yann girard - rethinking the now

But they're not the reality...

I'll publish that video when it's perfect.

I'll start that blog once I know everything I need to know about blogging.

I'll start that business once I've read every book on starting a business that's out there.

I'll start once I know about every possible thing that could go wrong and have a plan B for it.

But the truth is that when you wait until it's perfect, you'll never put anything out there.

When you wait until you know everything about it, you'll never start. Ever.

You'll get lost in the millions of details.

Thousand of scenarios.

Hundreds of possibilities.

And dozens of dangers.

And all of these things will distract you from the most important thing...

They'll distract you from getting started.

Waiting until it's perfect, until you're perfectly prepared, until you know everything about it, won't get you anywhere.

The only thing that will ever get you anywhere is to get started.

And then you'll figure it all out along the way.

After all, most of the scenarios, possibilities and dangers are just that.

They are scenarios, possibilities and dangers.

But they're not the reality...

It's the little things...

… that are the big things.

These days everybody gets the big things right.

Everybody pays attention to the big things.

But almost no one gets the small things right.

Almost no one pays attention to the small things.

But today it's just not enough anymore to only get the big things right.

Because everybody gets the big things right.

Everybody pays attention to the big things.

But to be able to stand out you also gotta get the small things right.

Turns out the small things really are the big things...

How to build a following in less than 5 minutes a day

Follow people who like stuff that's similar to yours.

Follow people who follow people who put out similar stuff to yours.

And then some of them will check you out.

They will check out your stuff.

And then some of them will follow you back.

And then you have to put out good stuff.

Over and over again.

It really is that simple. 

So this is how you build a following in less than 5 minutes a day.

Put out good stuff and then follow people who are likely to like your stuff.

It really is that simple.

Don't believe me?

You don't have to.

That's just what I did...

How long will it take you?

How long will it take you to design that logo?

How long will it take you to write that article?

How long will it take you to paint that picture?

The truth is that you just can't put a time on that.

You can't put a time on creativity.

Creativity takes time.

Just like great work takes time.

A lot of time.

And it happens when you sleep.

When you go for a walk.

When you're on the subway.

When you gaze at the stars...

Great work is a constant process.

Just like creativity is a constant process.

It happens 24/7.

365 days a year.

It's a process that can't be measured.

Great work can't be measured.

Just like creativity can't be measured.

Great work and creativity takes days, weeks, month or maybe even years.

And only a fraction of that time is spent on the actual creation.

On the other hand mediocre work can be measured.

Mediocre work is what happens when you have to focus all of your time on the actual creation part and nothing else. 

Mediocre work is what happens when you're told what to do and until when to do it.

Mediocre work is what happens when you take away all the air that creativity needs to breathe.

Which is basically almost all the work you do when you're at work...

That's why work isn't really a great place for most people to create great work.

Or to be creative. 

Which is ok by the way.

Because most companies didn't really hire you to be creative.

They hired you to get the job done. 

But the problem is that they expect great work from you.

But great work doesn't really happen in an environment where there's no air for creativity to breathe.

And creativity is the most essential thing you need to be able to create great work.

Creativity and great work just don't happen in a place where you're constantly being told what to do and until when to do it.

So how long did it take me to write this right here?

More than 32 years.

And it's still far away from great...

What are you waiting for?

“I'm waiting for an investor to invest in my idea.”

“I'm waiting for people to find out about how great I am.”

“I'm waiting for the recruiter to say yes.”

"I'm waiting until I have enough cash in the bank."

“I'm waiting for that website to publish my article.”

“I'm waiting for a promotion.”

“I'm waiting for him to come over and talk to me.”

“I'm waiting for someone to unleash my potential.”

“I'm waiting for better times.”

What are you waiting for?

“How do you write every single day?”

That's probably one of the questions I get asked the most.

And the truth is that you just can't write every single day...

No one can write every single day.

At least not right away.

I think when you start by saying “I want to write every single day” it just doesn't work.

Because there's no real beginning.

And no real end.

And when you can't measure something, when there's no real beginning or end, when you can't even visualize it or how long it might take you, then it's pretty much impossible to get started.

It's just too big.

Too overwhelming. 

So I can't really tell you how to write every single day.

But I can tell you how I did it...

I can tell you how I manage to write every single day.

How I was able to write and publish one blog post for more than 18 months now...

So when I started I didn't want to write every single day.

I just wanted to write and publish one blog post for 30 days.

And then when I was done writing and publishing one article every day for 30 days, I thought that I might never be able to write and publish one article for 30 days ever again.

I thought that I just can't possibly break the chain.

I thought that if I broke the chain now, then it would be the end.

After all, 30 days was my biggest achievement so far.

So I just kept writing.

I didn't want to break the chain.

And that's what I've now been doing since October 2015.

I wrote and published one article every day.

Some stuff was good. 

Some stuff wasn't.

But when I started I didn't think about writing one blog post for that long.

And I think that's the way to go...

You've gotta break it down into steps you can actually achieve.

Into something manageable. 

Something tangible.

Something you can visualize. 

Something that's hard, but not too hard. 

Like 7 days for example.

And when you've passed 7 days, then try to go for 30 days.

And when you've passed those, then go for another 30 days.

And eventually at one point it might become such a huge achievement that you will never ever stop again.

Because you don't want to break the chain and risk everything you've built up.

Or maybe it'll take more time.

I don't know.

But eventually it will turn into an unbreakable cycle.

That's at least what happened to me.

But make no mistake.

It will never be easy.

Sometimes I'm still up at 1am and I don't know what to write about.

But I know I have to do it.

I just don't want to break the chain.

Because if you break the chain just once, it will never be the same again.

It will never be just once.

When you break the chain once, it will happen over and over again.

Until you stop for good.

And that's how I write every single day.

But here's another very important question to ask yourself.

Probably the most important question of them all...

"Why do you even want to write every single day?"

Correlation vs. causation

Writing a book doesn't lead to success.

It just so happens that a lot of successful people write books.

Mostly about how they got successful or about how they achieved something great.

Correlation does not imply causation...

The success usually came first.

And then they wrote the book.

And not the other way round. 

Writing a book doesn't necessarily lead to success.

Just like writing a blog doesn't necessarily lead to success.

It just so happens that a lot of successful people and people who have achieved something great write blogs.

Correlation does not imply causation...

Most people were usually already successful or had done something great before they started their blogs.

And because they're successful, because they have achieved something great, people read their blogs.

Or watch their YouTube videos.

Or listen to their podcasts.

Correlation does not imply causation...

The cost of not knowing things

For the last couple of decades it wasn't really necessary to know about a lot of different things.

It was usually enough to know a lot about one thing only.

To be really good at one thing.

It was the era of the expert. 

The cost of not knowing things wasn't really high.

The cost of not having a diverse set of skills wasn't really high.

It was the time where you had to focus on one thing only.

It was the era of the specialist.

If you were really good at one thing corporations took care of you.

Really, really good care...

Unfortunately, for the expert and the specialist, times are changing. 

Most experts and specialists aren't really needed anymore.

Sure, a really, really small group of specialists and experts are still needed. 

And will always be needed.

But what's needed more and more, not only from a corporation's perspective, but also from your own personal perspective is the ability to build something out of nothing. 

Incumbents are struggling to reinvent themselves.

They need more and more people who are able to build something out of nothing. 

Jobs are disappearing or about to disappear and we don't really know when, whether or in what form these jobs will ever come back. 

That's why it's so important to be able to go from specialist to generalist.

To know about as many different things as possible.

To have a broad set of skills. 

The cost of not knowing things increases every single day.

The cost of not being able to build something out of nothing increases every single day.

This is probably one of the biggest challenges but also opportunities of the 21st century.   

Being able to properly manage your costs of not knowing things and investing time and resources into the right things to know…

The first step

The first step should always be about achieving financial stability.

Simply because when you don't know how you're going to be able to pay next month's rent, when you don't know how you're going to pay for food next month, you'll always make short term decisions.

And short term decisions will never lead to long term success...

And contrary to popular belief, starting a company, an online business, becoming an entrepreneur or a freelancer won't lead to financial stability.

Especially not during the first couple of years.

It will probably lead to the exact opposite. 

I hate to admit it, but the only thing that will lead to financial stability as fast as possible is a job (or having a rich family).

That's why a job is always the first step. 

But definitely not the last step.

Sure, your job might disappear sooner or later.

Probably sooner rather than later.

But if you still have your job, then try to keep it for as long as you possibly can.

If you're fresh out of college and thinking whether to start a business or to get a job, go for the job first.

Even better, go for the best paid job you can possibly get.

And save as much as you possibly can.

And a great way of saving as much as you possibly can is to use your free time to bootstrap a business on the side.

Just like it is a great idea to bootstrap a business in your free time while you still have a job.

If you use your free time to bootstrap your side business, then you won't have time to spend all of your hard earned cash on useless stuff like alcohol, drugs or all the other things we don't really need that we tend to buy to reward ourselves for working a job we don't really like.

And once you have financial stability, once you have a year of expenses in the bank and/or your side project generates enough cash, then you can do whatever you want to.

But the first step should always be about financial stability.

No matter what your next steps are...

It's never a waste of time...

When you do the things you think you should be doing.

When you do the things you want to do.

When you do the things that are constantly on your mind.

No matter how stupid other people might think your ideas are.

No matter what your ideas are.

No matter what happens.

No matter if you fail or succeed.

It will never be a waste of time.

What will be a waste of time though is to not do these things.

Because then they will distract you.

All the time.

Over and over again.

And you'll constantly be thinking about them.

And then they'll distract you from all the other things you do.

Or should be doing.

And that's a waste of time.

But it will never be a waste of time if you do your thing.

And if it doesn't work out, it's out of your system.

So you win.

You won't be distracted anymore.

And can focus on other things. 

But if you succeed, well then you succeed...

So you'll win, either way.

The only way you'll ever be able to lose is to not do things.

Doing things is never a waste of time...

You don't learn by not doing.

You only learn by doing.

This might be one of the best pieces of advice out there.

That's why it's used by so many people.

Which is also the reason why no one really understands it anymore.

So let's take a look at some examples real quick...

The only way you'll ever know what's going to happen when you want to start an online shop and want to order those 100 shirts from China, is to order those 100 shirts from China.

You could spend years and years trying to figure out what might maybe happen by reading gazillions of blog posts and signing up to millions of newsletters, but in the end you'd still not know what's going to happen.

The only way you'll ever know for sure what's going to happen is to order those 100 shirts and see what happens.

At one point you just gotta do it. No matter how perfect or imperfect the information at hand.

Just like you could spend years and years dreaming and researching about writing that book you always wanted to write. Without ever writing a single page...

Or starting that blog you always thought about starting.

Or that passion project you always wanted to start.

Or that charity.

Or that what not.

I know.

All of this is risky.

But the only way to figure out what's going to happen is to make it happen.

You don't learn by not doing.

You only learn by doing...

And yes, things could go wrong.

Your 100 shirts might be lost somewhere in the ocean.

Or your first 10 books might sell less than 100 copies in total.

Or your first 100 blog posts might be read by no one.

Or your first 100 videos on YouTube might be seen by less than 100 people.

That's just the reality.

I know. It's a steep price.

And a hell lot of work.

But it's the price you've gotta be willing to pay.

That's the price you've gotta be willing to pay to start working on your dreams.

And if you're not willing to pay that price, if you're not willing to put in the work, if you're not willing to risk anything, if you're not willing to go out on a limb, well then it's probably not that big of a dream anyway.

You don’t learn by not doing…

Here's what still works in marketing in 2017

I'm not a marketing expert.

Which, of course, perfectly qualifies me to talk about marketing.

At least in my world...

So here's what's still works in marketing in 2017.

Maybe there are other things.

I don’t know.

As I said, I’m not an expert. 

But this is probably one of the most powerful things that still work today...

Alright.

So here it goes...

"Showing up every single day."

No matter what.

No matter what field you're in.

No matter what stuff you put out there.

What matters is that you show up as much and as often as you can.

What matters is that you show up more often than anybody else.

Especially, when you're just getting started.

When you don't have a brand, yet.

When you don't have an audience, yet.

When no one knows your name, yet.

I know.

This is an absolute no brainer.

It's such a no brainer that no one actually really does it.

Even though everybody can do it.

Showing up once a week is not enough.

Twice a week is no enough.

Three times a week is probably still not enough.

Just like making one big marketing campaign isn't enough.

Why?

Simply because everybody can show up a few times a week.

Everybody can pay a ton of money on ads.

Everybody can do that.

And when you do what everybody else is doing, you'll never be able to stand out.

You'll be competing with everybody else who's competing with everybody else.

A competition you'll never be able to win.

The only way to stand out, to get noticed, to get your name or your brand out there is to do what nobody else is doing.

And the only way people will ever realize that you even exist is to show up as much and as often as you can.

More often than anybody else.

With good stuff of course...

Probably daily.

Or maybe even more than that.

That's the only way people will even remember your name.

Or your brand.

Or whatever it is that you're doing.

And yes, it's hard.

And challenging.

And a lot of work.

That's why nobody really does it.

That's why it's so effective.

That's why it still works.

That's why it still works in 2017.

That's why it will probably still work for the next couple of years...

The 11 things I do before I start writing

I wish I could give you some mind blowing advice like a lot of other people out there do.

Stuff like...

“Get up before 8am.”

“Have a daily routine.”

“Meditate for 10 minutes.”

“Read for three hours.”

But the truth is I can't.

Because none of this stuff really works.

At least not for me.

Maybe it works for the people who write about it.

Maybe it doesn't.

Who knows?

I started writing this at 11pm.

And will probably take a few breaks in between.

Not because I'm so busy.

Or because I had such a stressful day.

No, not at all.

It's just that creating stuff, no matter how big or small, is hard.

Putting yourself out there is hard.

Probably one of the hardest things out there.

At least for me.

I struggle with it every single day.

I procrastinate.

All the time...

It's a mind game.

And your mind wants to screw you over.

Over and over again.

No matter what.

No matter how often you've already put yourself out there.

I've now been publishing one blog post every single day for the past 18 months. 

And my mind still wants to hold me back from doing it.

My mind wants to screw me over.

Every single day.

I could probably tell you all of the stuff that the world was created by people who put themselves and their work out there and on and on and on.

But I won't.

Instead I will tell you this...

Make sure that your mind doesn't screw you over... 

Do this and nothing else...

I got my driver's license when I was 17.

And then when I drove a car for the very first time again after I got my license nothing seemed to work anymore.

I had no clue about how to drive a car anymore.

I had no clue what was going on.

Everything was different.

It was like everything I learned was gone.

It was like I never really got my driver's license in the first place.

And then for the next couple of years I was scared of driving a car.

Whenever someone asked if I could drive, I rejected.

And then for whatever reason I decided to make a road trip through North America.

I ended up driving more than 25,000km all across North America.

I bought a Ford Windstar LX for roughly $2000 in Montréal.

And for the next 3+ months I lived and slept in that car.

Which was great because I didn't have to pay for accommodation.

So the trip cost less than I'd have spent if I just stayed at home, paid rent and all the usual expenses.

I just parked my car somewhere, climbed into my sleeping bag and that was that.

In the beginning I wanted to put a mattrace in the van but I was too lazy, so I just ended up sleeping on the backseat with a sleeping bag.

For more than three months.

During winter...

Which wasn't that cold in California.

But definitely in Colorado...

That was in 2007.

Or 2008.

I don't remember.

So do I love driving now?

No, not at all.

But I did it, nonetheless.

And now I know...

So what's the point of me telling you this?

What's the big lesson?

I don't know.

Sometimes you just gotta do things.

Sometimes there's no big lesson.

Sometimes there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

Or maybe that's already a lesson in itself.

I don't know.

The only thing I know is that to find out what you might enjoy doing, what you might be passionate about, what your calling might be or what not, is that you've gotta do it.

There's no other way.

You've gotta do it. 

To figure out whether or not this might be your thing.

And the only way to figure yourself and your thing out is to do the things you're scared of doing.

To do the things you think you can't do.

To do the things people told you you can not do.

To do the things you thought were impossible.

Do them and then see what happens.

Do them and see how the needle moves from impossible to possible.

Go from impossible to possible.

Do this and nothing else...

You'll always...

You'll always have the wrong job until you have the right job.

You'll always date the wrong guy (or gal) until you date the right one.

You'll always write the wrong story until you write the right story.

You'll always say the wrong things until you say the right things.

You'll always fail until you succeed...

And that's the hardest part.

It's hard to keep pushing.

To not lose hope.

To not give up when you're just not there yet.

It's hard to keep pushing when you have all the cards stacked against you.

That's why the hardest part of all of this is to stick around long enough until you go from doing the wrong thing to doing the right thing...

Doing things well...

Good ideas are the result of many bad ideas.

Good dates are the result of many bad dates.

Good leadership is the result of bad leadership.

Good stories are the result of many bad stories.

Good sex is the result of a lot of bad sex.

Good music is the result of a lot of bad music.

Success is the result of failure.

Doing things well is the result of not doing things well...

"Freiheit"

Sometimes I'm a bit jealous of all of these people who remember so many things from their childhood.

I barely remember anything.

Maybe three or four things.

That's about it.

And just today I had to think about one of these things again...

When I listened to a song on YouTube today I saw a song I didn't listen to for at least 10 years.

Maybe more.

And when I saw it I immediately remembered when I first heard that song.

It was about twenty years ago.

I actually didn't know that it was twenty years ago.

I just remembered the artist's name and then I googled the event.

So apparently it was twenty years ago.

It was at an event in my hometown in Munich.

It was an event against racism and for freedom.

And apparently 400,000 people participated at that event.

400,000 people on the streets in my hometown in Munich.

The only thing I can remember is that there were a hell lot of people.

And that we were all either holding a lighter or a candle.

And that we were holding each other's hands.

And that song.

Those are the only things I can remember.

I know it sounds corny.

Especially because that song was called “Freedom", which means "Freiheit" in German.

And I think the first time the artist ever sang that song was when the wall fell in Berlin...

And then it became the hymn of those 400,000 people that were uniting on the streets against racism and for freedom.

And when I heard that song today I had to think about the whole thing again...

About freedom.

About the fact that I can now hop on a plane and be in a totally different world (not just country) within just a few hours.

That I can connect to the biggest library the world has ever seen and get access to the biggest knowledge database from almost any place in the world. For free!

I can now go to places my grandparents could only have dreamed of.

Doing things that were totally unimaginable just a few decades ago.

I can eat delicious food from all over the world.

I can listen to music from all over the world.

Talk to people from pretty much every country in the world.

Learn from everybody I meet.

No matter where they're from.

No matter what color their skin is.

Or what they believe in.

Or don't believe in...

I probably have double if not triple the free time my grandparents had.

I'm a free person.

And I feel deep gratitude to all the people that enabled me to live the life I'm now able to live.

The freedom that I now have.

The tens of thousands of thinkers who paved the way for me.

The explorers.

The innovators.

The people who challenged the status quo.

The ones who broke down existing barriers.

But also the millions of people who sacrificed their lives for the freedom many of us are now able to enjoy.

Let's not forget them.

Let's not forget the millions of people around the world who fought for freedom.

The millions of people who had to die so that we could live in freedom today.

So that I can live in freedom today. 

Without these people most of us wouldn't be able to live the life we live today.

I wouldn't be able to live the life I live today.

I wouldn't be able to write this right here.

Let's never forget that.

Let's never forget the people who fought for us.

For me. For you. For all of us.

People who gave their lives for freedom.

Our parents, their parents and their parents and on and on and on.

But also the people without names.

Without faces.

Let's never forget them.

Let's never take freedom for granted.

Let's take it for what it is.

Freedom is a privilege.

A privilege millions of people had to fight hard for.

A privilege millions of people had to die for.

A privilege we should be grateful for.

Every single day.

Freedom of choice.

Freedom of mind.

Let's not waste that privilege.

A privilege that not everybody in this world is able to enjoy today.

Right now. 

In this very moment.

Let's not forget that.

Lets not forget the people who are still not able to live their lives in freedom.

In peace.

Let's not forget that.

Thank you...

The good stuff...

... will always hide the bad stuff.

It's still there though.

You just don't see it.

Until all the good stuff disappears.

Or the bad stuff gets too big. 

But then it's already too late.

So make sure you always keep an eye on the bad stuff.

Make sure you do something against the bad stuff while it's still small.

No matter how good the good stuff is.

Because the bad stuff will always be around. 

And it might destroy the good stuff.

Sooner or later...

It will always feel soulless...

If all you do is to put yourself out there, if all you do is to put your work out there, then it will always feel soulless.

Sooner or later. 

One of the most important things, one of the things that barely anyone ever talks about is the “why” of putting yourself out there.

The “why” of putting your work out there...

By the way, this doesn't just apply to putting your work out there.

It applies to pretty much everything in life...

So why do you even put your work out there?

What's the purpose of it all?

What's your goal?

What's your why?

Why do you do what you do?

I know.

It's sounds simple.

And straight forward.

Still, that's one of the things that most of us tend to skip.

Because it's hard.

Really hard.

It's hard to answer that question.

It's hard to define your why.

And then to execute on it.

Over and over again.

No matter what.

And it's a lot easier to just put yourself out there.

It's a lot easier to just register that domain and put your work out there. 

It's a lot easier to just hit that publish button.

Or that send button.

What's a lot harder though is to define your why.

Your purpose.

And I'm not talking about making more money. 

Or getting more clients.

Or selling more of your stuff...

Why are you really doing what you're doing? 

And because it's gotten so easy to just put your work out there, both technically and financially, we don't even have to think about all of these things anymore.

We just skip them and get started right away.

Without ever answering the hard questions.

And then we just stop.

Because it feels soulless.

Because it feels just like every other thing that we put down on that list, that list that's already full with dozens of other things that feel soulless. 

It'll feel just like every other soulless job where all you do is to trade your time for money.

The only difference is that when you put yourself out there, when you create things, you won't get paid at the end of the month. For a very, very long time. 

That's the reason why so many people give up.

Because it feels like there is no reward.

But the only currency you'll ever get paid when you put yourself and your work out there is that you'll get closer to achieving your why.

And when you don't define your why, then you'll never get closer to it. 

And then it'll always feel like there's no reward.

And then you just stop. 

So what's a great why?

What's a great "why" to have in life?

I don't know.

That's the hard part. 

That's the part that only you can answer.

And no one else...

“I want to focus on what I do best”

“I need a social media guy to do my social media.”

“I need a designer to design my cover.”

“I need a photographer to shoot my clothes.”

“I need an editor to edit my book.”

“I need an investor to fund my big idea.”

"I need a sales guy to do my sales."

“I need an accountant to take care of my books.”

“I need all of this so I can focus on what I do best.”

And you know who says all of the above?

Lazy people.

People who are afraid of getting started.

People who don't want to put in the work.

People who are afraid of learning new things.

People who are afraid of change.

People who only want to do what they do best...

I know.

It's convenient to focus on what you do best.

Because it's safe.

And not risky.

And you'll rarely make mistakes.

You'll never have to spend time learning new things.

It puts you off the hook.

But if you constantly focus on what you do best, you'll never do anything.

You'll always be waiting for better times.

For people to hand you some cash.

For people to choose your grand idea.

But this rarely happens. 

So in the end you'll never create anything and you'll never put yourself out there.

You'll spend most of your time waiting..

And it'll never your fault. 

It'll be your boss's fault.

The economy's fault. 

The market's fault.

The bank's fault.

Your family's fault.

Or the neighbor's fault.

But the truth is it'll always be your fault.

Because you don't need any of the above.

As a matter of fact you're all of the above.

You're the designer, the investor, the sales guy, the editor, the photographer and the social media guy...

Should I do it?

If you want to figure out whether or not something is really worth doing, whether it's really worth your time, try to answer these two questions...

“What will I be able to gain from this?”

“What am I willing to give up for this?”

And if your answer is "everything" to both of these questions then you probably got yourself a winner...

Authenticity

If you don't believe in what you say, you'll never be authentic.

If you don't believe in what you do, you'll never be authentic.

If you don't believe in what you sell, you'll never be authentic.

The only way to authenticity is to say and do what you really believe in.

There really is no other way...

Don't listen to the gatekeepers

Because the gatekeepers will always tell you what benefits them.

That editor will always tell you that you need an editor.

That designer will always tell you that you need a designer.

That publisher will always tell you that you need a publisher.

That marketer will always tell you that you need a marketer.

But the truth is that you don't need any of the above.

All you need is to get started and to put your work out there.

I know. It's great and scary at the same time.

Because it puts you on the hook.

It's 2017 and there really are no excuses left anymore.

So stop listening to the gatekeepers.

By the way, I'm a gatekeeper as well.

So you shouldn't listen to me either. 

You should only listen to yourself…

That's what's really hard...

I constantly hear people complaining about their jobs.

About how hard it is.

How hard it is to stay motivated.

How they hate it.

And on and on and on.

And I get it.

I felt the exact same way.

Over and over again.

For many years. 

But you know what's really hard?

Working on something for a few months or maybe even a few years and not getting a paycheck at the end of each month.

When you never know whether or not this damn thing will ever work out.

That's what's really hard...

The hardest lesson I had to learn...

Do you have to do what you love or do you have to love what you do?

Honestly, I don't know.

I really don't know.

Both are very difficult.

And very hard to do.

But no matter what end of the spectrum you're at or want to end up, there's one thing that will hold true for both situations...

To be able to do what you love you've gotta do a lot of things you don't love.

And that's something I had to learn the hard way.

Because if you want to be able to love what you do or do what you love, you've gotta do a lot of things you might initially not enjoy doing that much...

# SALES

No matter what you're doing, no matter what you want to be or become, if all you're able to do is to do that thing you love, it'll be hard. Just really, really hard.

Even if you're really, really good at it.

And probably THE most important skill to be able to do what you love or love what you do is to be able to sell stuff. No matter if you like it or not.

Everything in life is about sales. About presenting yourself. Your ideas. Your thoughts. The things you do. The things you care about. Ultimately it's about finding people who love what you do. About finding other people who do what you love.

When I first started writing I hated sales. I was afraid of selling out. And I guess that's what most creative people (by the way, were all creative deep down inside) are struggling with.

They don't want to sell out.

We're all afraid of selling out.

But here's the truth...

If you do what you love or love what you do, you'll never sell out.

The only way you'll ever sell out in life is doing something you don't enjoy doing just because you get paid for it.

When you trade your precious time doing something you don't enjoy doing just for the money.

That's the ultimate definition of selling out...

# MARKETING

Marketing is pretty much the same as sales.

And I hated it.

Just like I hated sales.

But when I published my first book I realized that we've all been told a lie.

Even though today everybody can write a book, do an online course, create art, upload videos to YouTube or what not it doesn't necessarily mean that anyone will ever care.

Simply because there are millions of other people who are doing exactly what you're doing.

And it's almost impossible to stand out doing the exact same thing millions of other people are already doing.

Right this very second there are thousands of people hitting the “publish” button on Amazon to get their books published.

There are hundreds of people who are clicking the “post now” button on Medium.

Thousands of people are uploading videos for their online courses on Udemy.

And tens of thousands of people are uploading videos to YouTube.

Or what not.

So how do you stand out?

Well, I hate to admit it.

But the only way to stand out is through marketing.

But not in the classical sense where you need to spend millions of dollars on ads.

No, that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the cheapest marketing there is on planet earth.

I'm talking about showing up.

Every single day.

No matter what...

# COPY WRITING

This is probably the toughest one out there. Because it's really hard to learn. The only way to learn it is to do it. Just like all the other things I've already mentioned and am about to mention.

And all of these skills can't be learned by reading about them. Or by talking about them. You can only learn it by doing it.

But why do you need to know anything about copy writing?

Well, copy writing is the difference between being able to sell something for $1000 instead of just $10. And most of the time, the difference between those two is the story you're telling.

These days people call it storytelling. But storytelling is the exact same thing as copy writing. It's just a much nicer way of saying that you're trying to get a higher price for something you've created or want to resell for a higher price.

And at the end of the day, the only way you'll be able to keep doing what you love, the only way you'll be able to love what you do is that you need some sort of success.

And if you're not able to make enough to survive doing the things you love, well then you will ultimately have to stop doing what you love...

# EMAIL MARKETING

This is probably the last thing I ever expected I had to learn when I published my first blog post back in 2013.

All I really wanted to do was to write. And get my thoughts out there. To reach as many people as possible with my message. Whatever my message is.

But the problem with all of these platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Medium, Pinterest and on and on and on is that they're all in the business of monetizing their reach. Which is totally fine by the way. These platforms are all businesses and not non profit organizations. 

But if you want to get your message out there, if you want your voice to be heard and don't have a lot of money to get started it's never such a great idea to build an audience on a platform you have absolutely zero control over.

When Facebook introduced their ad system and organic reach went down, a lot of people and businesses went out of business. Simply because they relied on free reach on a platform they had no control over. 

And it'll always be the same thing. Free reach will disappear. Because all of these platforms are created by businesses. And almost all of them rely (or will rely at one point) on monetizing their reach through some sort of ad system.

That's why email is so powerful.

It's not controlled by any business. Even though that has also changed dramatically over the last couple of years, since Google now owns something like 90% of all email inboxes worldwide (I just made that number up). They can do whatever they want to...

# NETWORKING

I hate networking. But at the end of the day it's all about who knows about you.

And that's a pretty cool way I've found for myself to avoid going to useless networking events.

If you're constantly showing up, if you're putting your work out there for everybody to see, people will know about you.

Even if you don't show up to networking events. 

Put in the work and let your work speak for itself…

# BUILDING YOUR OWN PLATFORM

Is probably the most important thing out there.

And your platform consists of every platform where you publish your work, your ideas and your thoughts. It should be a set of as many different platforms as possible. To spread you risk and diversify your distribution.

Simply because some people might prefer that one platform over another. So you basically have to be everywhere. You have to be everywhere where your potential readers, listeners, viewers or customers are.

People won't go where you want them to go. They will only consume your ideas, thoughts, content or art where they want to consume it. Not where you want them to consume it. So be where they are. It's the simplest form of customer service...

# CARING ABOUT PEOPLE

The isolated artist who doesn't care about people and creates his or her art in isolation is dead. If he or she ever existed.

Today it's all about showing your readers, your listeners, your viewers or what not that you care about them. That's how you get your 1000 true fans. 

I struggle with this a lot I would rather just create my stuff and see it blossom. But the truth is that without any true connection, without really engaging with people, at least on a minimal level, it just won't work out...

But at the end of the day all of these things don’t really matter if you do what you love or love what you do.

Because then you’ll automatically do all of these things. Sooner or later.

Because it’s the only way you’ll ever be successful.

Because success (whatever success is for you) is what you need to be able to love what you do.

It’s the one thing you need to be able to keep doing what you love.

And when I say you, I’m really talking about myself and my own experiences…

This can not be done

A lot of people will tell you that it can not be done.

That you don't have the right equipment.

That it's too dangerous.

That you're too weak.

That you don't have enough experience.

That you're a girl.

That you're just not that type of person.

People will always find millions of reasons for you to not do things.

But the truth is that people are just talking to themselves.

They're just telling you about all of their own excuses why they didn't do it.

They're telling you about all of the things that held them back, about all of the things that are still holding them back today.

They're telling you that you need all of that fancy and expensive equipment because that's what they got.

And they don't want to look stupid for having bought all of that fancy and expensive stuff even though they didn't really need it.

Because if you do it and succeed despite all of their warnings, despite your lack of experience, despite your lack of expensive equipment you'd prove them wrong.

And people just don't like it when you prove them wrong.

When, for whatever reason you make them feel bad about themselves or their decisions.

We all want our decisions, our way of doing things and our own lifestyle to be the best out there.

But make no mistake.

I'm no different...

And if someone proves us wrong, if someone shows us that it can be done, despite all the adversity it puts us on the hook.

And that's never a nice spot to be in.

The truth is that you only need one thing to succeed...

And that's the willpower to succeed.

To never give up.

To persist.

No matter what.

And no fancy equipment in the world will help you with that.

No experience in the world will help you with that.

Here's the thing...

If you're constantly worried about the future, if you're constantly worried about all of the terrible things that might maybe perhaps happen some time in the future, you'll never do anything.

The things you see don't work anymore the moment you see them...

That's why you can't write like all of these successful writers out there.

Or put out videos like all of these successful content creators.

Or start companies like all of these successful entrepreneurs.

Because it only works once.

I know it sounds obvious.

Still, that's what most of us tend to do.

And that's why it doesn't work for most of us.

We try to write like all of these successful writers out there.

Or do videos like all of these successful content creators out there.

Or start companies like all of these successful entrepreneurs out there.

Like we could follow some sort of blueprint.

When in fact there's no blueprint.

It works for them.

Because it's about them.

And their story.

It's their life.

And it only works once.

For them.

That's why their stuff works.

For them.

And why it doesn't work for you.

The only thing that will ever work for you is to be you.

And no one else...

It's easy to say this...

It's easy to say that you've gotta do and learn new things.

That you've gotta get out of your comfort zone.

But it's so much harder to actually do it.

I struggle with it every single day.

Simply because doing and learning something new takes so much time.

And is totally unpredictable.

And you can't plan any of it.

Especially when you go from learning into execution mode.

You spend an entire day doing something you've never done before and all of a sudden it's 1am in the morning and you have no clue what the hell just happened.

You'll encounter dozens of roadblocks.

Hundreds of things won't work out the way you expected them to.

And it'll always take a lot longer than you initially thought. 

And what do you have at the end of the day?

Nothing.

No tangible results.

And most of the time you didn't even do all of the stuff you should have done.

You know, the daily grind.

The stuff that keeps you afloat.

And that's why its so damn hard to do new things.

To learn new things.

And to get out of your comfort zone.

Because it's totally unpredictable and eats up so much of your time.

And that's what no one really talks about.

That's the real reason why we don't do new things.

Why we don't leave our comfort zones.

Because we live in an era where productivity and efficiency is the only way to go.

Where doing something new, where spending time on implementing things you've never done before, where trying to figure stuff out is considered a waste of time. 

And that's why it's so easy to just talk about it.

That's why everybody out there is giving you the exact same advice.

That you have to learn new things and that you have to leave your comfort zone and on and on and on.

But how many of those people who are constantly giving you this advice are really leaving their comfort zones themselves?

How many of them are really doing and learning new things?

Well, probably not so many.

Because it's so much easier to just talk about it.

It's so easy to just talk the talk.

Instead of walking the talk...

The foundation

Working on the foundation is hard.

Because when you're working on the foundation it looks like you're not making any progress at all.

It's not really anything tangible.

Not really measurable.

No sales.

No views.

No nothing.

Just like when you want to build a 50 floor tall building.

You've gotta work on the foundation first.

So you won't see anything tangible for the first couple of months.

As a matter of fact when you're building a tall building you even gotta go and dig a deep hole.

So you're basically making negative progress when it comes to building that building.

Still, it's an absolute necessity.

Without a proper foundation nothing will ever work.

And that's the trickiest part...

Because when you start something new you want to see instant results.

You want hundreds of thousands of views.

Thousands of likes.

Hundreds of shares.

Dozens of comments.

Or you want to build 50 floors in one day.

But that's just not the way it works.

The way it works is that you've gotta work on the foundation first.

Without ever really seeing any tangible results for quite some time.

And that's what makes it so hard to keep pushing.

Because it'll always feel like you're not making any progress. At all.

But the truth is that you're just building the foundation.

Unfortunately, most people just stop before they've finished building the foundation.

Most people just stop before they will ever get to see any tangible results...

How long does it take to become a good writer?

I don't know how long it takes to become a good writer.

All I know is that back in 2002 I almost failed high school because I was such a bad writer.

And after I graduated back in 2004 I didn't write anything for another 9 years.

I think during those 9 years I even forgot the alphabet.

And when I started my blog back in the summer of 2013 I had no clue about writing and had maybe read a total of 10 books in my entire life.

So how long does it take to become a good writer?

I really don't know.

All I know is that I forgot the alphabet and now you're reading this right here...