial engineering and played center for the Tigers. In college, I was a 280-pound offensive lineman, so for the last 5 years, I've had to completely rewrite my personal operating system on the health & fitness front. I currently weigh 185 pounds and have learned a lot along the way!

2. Graduated and immediately started working for BlackRock in New York City. I worked as a junior hedge fund trader for 4 years, focusing on global macro markets. This was my dream job and the only corporate job I've ever had. In fact, it's the only job *interview* I've ever had (since I interned there as a junior in college).

3. Realized working for someone else was not going to be the long-term path for me. 12 months into working on Wall Street, I saw someone in their mid-40s ask their boss for permission to go to their son's Little League game. At that moment I realized I wasn't cut out to take directions or instructions from other people for very long.

4. Started to write on my old blog, then on Twitter. Rather than quit immediately, I started to passively explore other opportunities by writing online, starting out on my old blog (which no one knew existed), then transitioning to Twitter in July of 2020.

5. Changed my trajectory with a 30-day writing challenge, which led me to start Ship 30 for 30. In September 2020 I was ready to give up writing entirely. But I gave it one more shot, this time moving from a weekly blog post to a daily Twitter thread. The challenge was a huge success. It took me 9 months to reach 100 followers and 1 month to go from 100 to 2,000. And that personal writing challenge turned into the foundation of Ship 30 for 30, which started as nothing but a Slack accountability group to help people publish consistently.

6. Scaled Ship 30 while working remotely for all of 2021. I built and scaled Ship 30 with Nicolas Cole to over 2,000 students in 2021—all while continuing to work full-time (remotely) for BlackRock. But towards the end of 2021, Ship 30 hit an inflection point and it no longer made financial sense for me to continue working on Wall Street.

7. Left BlackRock in March of 2022 to write and build on my own. After weeks of weighing the pros and cons and trying to project my path forward, I made the decision to leave BlackRock and chart my own path. 15 months into making that decision and I'm confident it's the best one I've ever made.

Dickie Bush 🚢

This writer posted on LinkedIn about quitting his job.

And from that ONE post he got some epic results:

Booked 5 sales calls.
And closed a $1,000/month consulting deal.

Insane.

Especially since Stefan didn't:

• Go viral
• Use some secret LinkedIn hack
• Or do anything anyone else couldn't

All he did was:

• Say what he does
• For who
• And how he helps them

Now, this doesn’t mean if you just hit publish you'll book a bunch of sales calls (or any at all).

But every single LinkedIn post you publish is a lottery ticket.

Some will flop.
Others will only get you views.

And then sometimes, you get lucky and the right kind of high-paying clients resonate with your content.

Which is why you should be publishing consistently on LinkedIn.

It's an easy way to land high-paying clients & make 6+ figures as a ghostwriter.

But first?

You need to:

• Find your own lucrative niche
• Create an Irresistible Ghostwriting Offer
• Learn the secret to charging premium prices

So, I put together a 5-day crash course with everything you need to start making money ghostwriting on LinkedIn in 2026.

Click here to get instant access (for free): https://lnkd.in/ekBqPdQQ

Reminder to self:

You can focus on no more than 3 things:

• 3 habits
• 3 values
• 3 goals

And you can only do this over a 3-month time horizon.

I had to learn this painful lesson the hard way:

Every year, I would sit down and write out 10 goals for the coming year (like I was building some grand master plan).

Felt incredible in the moment.

Made me feel:

• Organized
• Ambitious
• Like I had my life together

But then I'd find that list 3 months later and realize I couldn't even remember what I'd written down.

Let alone tell you if I actually achieved any of it.

The truth is:

Any time I have ever made a plan beyond 3 months, it was basically a useless exercise.

It didn't change my behavior.
It didn't keep me accountable.
It just made me feel good for about 20 minutes.

Here's what actually works.

You can focus on no more than 3 things.

If you can't rattle off the three things you're most focused on right now without pausing to think, then you're unfocused.

Make them something you can actually track and measure.

And then ignore everything else until those 3 are handled.

You'll get further with 3 clear priorities than you ever will with 10 vague ones.

Aussie writer with 1B+ content views in 10 years | I teach people to use writing online to create career opportunities | Let's connect: tim@timdenning.com

I quit my eCommerce startup with 100+ employees. Then got depressed, developed an eating disorder, and got a minimum-wage job in a bank. I now work for myself and make 7-figures writing.

I'm not that smart and have no college education. The way I used the internet made the difference.

And going to a Tony Robbins event changed my mindset. He taught me to go from being a victim to be in control.

This led to:

• 1B+ content views
• Financial freedom
• Book deal with a major publisher
• Meeting my heroes (like Tony Robbins)
• Quitting my banking career forever in 2021
• Multiple successful businesses fuelled by obsession

My mission: Help 100,000 people start online businesses. 

My beliefs that drive everything I do:

- Anything is possible
- Positivity above all
- Ego is the enemy
- Challenge the status quo
- Chase obsession, not passion
- Always be kind, grateful, and a good person

How can I help you?

• Social media audience building
• Starting or growing an online business

Join my email list with 200,000+ other high performers for more helpful insights:
https://timdenning.com/start-social-hustle-linkedin-bio/

Tim Denning

If you need 36 interviews to make a hiring decision, you don't know what you're looking for.

The best candidates won't wait for your corporate theater.

━━━━━

Friend just withdrew from a Google process after round 12.

4 months. 12 interviews. 6 take-home projects. 3 presentations.

They offered him 10% less than his current role.

He took a startup offer instead. 2 interviews. 1 week. 40% raise.

━━━━━

The hiring circus exposed:

Round 1-3: "Getting to know you" (Could be one conversation)
Round 4-6: "Technical assessment" (Should take 2 hours max)
Round 7-9: "Culture fit" (You mean politics?)
Round 10-12: "Final stakeholders" (People who won't work with you)

It's not thoroughness. It's incompetence hiding behind process.

━━━━━

What long interview processes mean:

• Nobody wants to make a decision
• Everyone's covering their ass
• The role isn't clearly defined
• Too many cooks, no chef
• They're hoping you'll drop out so they don't have to reject you

Companies that can't hire efficiently can't operate efficiently.

━━━━━

I hire in 2 weeks. Always.

Day 1: Phone screen (30 minutes)
Day 3: Real conversation with me (1 hour)
Day 5: Meet the team (90 minutes)
Day 10: Final decision

That's it. No committees. No consensus building. No theatrical performances.

Success rate? 85%.

━━━━━

The top talent timeline:

Week 1: They're interested
Week 2: They're engaged
Week 3: They're questioning your competence
Week 4: They're interviewing elsewhere
Week 6: They're gone

Every week you waste, your competition gets stronger.

━━━━━

Real story from last month:

Candidate had 8 offers. EIGHT.

The companies with 2-week processes got her attention.
The companies with 6-week processes got ghosted.

She chose the company that respected her time. Made $300K first year.

━━━━━

The interview marathon red flags:

• "We need buy-in from everyone" = Nobody owns anything
• "Just a few more stakeholders" = Endless politics
• "One final round" (for the third time) = Disorganized chaos
• "Take your time with this project" = Free consulting
• "We're being thorough" = We're terrified of decisions

Run. These companies are where careers go to die.

━━━━━

Here's what actually matters in hiring:

Can they do the job? (One technical interview)
Will they fit the team? (One culture conversation)
Do they give a sh*t? (You'll know in hour one)

Everything else is corporate masturbation.

━━━━━

To every hiring manager:

Your 36-interview process isn't finding better people. It's filtering out anyone with options.

You're not being selective. You're being stupid.

The best people have choices. Respect their time or lose them.

━━━━━

To everyone in interview hell:

A company that takes 6 months to hire takes 6 years to promote.

Find companies that move fast. They're the ones actually going somewhere.

What's the longest interview process you've endured? 👇

Join my unconventional Substack newsletter with 165K others: https://lnkd.in/gMkRFmj9

Just f*cking do it.


If you want to level up your career faster, then join my unconventional Substack newsletter with 171K others: https://lnkd.in/gMkRFmj9

Aussie writer with 1B+ content views in 12 years | Teaching high performers to build million-dollar digital businesses | Let’s connect: tim@timdenning.com

Most bosses manage your output. The rare ones manage your potential.

One builds careers. The other builds empires.

━━━━━

Had 2 bosses in the same year. Same company. Different universes.

First boss: Tracked my hours. Reviewed my work. Gave me raises when HR approved them.

Second boss: Introduced me to CEOs. Pushed me into speaking gigs. Fought for my promotion when I wasn't even asking.

Guess which one I still text on holidays?

━━━━━

A boss who actually gives a sh*t does things differently:

They don't ask "What did you accomplish today?"
They ask "What do you want to accomplish in life?"

They don't manage your calendar.
They manage your trajectory.

They don't protect you from failure.
They ensure you fail at things worth failing at.

━━━━━

The VP who changed my life did 3 things no other boss did:

1. Told other companies about me (while I worked for her)
2. Connected me to her competition
3. Said "You're going to outgrow this role. Let's plan for it."

She knew I'd leave eventually. She accelerated it.

I've sent her millions in business since.

━━━━━

Bosses who don't care about your future:
• "That's not your job"
• "Stay in your lane"
• "You're not ready"
• "Be patient"
• "We'll revisit next year"

Bosses who do:
• "You should meet..."
• "Have you considered..."
• "I nominated you for..."
• "Take my spot at..."
• "You're ready for..."

One keeps you small. The other makes you unstoppable.

━━━━━

Real conversation with my best boss:

Her: "You're going to quit in 18 months."
Me: "What? No, I'm happy here."
Her: "You will be. But not in 18 months. Let's make sure you leave for something incredible."

She was right. Left after 20 months. For a role she helped me get.

━━━━━

The compound effect of a boss who cares:

Year 1: They teach you their job
Year 2: They introduce you to their network
Year 3: They push you toward bigger things
Year 5: You're running something they helped you build
Year 10: You're hiring their other protégés

Every great leader has this tree of success beneath them.

━━━━━

The test for whether your boss cares about your future:

Ask them: "Where do you see me in 5 years?"

If they say "Right here, killing it!" - they care about themselves.

If they say "Running your own division, maybe your own company" - they care about you.

The answer tells you everything.

━━━━━

To every manager reading this:

Your job isn't to keep your best people. It's to prepare them for what's next.

The ones you develop will build your legacy.
The ones you trap will destroy your reputation.

Be the boss people thank at their IPO.

━━━━━

To everyone with a boss who doesn't invest in you:

They're not going to change. You are.

Find someone who sees your potential and fights for it

Your career is too short for bosses who keep you small

♻️ Repost if great bosses build futures, not just teams

If you want to level up your career faster then join my unconventional Substack newsletter with 169K others: https://lnkd.in/gMkRFmj9

9 uncomfortable career truths people lie to themselves about:

━━━━━

1. A salary won't make you wealthy

Your $200K salary? It's keeping you comfortable enough not to quit.

Meanwhile, the guy making $60K with three rental properties is building actual wealth. The freelancer with equity in 5 startups. The consultant who owns her business.

Wealth = ownership. Your paycheck is designed to rent your time, not build your empire.

━━━━━

2. Your boss doesn't care about your career growth

They care about their quarterly bonus. Their next promotion. Their ass staying covered when sh*t hits the fan.

I had 7 bosses in 10 years. Know how many checked in after I left? Zero.

Your growth threatens them. Your success makes them nervous. Your potential reminds them of what they gave up.

━━━━━

3. Company loyalty is a dumb decision

25 years at the same company? Congrats, you left millions on the table.

Job hoppers make 50% more over their careers. While you're waiting for that 3% annual raise, they're getting 30% bumps every 2 years.

Companies are loyal to shareholders. Not you. Act accordingly.

━━━━━

4. People go to jobs cause they don't know what else to do

"I love my job!" No, you love the security of not having to figure out your actual purpose.

━━━━━

5. Most people have no idea what their passion is, so they lie

"I'm passionate about supply chain optimization."

Really? That's what you dream about? That's what you'd do if money didn't matter?

Passion isn't found in job descriptions. It's discovered by doing sh*t that scares you.

━━━━━

6. Hours worked has nothing to do with value created

I worked 80-hour weeks for 5 years. Know what I accomplished? The same as the guy who left at 5 PM sharp.

One good idea in the shower beats 20 hours of busy work. One strategic "no" beats 100 tactical "yeses."

Time in chair ≠ value delivered. Stop confusing motion with progress.

━━━━━

7. Job titles are meaningless. They're just ego

Vice President of Nothing Important. Senior Director of Bullsh*t Nobody Cares About.

I've met "executives" who can't execute anything. And "junior associates" running entire departments.

Titles are participation trophies for adults. Cheap ways to make you feel important without paying you more.

━━━━━

8. You're not entitled to a raise, promotion... or anything

The market doesn't owe you sh*t. Your company doesn't owe you sh*t. Your boss definitely doesn't owe you sh*t.

You get what you negotiate. What you have leverage for. What you make yourself irreplaceable for.

Expecting fairness in business is like expecting honesty in politics.

━━━━━


9. Most of the stuff you buy keeps you tied to a job

That BMW lease. The house that stretches your budget. The lifestyle you can barely maintain.

You're not working for freedom. You're working to pay for sh*t that imprisons you.

Simplify your life. Watch your options explode.

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The Battle

Dickie Bush 🚢

Tim Denning

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taplio

The Battle

Dickie Bush 🚢

Tim Denning

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dickie Bush 🚢's LinkedIn Performance

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