yann girard - rethinking the now

What can you do in one hour?

I've got exactly one hour.

Why do I only have one hour you might ask?

Well, it's pretty simple.

I've just arrived at a beautiful place in Portugal and I want to see the sunset.

And the sun is going to set in about an hour.

So until then I want to have written this post.

And published it.

The most interesting part about it?

I don't have any clue what I'm going to write about.

I've just decided that I'm going to do this.

So this is an experiment.

And I'm going to figure out what to write as I write.

I don't know if this will work.

But a lot of people say that you're going to figure out what to write once you start writing.

I'm not sure if that's true.

But I'm going to figure it out.

And until now, a couple of hundred words into this post I still don't really know what this post could be all about.

So maybe it'll be about coming up with ideas on what to write about.

So a meta post.

Alright.

That's what I'm going to write about right here.

It's a good enough idea.

I still have close to an hour.

So let's do this...

Here are some of the things you could do to come up with ideas ...

I'll try to come up with as many as possible while writing...

# IMPROV WRITING

Ok. This is an easy one. Because that's what I'm doing right now.

Improv writing seems a great idea to come up with ideas what to write about.

And you now what?

It seems to work.

This is not staged or anything.

I really just googled when the sun is going to set.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I might even add make a screenshot of my Google search where it shows when the sun sets here.

Wow, I'm amazed.

This stuff really seems to work...

# TOP BLOGS

What I do quite often when it's already late at night and I still didn't write anything then I usually just hit my favorite blogs. Just to look for inspiration and things that trigger a thought.

When I'm totally clueless I usually head on over to Seth Godin's blog.

And then I scroll through his archive and read the headlines of some of his posts.

And then usually around the 20^th or 30^th headline or so I come up with something to write about.

Sometimes good ideas. Sometimes bad ideas.

But it doesn't really matter.

If its something that triggers a thought I just start writing about it.

Alright. So here's another thing I usually do when I don't know what to write about...

# MEDIUM QUOTES

Medium has the pretty cool feature where people can highlight things they liked in a post and then share it on Twitter.

This is super useful. At least for me.

So whenever I have a popular post, which basically only happens when I post something in a large publication, then tons of people highlight stuff.

And many times the stuff that people highlight can easily be extended into a post.

So what can you do if you don't have any popular posts where people highlighted the good stuff?

Pretty easy.

Head on over to other people's stuff, take a look at some super popular posts and take a look at what people highlighted in there.

But don't read the post.

Just take a look at the highlights and see if something triggers a thought, an idea or something you'd like to write about.

Ok. I'm running out of ideas here...

Ah ok, got another one...

# CONVERSATIONS

I don't talk to so many people during the day. I also don't attend any useless meetings. Or have to do small talk during the day. Or scroll through Facebook or Instagram much. And the reason is pretty simple.

I want to limit my information intake. So I'm still able to somehow process the stuff that happened during the day. So that at the end of the day I can still remember most of the things I talked about with someone.

And there's almost always one piece of that conversation that can easily be extended into a bigger idea. That's how a lot of my ideas are born. By conversations with people. Or thinking about the stuff that happened during the day...

# EVERYTHING IS MATERIAL

At the end of the day you can basically write about everything. Everything can be an inspiration. That dog on the street. The cleaning lady in an overcrowded mega city somewhere in Asia who found nail polish on the streets and started painting here nails, that conversation you had, heck, even the conversation you didn't have. Especially that conversation you didn't have. And that thing you didn't do...

It doesn't really matter. I could even start writing about the room that I'm now in. That room in a small beach town in Portugal that's full of old furniture from a couple of decades ago that reminds me of medieval times.

Or the look on the faces of the people walking on the beach. The happiness. The sadness. The inner wars that were fought. Some of them were won. And some of them were lost. The scars of their youth. Of their past. Their present. And their future. The hope in their eyes. The sadness in their eyes. The beauty and the ugliness of their souls. The fulfillment of their hearts. The emptiness of their hearts...

# BOOKS

Books can be a great source of ideas, too. But for me this usually doesn't work that well. It only works if I have a lot of time. And unfortunately these days I don't really have that much time reading books.

I know. What writer doesn't have the time to read? Doesn't everybody say that to be a good writer you have to read a lot?

I don't know. Maybe that's true. Maybe it isn't. I'm not a good writer so I don't really know. And for some people it might be true. For some people it might not be true.

As for myself, I usually get confused if I read too much and my ideas aren't so clear anymore. So I prefer to just write. And occasionally also read a bit. But to me it seems that producing and consuming can't really be done effectively at the same time.

To be able to keep producing you've gotta have a clear mind. And to me reading is distraction. But also inspiration. But that's probably just me. And you might be different. We're all different. And it doesn't really matter how you come up with ideas. Or how you're getting inspired. Which brings me to my next point...

# THERE'S NO INSPIRATION

Inspiration doesn't exist. The only way to get inspired is to sit down ind consciously decide to start writing. To start creating. To start and finish. That's the only way.

And I'm surprised how well this works. Whenever I sit down and do my thing to come up with ideas and start writing it works. It works for me every single time. Just like right now.

It's almost 5pm right now. And I didn't really do much other than moving into this place right here, going for a run at the beach, then eating some stuff and watching some series online. That's all I really did.

I wasn't inspired at all. I just decided I'm going to write this right here right now. Without even knowing what to write about. And then I decided do give this improv writing a try. And it seems to be working quite well.

I decided to start writing about 15 minutes ago. I didn't have any clue about what to write about. And now I might already be at 1000+ words. And I'm confident that I'll be able to go and see the sunset at the beach. Now that I think about it I might even take a picture of the sunset and then use it as a picture for this post.

Yes, that's it. That's a lot better than posting a picture of the Google search. But then again, I won't be able to post this here before I head to the beach. Either way. When you see this post and saw the picture you'll know what I decided to do.

# TIME

Probably one of the best ways to come up with ideas is when you have a time limit. The bigger the pressure, the more focused and the better the results will be. Ok, the results won't always be better. But sometimes they won't be too bad.

My most popular post on Medium of all times was called 5 minutes. It took me 5 minutes to write it. Because I had a super spontaneous meeting with a friend in Bangkok and I couldn't miss that meeting.

It's incredible what we can achieve with time limits. But the problem is that artificial time limits don't work. Only real time limits work.

So how could you possibly limit your time then to come up with ideas faster and ship more often? Well, this brings me to my next idea...

# EVERY DAY

Ever since I started writing every day I'm so much more productive. Not just productive. But I ship a lot more than I ever did before. I'm not necessarily delivering only quality content all the time. But I get better at delivering and shipping.

And most of the time my stuff is not so good. But sometimes it's good. And that's already enough. Enough to get started. And every once in a while I hit a home run. Maybe once a month. And all the other stuff is just so so. But you know what?

It doesn't really matter. Because what matters is that shipping something every day takes away the fear of shipping. It takes away the fear of failure. Simply because when you have to ship something very single day it's impossible that you'll only be putting out great stuff. No one can do that.

And that's what's so great about shipping something every single day. It takes away the fear. The fear of failure. The fear of delivering something that might not be so perfect. And pretty much every other fear...

What should I write about? Will people like it? Will it be successful? Will people hate it? Will people hate me? What day of the week should I write? What time of the day should I publish? And on and on and on.

For me shipping something every day was a complete game changer. Because I stopped asking myself all of these stupid and useless questions. I didn't have the time. Because I had to write. I had to start. And I had to finish. Over and over again.

And I'll do it again tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. And hopefully for as long as I can write and think...

P.S. Here's the picture I took when I went to the beach: beach.jpg

Play it safe. Please!

My niece might be one of the laziest 12 year-olds I know. But then again, she's also the only 12 year old I know...

And because she's so lazy, doesn't pay attention in school and got an E in English as second language I'm not even worried about her reading or understanding any of this right here.

But then again. This isn't really about my niece.

Well, maybe it is.

Maybe it is...

School is useless.

Just like going to college is useless.

It's one of the most useless things in the 21st century.

Just like most of the other stuff society expects you to do is pretty much useless.

Unless and that's a really, really big unless...

Unless you have zero interest in anything else.

Unless you have zero passion for anything else.

Unless you never put in the work to become better at anything.

Unless all you do is to consume stuff.

And never create anything.

And I'm not just talking about 12 year old niece here.

Even though she exactly fits the bill.

In all of the above cases doing what society expects you to do might be the best possible thing you could do.

It might save your ass.

It sure did save my ass.

If I didn't do what I was told to do for the first 28 years of my life, then you wouldn't be reading this right here.

And I wouldn't be writing this right here.

And that's something I would be very, very upset about.

But school and college didn't save my ass because I learned so many things that helped me later on in life.

As a matter of fact pretty much everything I learned there was useless.

Nothing I ever did in my first couple of jobs had anything to do with anything I've ever learned in school or college.

When I graduated from college I didn't know anything about anything.

I wasn't able to do anything.

And nothing I do today has anything to do with the stuff I learned in school or college.

Ok, well maybe one thing.

I learned how to read and write.

But I was so bad at writing that my teacher constantly gave me the worst possible grades ever.

I was so traumatized by how much I seemed to suck at writing that I didn't write anything for the next 10 years or so.

I also didn't touch any books for the next 8 years or so.

But still. School and college saved my ass.

It saved my ass because it helped me to get a job that paid really well.

Even though it was a job that had nothing to do with any of the things I learned in college.

I always jokingly said that a trained monkey could do my job.

But today I'm not sure anymore if I was really joking...

Either way. That job helped me to save some money.

Money I would probably not have been able to make on my own.

Why? 

Because I still had to figure out and learn how to make money on my own.

And that took me almost three years.

Either way...

College, university and doing what society expects you to do is useless.

Unless you're like me.

Then it might save your ass....

But don't ever get stuck doing what you're told to do.

Or at one point you might celebrate your 80th birthday and realize that you've never really done anything you really wanted to do in life.

And as we all know, the only person you should ever try to please is your 80 year old self...

 

What does this say about me?

I don't use a smartphone.

I haven't had a phone number for the past 3 years.

I don't have a clue about cryptocurrencies.

I didn't have a job or clients for the past 4 years.

I never bought any furniture in my life.

I don't read the news.

I never bought an Apple product...

What does all of this say about me?

Nothing and everything.

What does it say about all of the above?

Again, nothing and everything...

The answer is...

...practice. To what question? To pretty much every question...

What do you do when...?

What do you do when it feels like your relationship is going nowhere?

What do you do when it seems like your job won't exist anymore tomorrow?

What do you do when everything seems to be falling apart?

What do you do when..

You have two choices.

You always have...

You can ignore it, hide from it or hope that things get better.

Or you can have that difficult conversation.

Or learn that difficult new skill.

Or build something on the side to spread your risk.

Ignoring, hiding and hoping that things get better almost never gets you to a place you really want to be.

Still, that's exactly what we tend to do.

And when I say you I'm basically talking to myself. 

So what do you do when the world is changing?

Do you wait until the world forces you to change or do you try to participate in shaping that change?

Too much time...

Almost always kills great work, great ideas and genius people.

Not enough time on the other hand very often gives birth to great work, great ideas and genius people...

Hey, James here again...

I just wanted to follow up on yesterday's story.

So after I was let go 15 years ago life was pretty rough.

It was a complete chaos for the first couple of years.

More and more people were let go.

More and more people didn't know what to do with their lives anymore.

I felt crushed.

They felt crushed.

The entire world felt crushed.

The entire world seemed upside down.

And the government and politicians didn't know what to do about it.

They didn't see it coming.

Well, maybe they did.

But they were too afraid of telling the truth

Too afraid of telling us the truth.

Too afraid of telling themselves the truth.

Heck, even we were too afraid of telling ourselves the truth.

Politicians and governments were too afraid of telling us that we should start taking care of ourselves again.

That the world was changing.

That the employment model was a thing of the past.

That corporations wouldn't be able to take care of us anymore.

That governments wouldn't be able to take care of us anymore.

That politicians wouldn't be able to take care of us anymore.

And that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

No matter what they said.

They couldn't stop it.

They couldn't just magically create new jobs.

New opportunities.

And new perspectives.

No one could.

Another reason they couldn't tell the truth is that it would mean that we didn't really need most politicians anymore.

Not all of them. But most of them.

And when the shit hits the fan people look out for themselves first...

But not only this...

Admitting that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, about the world changing, would essentially have helped radical organizations, radical parties and radical individuals to gain more and more power.

By luring people in with promises. Employment promises. Opportunities. And hope. By helping people to find others to blame. 

So they couldn't tell the truth.

Because the truth would have destabilized most countries even more. 

But maybe they should have.

I don't know.

Maybe it would have helped us to get ready for the storm.

After all, a hurricane without a warning is a lot more disastrous than with a warning.

When you have the time to get ready.

Either way...

So for the first couple of years everybody was fighting.

Fighting for survival.

Fighting to find ways to make some money.

Fighting to relearn how to take care of ourselves again.

Politicians and governments were trying to figure things out.

But what most of them were busy with first and foremost was to make sure they could keep their jobs.

Everybody who still had a job fought hard to protect it for as long as they could.

There were tons of riots all over the world.

Over and over again.

There was practically no middle class left anymore anywhere in the world.

Civil wars happened everywhere.

We were close to a new world war a couple of times.

We were close to a total collapse multiple times.

But things changed.

Things changed...

“Hey I'm James...

... and I was replaced by an algorithm that I helped to create.

I was told to tell you my story. So that's what I'll do...

The last 15 years of my life have been very tough.

I was a relatively successful software developer.

But then all of a sudden I was replaced.

I was replaced by an algorithm.

An algorithm that I helped to create.

An algorithm that helped my company to get rid of 98% of its workers.

So instead of 100 people to do the work all they needed were just 2 people.

2...

2 people were enough to manage, maintain and to make sure the algorithm did the right stuff.

And everybody else was let go.

And I was stupid enough to think I would be among the ones they'd keep.

I thought I'd be one of the 2.

Turns out I wasn't...

And the exact same thing happened in pretty much every department in pretty much every industry and company out there.

People were let go in design, marketing, sales, software development and on and on and on.

It affected every industry.

And I wasn't the only one.

Most of my friends were let go, too.

So we had a lot of time to discuss whose fault it was.

We probably spent the first couple of months arguing whose fault it was.

It was either the government, the corporations, capitalism, socialism, democracy, autocracy or some other -cy.

Sometimes it was also the Russian's fault. Or the Chinese's fault. Or the Indian's fault.

Or Trumpp. Or the nazis. Or the migrants. Or the...

Either way.

We never really figued out whose fault it was exactly.

But there were enough of them to blame.

So life was tough for the first couple of months.

Heck, it was really tough for the first couple of years.

Because no one was left to take care of us anymore.

Corporations only needed 2 people to get the work done they previously needed 100 people for.

So there were no more jobs left.

And no new jobs were created.

The government didn't help much either.

Politicians were trying to come up with things and policies that would help people.

But no one was prepared for it.

The government wasn't ready for it.

Politicians weren't ready for it.

The people weren't ready for it.

Heck, I wasn't even ready for it.

No one saw it coming.

We all thought it wouldn't affect us.

We all thought it would only hit blue collar workers.

And jobs you don't need a college degree for.

And there I was.

Ivy league diploma.

Best in class.

Middle management.

Climbing the ladder.

Just like all of my friends.

We thought it wouldn't affect us.

We thought we were safe.

We were drinking, laughing and having fun.

We were having a great time.

Maybe even the time of our lives.

Until we got the bill.

Then the fun was over.

We always thought the party would last forever.

We were sure that all of this stuff wouldn't affect us.

Until it did.

Until it did..."

So who is this James?

Who is James?

I'm James..

You're James...

We're all James....

 

Simple

This is simple. And simple is almost always enough...

 

Don't waste it...

More than 70 years ago my mom's family came as refugees to this country with nothing.

Less than 30 years ago about half of the population of my country didn't live in freedom.

And today I have the privilege to be free.

I have the privilege to go wherever I want to go.

I have the privilege to do whatever I want to do.

I'm free to write this right here.

I'm free to put my thoughts out there for the entire world to see.

And people from all over the world can read it.

We can now all listen to music from countries and places we've never been before.

We can meet up and make friends with people from all over the world without having to leave our home country.

We can talk two to three languages in the city we were born in the course of just a few hours without having to board a plane.

Freedom comes and goes.

And sometimes you'll be more free.

While other times you'll be less free.

And many times you'll take freedom for granted.

But even more importantly...

What are you going to do with it?

That one thing...

That one thing that's supposed to change everything almost never changes anything.

The only thing that will ever change anything is when you change.

When you change and do more of the things you really want to do.

When you change and become the person you always say you wanted to be.

That's the only thing that will ever change anything.

As a matter of fact that's the thing that might not just change anything but everything...

How to stop giving a shit...

Now I could write down a super long list of things you could do to stop giving a shit.

Things you could do to stop giving a shit about what people think about you.

What your boss thinks about you.

What your co-workers think about you.

What society thinks about you.

What that girl at that bar thinks about you.

But I won't.

I won't write down a big ass list of things you could do.

Why?

Because others are a lot better than me at this kind of stuff.

And I believe that at the end of the day caring too much about others and being worried about everything boils down to the simple fact that we think we have too much to lose...

And the more you think you have to lose or the harder you had to fight to get to where you are right now, the more you'll care and worry about all sorts of things you actually shouldn't care about at all.

Because you're afraid of making mistakes.

Of losing what you already have.

Of losing what you've worked for so hard.

Just think about it...

Kids don't give a shit about anything.

Because they don't have anything to lose.

Whatever they do, they can only win.

Zero fucks mentality right there.

But when we grow up, when we achieve one thing after another we're constantly afraid of losing what we have.

We're afraid of losing our jobs we worked so hard for.

Our relationships.

Our house.

Reputation.

Trust.

Money.

Time.

Friends.

Opportunities.

And on and on and on.

We're constantly afraid of losing stuff we worked so hard for to get.

We want to arrive.

We don't want to start all over again.

We just want to arrive and be safe.

We fought hard to get all of this stuff.

So we're afraid of losing any of it.

Even the slightest possibility of loss scares the shit out of us.

So we constantly worry about this and that.

We give too much shit about things we shouldn't actually care about at all.

So how can you stop giving a shit?

I don't know.

Because I don't know you.

And we're all different.

But here's what helps me put things into perspective...

I know I'm going to die.

Sooner or later.

So at the end of the day whatever I do, I can only win.

Whatever I try, I can only win.

Because I only have this one life to try...

Easy things...

Are sometimes harder than hard things.

Simply because over time most people will do the easy stuff.

The stuff that has always worked.

The stuff that will always work.

So over time you'll end up competing with everybody else who's competing with everybody else.

And over time the easy things get harder and harder to succeed at.

Until at one point the easy things are harder to succeed at than the hard things.

And the hard things are easier to succeed at than the easy things.

Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to know when that happens.

It's almost impossible to know when you're approaching that point.

It's almost impossible to know when the easy stuff stops working and you'd have to start all over again.

And because the easy stuff will always stop working sooner or later you might as well just do the hard stuff...

 

Stating the obvious

Everything that has ever been said and will ever be said is obvious.

Because there will always be some people who'll find it obvious.

And then there will be some people who won't find it obvious.

For some people the things you say, the things you do and the things you create can be life changing.

While for others you'll be stating the obvious.

And that's fine.

But don't waste your time, energy and emotions on them.

And instead spend your time, energy and emotions on changing people's lives...

The secret to consistency

Consistency has many enemies.

Criticism.

Nay-saying.

Fear.

Expectations.

Rejection.

Bad mouthing.

Anger.

Perfectionism.

Doubt....

Those are just a few things holding you back.

Those are the things holding you back from being more consistent.

From putting yourself out there.

Over and over again.

So what's the secret to consistency?

The secret to consistency is to overcome all of the above.

And how do you overcome all of the above?

You have to stop giving a shit...

Money...

Has the power to turn you into the person you secretly always wanted to be.

But it also has the power to turn you into the person you never wanted to be.

It has the power to either make you or break you.

And many times when you think it made you it really broke you...

What do you do when you don't know what to do?

We hold on to the things we already know.

The things that have worked in the past.

The things everybody else is doing.

The things we might not even enjoy that much.

The things we aren't even really convinced of.

The things we merely do because we don't know what else to do.

That's normal.

And human.

Because change is scary.

Everything new is scary.

And could be dangerous.

But the problem is that it doesn't really work anymore.

Going back to the familiar doesn't work as well anymore as it did just a few decades ago.

The things that might have worked yesterday might not work anymore tomorrow.

Yesterday things were mostly linear.

Things were more predictable.

And change didn't happen so fast.

But today things aren't that linear anymore.

Things are a lot less predictable.

And messy.

And change happens pretty much every single day.

It's scary.

It really is.

But it's also exciting.

It's exciting when you're able to overcome your fear.

The fear of the unknown.

The fear of uncertainty.

The fear of change.

Of potential failure.

The fear of everything new.

Luckily we all have a choice.

We can embrace it or we can hide from it.

And hiding always seems like a great idea at first.

Until you get caught.

And you'll always get caught.

Sooner or later.

No matter what.

What do you do when you don't know what to do?

Too early or too late?

When you think it's too early it's probably the right time.

And when you think it's already too late, then it's probably still the right time.

But whenever you're convinced that now is the right time, then it's probably already way too late...

Too early or too late?

I Finally...

I finally got a new (freelance) job so I can start working again.

I finally got a new boyfriend so I can go to the cinema again.

I finally got those new running shoes so I can go for a run again.

Here's the thing...

You don't get the job by waiting for the job.

Just like you don't get the new boyfriend by waiting for a new boyfriend.

Just like you don't start running again only once you have new shoes.

Instead you've gotta work hard and put yourself out there precisely when you're out of work, out of boyfriends, out of proper running shoes and out of luck.

Because that's precisely how you get that new job, that new boyfriend, built that habit of going for a run and ultimately get lucky again...

This is what's going to happen...

You do something new.

You're all excited about it.

And can't wait to get started.

And then at one point something unexpected happens.

Because unexpected things always happen.

No matter what.

Some people might get over that first roadblock.

Some might even get over that second, third, fourth and maybe even fifth roadblock.

But most people will give up at one point.

Because it's exhausting.

Uncertainty is exhausting.

Uncertainty might be the most exhausting thing out there.

It's exhausting to constantly be jumping over a cliff without knowing whether or not you'll even make it to the other side alive.

So that new thing gets more and more exhausting.

Life gets more and more exhausting.

This is what's going to happen.

Because it always happens...

So what can you do about it?

I don't know.

Uncertainty is exhausting.

It really is.

But so is unhappiness...

What's freedom?

I don't know what freedom is.

Or what it might mean to you.

And it's probably different for all of us.

And depends on where you live.

And your circumstances.

But it can be as simple as...

Being able to walk 45 minutes to a place on a workday around 3pm instead of taking the bus just because you can.

Being able to spend time with the kids on a Monday afternoon without having to ask anyone for permission.

Being able to watch series on a workday around 1pm without worrying about getting fired.

Being able to do whatever you want without ever having to ask anyone for permission except yourself.

Being able to calculate the risks and taking responsibility for all of your actions and their consequences without worrying about not being able to pay next month's rent.

Freedom doesn't have to be complicated.

Or involves having a lot.

Or traveling to fancy places.

Sometimes freedom involves being able to kiss your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife or husband on a workday at 3pm without having to take a day off...

What did you do today to get closer to your freedom?

Hard things...

Take more energy than most people are willing to put in.

Take more persistence than most people have.

Take more trial and error than most people feel comfortable with.

Take more patience than most people have.

Hard things sometimes take hundreds of steps backwards to be able to go one step forward.

That's why hard things still work.

That's why hard things will always work.

Because most people don't do the hard stuff.

Because there's no roadmap.

And no guidebook to follow.

There's no guarantee you'll ever succeed.

Hard stuff works.

And in the end it might even be easier to succeed doing the hard stuff than doing the easy stuff.

Because most people do the easy stuff.

And everybody who does the easy stuff, the stuff that everybody else is doing will end up competing with everybody else who's competing with everybody else.

And when you're competing with everybody else who's competing with everybody else it's almost impossible to win.

So in the end, the easy stuff gets so crowded that the easy stuff stops working.

And you'll almost always end up getting ignored, replaced, outsourced, broke(n) or somewhere in the middle of nowhere. 

It is and always will be your own choice.

Just like it is and always will be your own fault.

Just like it is and always will be my own fault...

Defragmenting your mind

Back in the days when we were still using computers and laptops longer than 12 months before buying a new one we had to defragment them every once in a while.

That's at least what people told us to do when things slowed down.

Whether or not it really helped, I don't know.

At least it felt like things were running smoother and faster after doing it.

Maybe today is the day to finally defrag your mind.

Maybe things will run smoother and faster afterwards.

Maybe they won't.

But it's worth a try...

What defines you?

The things that didn't go so well or the things that went pretty well?

The things you screwed up or the things you mastered?

The things you don't have or the things you do have?

The people who criticized you and your work or the people who celebrated you and your work?

The people who rejected you or the people who accepted you?

We all have a choice.

And that choice can make all the difference.

In what?

In pretty much everything...

Should I do this or should I do that?

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what you do.

This or that doesn't really matter.

What matters is that you keep moving.

That you never stand still.

That you're willing to change from this to that.

Over and over again.

That you're willing to go from that to this when the time has come.

What matters is that you keep learning.

That you keep reinventing yourself.

That you keep your momentum alive.

That you don't get stuck.

And keep moving.

That's the only way to stay relevant.

That's the only way to survive in the 21^st century.

That's the only way to survive in a time where the things that work today might not work anymore tomorrow.

Being able to go from this to that and from that to this is the only way.

Finding certainty in uncertainty is the only way.

Embracing and leveraging uncertainty when everybody else is busy looking for certainty is the way...

What do you do when no one watches?

It's easy to keep showing up when the spotlight is on you.

When you're the center of attention.

When everybody watches.

What's difficult though is to keep showing up when no one watches.

To keep doing your thing when no one seems to care.

This might be the most difficult thing out there.

To give it all you got and to give your best when no one watches.

When no one seems to care.

The only way people will ever start to watch, start to listen and start to notice is when you give it all you got.

No matter how many or how few people are watching.

That's what makes the whole thing so difficult.

You've gotta show up when no one else seems to show up.

When no one else but you shows up.

When the stadium is empty.

And then you've gotta play your best gig you possibly can.

Over and over again.

For how long?

For as long as you possibly can.

Until people start to show up.

Until people start to notice.

There really is no other way.

The only way to fill a stadium is by playing your best shows in as many empty stadiums as possible for as long and as often as you can...

What do you do when no one watches?

When in doubt...

1. Stop lying to yourself.

2. Tell yourself the truth.

3. Do it and find out...

All you have to do...

All you have to do is to do the things you want others to do.

The things you expect others to do.

To be the person you say you are.

That's the only thing you can do if you want to change things.

If you're not satisfied with the way things are going.

Change doesn't come from talking about the things that go wrong.

It comes from doing.

Change comes from being the person you say you are...

The art of the right time

It's very likely that today isn't the right time.

That the thing you're thinking about doing isn't going to work out.

But the problem is that the only way to figure out whether you were right or wrong is to do it.

The only way to figure out whether or not you can make this work is to try to make it work.

It's never the right time.

That's why it's always the right time...

Never underestimate the things that everybody else ignores

Just because you wouldn't use it or don't use it anymore doesn't necessarily mean that everybody else won't use it.

Funny enough, when the big majority believes that something doesn't work anymore, then there's an opportunity for low hanging fruits.

When everybody else is busy doing the things that everybody else is busy doing, then the things that worked before, that no one does anymore today, sometimes work even better than before.

Sometimes they work even better than that new new thing that's currently being hyped.

Simply because there's no competition left.

Never underestimate the things that everybody else ignores...

 

Just because...

Just because you decide to do something that has already been done before by millions of other people doesn't mean that it'll be better, just because you’re now the one doing it.

It doesn't mean that the market will even care.

That people will even care.

Even if you think you're better than everybody else out there.

Even if you think you're putting in more work than everybody else out there.

Even if you think you might care more than everybody else.

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what everybody else out there was thinking when they created their stuff.

When they created their art.

When they wrote their books.

When they recorded their songs.

When they recorded their interviews.

Showing up, doing your thing and caring about what you do is a good start.

But that's all it is.

It's a start.

The real magic happens when you go out there and do things that no one else has ever done before.

When you experiment.

And do things that might not work.

The magic doesn't happen when you do what millions of other people already did before.

The magic happens when you take a thing that has been done before and do it in a different way.

Or when you do something that has never been done before.

Following a blueprint won't get you anywhere.

It'll only get you to a place where everybody else already is.

A place where you'll be competing with everybody else who's busy competing with everybody else.

And that's never a good place to be at...