yann girard - rethinking the now

More or better?

Which one is better?

To create more stuff or to create better stuff?

It's obvious that creating better stuff is better than merely creating more stuff.

But the problem is that to be able to create better stuff, you have to have created a lot of stuff already.

Because the only way to get better at something is to do it over and over again.

No one is good at anything right away.

We all need practice.

And patience.

So if you're on the fence about whether you should focus on quality or quantity, go with quantity.

Because quantity is the way to quality...

Out of ideas

Did you really just run out of ideas or did you just run out of things to do that you already know how to do?

Maybe you don't need...

Maybe you don't need more time.

Maybe you just need to decide.

Maybe you don't need more advice.

Maybe you just need to get going.

Maybe you don't need more information.

Maybe you just need to get over your fear.

Maybe you don't have to be more productive.

Maybe you just need to do more of the things you actually really enjoy doing.

There are things we tend to tell ourselves because they're convenient and let us off the hook.

And then there are things we rarely tell ourselves because they're inconvenient and put us on the hook...

Pressure

It's possible that your boss puts too much pressure on you.

Or your family.

Or your friends.

Or the economy.

But it's also very likely that you're actually the one.

That you're actually the one who's putting way too much pressure on yourself.

Are you?

Everybody else...

... is doing it wrong.

Of course...

The good (or the bad) news is that for somebody else somewhere else, you're also everybody else...

They're already all gone...

You can spend your whole life chasing the things you want, only to then realize at one point that the things you really need are already all gone...

The fear

Fear helps you to stand out.

To get noticed.

And to make a difference.

Because 99% of the people out there will never get over their fears.

But you do.

And when you do, you can make a difference...

Staying in business

The easiest way to stay in business is to make promises you can actually keep.

And the easiest way to go out of business is to make promises you can't possibly keep.

Sure, it sounds easy.

But of course, nothing is ever as easy as it sounds...

Decisions

The problem about decisions is that they need a lot of your energy and attention.

Especially when it's a decision about something unknown.

Something you've never done before.

Something that might not be so clear, yet.

Something uncomfortable.

Something unpredictable.

That's why it's so hard to make decisions.

But with the ever increasing amount of choices available and the demand for our attention constantly increasing we're forced to make decisions all the time.

Over and over again.

So over time we're running out of decision capital.

And the later it gets during the day and the more decisions we've already made, the harder it gets to make that decision.

So if you're struggling with decision making, you probably don't need more time.

Or information.

You probably just need to build a system around it.

A system that helps you to turn decision making into a habit instead of a burden.

A system that helps you to automate decision making for the things that don't matter.

So you can focus on the things that do matter...

And ignore just about everything else...

It's easy to get lost in the things that don't really matter.

The likes.

The shares.

The comments.

The retweets.

The returning visitors.

The time spent on your website.

The clicks.

And on and on and on.

It's easy to focus on these things because they make your efforts measurable.

They feel like you're getting work done.

They help you to check boxes.

But they rarely measure what you really want to achieve.

They rarely measure how much closer you're actually really getting to achieving your goals.

So before you start measuring anything, make sure you know what you need to measure that will help you to actually really get closer to achieving your goals.

And ignore just about everything else...

Big problems vs small problems

There are no big problems.

There are only small problems that turn into big problems over time.

All problems that are now big were once small.

And over time many of those small (unsolved) problems turned into big problems.

So don't wait until your problems are too big to solve.

And instead try to solve them while they're still small.

Your future self will be eternally grateful...

The work of an entrepreneur...

... involves mostly these five things:

Decision making day in and day out.

Giving credit for the things that go right.

Taking over responsibility for the things that go wrong.

Owning mistakes.

And ultimately fixing those mistakes.

Every single one of these things alone is already incredibly difficult.

Doing all of these at the same time seems inhumane at times.

That's why they're so rare.

And so important...

On walking

When you feel stuck and don't know what to do next, when you can't seem to see a light at the end of the tunnel, then all you can really do is to just keep walking. To not stand still. Because even if you don't know where you're going, you might end up meeting someone or something along the way that might ultimately help you to find your way...

You can...

You can study art without ever really knowing how to create art.

Just like you can study business without ever really knowing how to start a business.

Just like you can learn a language without ever really knowing how to speak that language.

Just like you can learn to play an instrument without ever really knowing how to play that instrument.

Here's the thing...

Just because you studied it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be good at it (or really know how to do it).

The only thing it means is that you studied it.

But that's already pretty much about it.

The only way to really learn how to do it, is to actually really do it...

A blessing and a curse

The more choices you have, the more distracted you'll end up being.

And the more distracted you are, the less you'll be able to focus on the things that really matter.

It's as simple as that.

But of course not easy.

That's why sometimes the best choice is to have no other choice...

Getting there faster

Back in 2013 I decided to start this blog.

I always felt like I wanted to do "more".

Whatever that might look like.

I'm still not really sure how it might look like.

And it constantly changes.

Back then the only problem was that I didn't know anything about anything.

The only tangible skill I had was that I was able to write.

Not necessarily a rare skill.

After all, more than 80% of the global population can now read and write.

But to me writing seemed like the only thing I could do.

And it comes very close to programming.

That's at least what I thought...

After all, what's the difference between writing a line of code and writing a line of words in a book..?

But the thing is that I wasn't even good at it.

I almost failed high school because of it.

That's how bad I was at writing.

And because I was so bad at it at, I basically stopped writing until 2013.

Now fast forward six years...

I've written more than 1500 blog posts, ten books and a lot of other stuff that was read by people from all over the world.

"Just" because writing was the only tangible skill I had.

Even though I wasn't really good or talented at it.

But at the end of the day it's not about being talented.

It's about how far you're willing to go to learn and master a skill that will get you closer to where you want to be.

After all, a skill is ultimately just a tool that will help you to get to your destination, but a lot faster...

P.S. Thought Pills is looking for writers. You can find more details here.

Metrics

Don't really matter that much when you're just getting started.

At the end of the day they're mostly just distracting you from showing up and doing your work.

The thing that matters a lot more than metrics is that you keep showing up and don't give up.

So that maybe one day you'll get to a point where they matter.

So for now, please just don't give up...

It's not good enough

And it probably never will be.

Simply because we tend to be our biggest critics.

And see things that other people will probably never even pay attention to.

And compare ourselves to the best out there.

Criticizing yourself is a form of hiding.

It helps you to protect yourself from failure.

But hiding is never a good long term strategy.

Because sooner or later you'll be found.

No matter how hard you try to avoid it...

And when that happens you'd better be able to run as fast as you can.

So instead of using your time and energy to keep hiding, use it to become a better runner...

Attention to detail

Thinking about how your book cover is going to look like before you've even started writing that book is a waste of time.

Just like it's a waste of time to spend days and days trying to find that perfect theme for your website when you don't even know what exactly it is that you're going to put on that website.

The same holds true for trying to figure out which record label you want to work with when you haven't even recorded a single note.

Attention to detail is important.

But before attention to detail gets important, the really important stuff needs to get done first.

And when you're just getting started, attention to detail isn't really all that important.

What's important though is to get started doing the important stuff.

Which is a lot harder than obsessing about the details. 

Obsessing about the details helps you to hide longer.

Because there are millions of things that need to be planned before you can finally get going.

So in the end you never really get going and instead get lost in the details.

Attention to detail and perfection can be very useful.

But not when you're just getting started and you're still struggling to put one foot in front of the other.

So instead of already planning your trip to the moon (before you've even started walking), try to get good at putting one foot in front of the other first...

Do you?

"You always say that you're going to do it.

But never end up doing it."

"Always" is a trap...

The problem is that we mostly remember the times when we got disappointed.

So it often feels like we always get disappointed.

That's why we tend to remember the times when things didn't get done.

When things didn't go as expected.

When things didn't go as they were supposed to.

On the other hand, more often than not, we don't remember (or even realize) when things were working out just fine.

When we didn't get disappointed.

When things actually got done.

When things went as they were supposed to.

The only problem is that the other side does.

The other side remembers the times when everything went well.

When things actually got done.

Do you?