“Susie, I really want to start a blog/be a life coach/write a book/be an inspirational speaker/fill in the blank.”
I get emails, questions, calls and requests like this almost every day. And I love getting them. It’s a huge indicator of the hunger, the precious potential, the fire of what lays dormant within many of us. I always think to myself, “I really hope this person makes this a reality.” It’s the reason I launched The Side Hustle Starter Guide. Many of us have waaaay more to give that our day jobs allow or encourage us to, we just don’t know where to begin.
The good news? That’s awesome! You don’t need permission from anyone at all to show the world what you’ve got. There’s never been a better time in history to be an entrepreneur.
What a TV show? You can have one – it’s called YouTube! Want to be a writer? Brilliant! You have Amazon’s self publishing tool CreateSpace or blogging platforms WordPress and Medium. Do you have a voice, something important to say? Start a podcast!
These things are all FREE! And available to anyone with a web connection.
The sad news? Most people never begin. Or they take 2-3 steps forward then hang up their hat. Or they have a single bump in the road and they quit. I never hear from them again or hear about their work (the passionate and important reason they contacted me in the first place). They remain in obscurity. They probably hope that success will knock on their door like, “Hey – I believe a very talented artist, teacher, writer, social media expert lives here … Can I show you the way to easy and direct route to success, please? Follow me.”
Sorry. Doesn’t work that way.
Today, I’m sharing some principals the most important principal that winners share. It’s quiet. It’s subtle. It’s uncelebrated. But it’s the only think that works. What is it?
Doing the work. Steven Pressfield wrote an incredible book on this called Do The Work. Because of his lessons are captured in that brilliant one-hour read, I encourage you to buy a copy (as he says it far better than I ever could).
A lot of people want success, accolades, money, to impact the lives of others, creative freedom and ownership of their work but they don’t want to apply the effort. They don’t do the work.
Here are some simple truths to get you started in living the life you imagined (and not the life that you’ve settled for and you just know it cause you feel it in the pit of your stomach every day).
- Make taking strides towards your dream non-negotiable.
- Don’t listen to other people or statistics. Only listen to your heart.
- Focus on people who’ve achieved what you hope to achieve. Get obsessed with them. Read all about them. Whatever you can find!
- After doing #3, know for sure what you want to achieve is possible for you, too.
- Schedule time do to the work.
- Do the work.
- Don’t spend your time consuming (scouring Pinterest, reading books, researching schools and so on and so and so freakin’ on. That procrastination, not progress). CREATE instead.
- Never stop creating. You are a born creator. We are all creative beings. It’s just been shamed out of us (ask Brene Brown).
- Don’t accept your own feeble excuses. Everyone is busy/strapped for cash/unsure of themselves.
- Appreciate that all you have is RIGHT NOW.
- Repeat all of the above until your success becomes inevitable. Because it will be.
I want to share a passage from Seth Godin that I share a lot with people who are always in a holding pattern, always, “Waiting to get started” or perhaps for, “When the time is right” (and it’s never right).
I repeat his wise words over and over again to many people so take heart, friends:
“Right there, in your driveway is a really fast car. Not one of those stupid Hamptons-style, rich guy, showy cars like a Ferrari, but an honest fast car, perhaps a Subaru WRX. And here are the keys. Now go drive it.
Right there, on the run way, is a private jet, ready to fly you wherever you want to go. Here’s the pilot, standing by. Go. Leave.
Right there, in your hand, is a Chicago Pneumatics 0651 hammer. You can drive a nail through just about anything with it again and again if you chose. Time to use it.
And here’s a keyboard, connected to the entire world. Here’s a publishing platform you can use to interact with just about anyone, just about anytime, for free. You wanted a level playing field, one where you have as good a shot as anyone else? Here it is. Do the work.”
Please share with me … What work are you waiting to do with your own precious life?
P.S. If you want help getting started, join my wait-list for the Spring 2017 Side Hustle Starter Guide.
