yann girard - rethinking the now

Time...

Is the only thing we need.

And it's the only thing we have.

So choose wisely...

Doing vs seeing.

We live in a time where we can "see" everything.

We can predict almost anything because everything has already been analyzed, done, said or written before.

But it turns out that the really important things, the things that can change our lives forever are really hard to "see".

That's why for the really important things, the only way to see them is to do them.

To see whether or not it'll work out.

 

And yes, it's probably not going to work out.

Just like the voice in your head predicted it. 

Just like everybody else predicted it.

But then again, some of the things do work out.

And when they do, they're usually worth a lot more than those dozens of things that didn't work out.

The only way to really see it is to do it.

So hang in there...

"Better" is a race you can't win

You can try to become a better designer.

Or a better freelancer.

Or a better writer.

Or a better singer.

Or a better employee.

Sure, better is good. 

But "better" is also a race you'll never be able to win.

There'll always be someone who's be better than you.

Or catch up to you.

So it's a race that never ever stops.

And that's exhausting.

So instead of trying to be better, instead of trying to keep up with everybody else's who's busy trying to keep up with everybody else, why not try to be different?

Fast and efficient

Your phone makes you fast and efficient.

And the faster you can respond to a request, the more requests you'll be able to answer.

And the more requests you'll be able to answer, the more you'll get hooked on answering requests.

And the more you're hooked on and waiting to be able to respond to requests, the less time you'll actually have to create things that matter.

No doubt about it. 

Responding to requests is important. 

But so is creation.

Because the only way to create the life you want is to create it...

Enough...

Enough data.

Enough experience.

Enough time.

Enough confidence.

Enough money.

Enough willpower.

You'll never have enough.

Ever.

Because the only way to get any (or all) of the above is to get started.

So you might as well start today...

Hiding and protecting

They say that ideas that spread win. So why are you trying to hide and protect yours?

Most people will never get rich in a goldrush.

Because the only thing that’s going to happen when you get down on your knees and dig for gold in the dirt is that you’re going to get really, really, really dirty... 

So who makes money in a goldrush?

Usually the people telling you about the goldrush.

The people owning the land.

The people selling the shovels and the equipment.

The hotel owners. 

The bar owners.

And on and on and on.

But it's usually not the people that get down on their knees digging for gold in the dirt.

So don't just dig for gold.

And instead dig for gold, work in the bar, sell some shovels, buy some land and sell some claims all at the same time.

So that when the tide goes out you're not the one who's standing on the beach naked...

Doing things you don't want to be doing

Doing something you don't really want to be doing just because you think it's necessary to be able do the thing you really want to be doing is never a good idea.

And it's almost always a good idea to just do the thing you really want to be doing. 

Not that it'll be any easier.

Because it won't...

As a matter of fact doing what you really want to be doing will be a lot harder than doing the thing you don't really want to be doing.

But if you're going to end up doing the thing you really want to be doing anyway, then you might as well just start doing it right away.

Without having to go through all the pain of doing things you don't really want to be doing...

 

Your best bet...

Your best bet to hedge against change that could crush you is to get involved in the very same thing that's causing that change.

This of course is very intuitive.

But the reality looks quite different...

Instead of participating in change we usually tend to first ignore it, then to underestimate it, and then to fight it.

The problem is that we can't win against change. Ever.

No one can.

So we might as well just become a part of that change and benefit from it instead of getting crushed by it... 

One is manageable

One page is manageable.

Just like one blog post is manageable.

Or one song.

Or one talk.

Or one interview

Everybody can do that.

But one page, one blog post, one song, one talk or one interview every day is what's really hard.

Doing the work isn't the challenging part anymore. 

It has gotten easier and easier to get stuff done.

Today, the challenging part is to consistently put in the work.

Which is also why it's the only way to get to where you want to be...

The other way round...

It's by going nowhere that you usually end up somewhere.

And by trying to go somewhere that you usually end up nowhere.

Just like by being a nobody that you usually end up being a somebody.

And by trying to be a somebody, that you usually end up being a nobody...

"You've changed...."

Is great news. Because if you hadn't, then you'd still be the exact same you've been before...

New skills are useless

You can learn as many new skills as you want to.

But if you don't learn how you can get people to find out about you, your skills and what you have on offer, then that new skill is probably not going to change a whole lot.

So if you're thinking about learning a new skill, make it this one.

Make it the one that will help you to leverage all of your existing and future skills...

The best hedge against change

Is to embrace it.

There really is no other way.

Change is scary.

And the best hedge against the things you're scared of is to embrace them.

To not just ignore them, but to get ready for them.

To not just run away from them, but to run towards them.

To learn how you can benefit from them, instead of getting crushed by them.

That's why the best hedge against change is to embrace change.

To learn how you can best leverage it.

How you can put yourself in a position where you can benefit from it.

So that change makes you stronger.

Instead of weaker...

And in case that the change you're scared of catches on (and it almost always does), then you're not caught totally off guard. 

And if it doesn't catch on, well then you just keep doing what you've always been doing...

But isn't this easier said than done?

Well, almost everything is easier said than done.

That's why there are a lot more people talking about change instead of getting ready for that change...

the dirty work

The truth is that we all have great ideas somewhere hidden deep down inside of us.

Ideas, thoughts and messages that have the potential to change the world.

The problem is that we don't want to do the dirty work it takes to get those ideas to spread.

At the end of the day we all have the potential to do great things.

We all have...

But the people who win, the people who get their ideas to spread aren't necessarily the smartest or the richest people out there.

They're usually the ones who are willing to do the dirty work.

And not just the fun work.

Here's the thing...

Everybody can upload a video to YouTube.

Or self publish a book on Amazon.

Or write a blog post on Medium

Or start a blog.

Or code that new app.

Or whatever.

That's the easy part.

Today, pretty much everybody can do that.

The hard part is the dirty work.

The work that no one really wants to do.

The uncomfortable stuff like sitting in front of your laptop until 3am in the morning trying to figure out how to get that damn thing to work.

Like writing hundreds of people and asking them for feedback and getting no response at all.

Like sending your book to dozens of publishers and getting zero replies.

Like writing dozens of blog posts without getting any feedback at all.

The dirty work is doing all of this, being aware of how it's pretty much impossible to succeed and at the same tiime not giving up on your mission.

The truth is that everybody can do it.

But almost nobody will...

Because, well, the fun stuff is a lot more fun...

That one thing.

That one big idea that will change everything.

That one big deal.

That one call.

That one date.

That one big thing that will change everything....

...doesn't really exist.

It's a myth.

That one big thing is the result of hundreds of small things.

Of hundreds of ideas.

Deals.

Calls.

And dates.

That one big thing doesn't exist.

So don't waste your life waiting for it.

Because it won't come.

So get going...

Making it cheaper

The problem when you're competing on price is that at one point you can't possibly deliver quality work anymore.

Because the lower you go, the more jobs and things you'd have to take on to keep the boat afloat.

And the more things you'd have to work on at the same time, the lower the quality of your work will be.

And the lower the quality of your work, the less you'd be able to charge.

It's a vicious circle.

A vicious circle where the only people able to win are the people who have access to the cheapest talent possible and are able to scale the fastest.

Which is probably not you.

Or me... 

On purpose

I started this blog more than five years ago.

I mostly started it because I didn't know what else to do.

Now five years and 1290 blog posts later I'm still doing it.

And I guess it's true what they say...

You don't need to look, think or research extensively to find your life's purpose.

It's the things you do and create that will give your life purpose...

You probably don't need...

You probably don't need more money.

Or more time.

Or more ideas.

Or more help.

Or more followers.

You probably just have to figure out what to do with the one(s) you've got already...

It's easy...

"I could have said that."

"Written that."

"Sang that."

"Recorded that."

"Created that."

"Made that."

"Done that."

...

Did you?

The things you don't enjoy

There's this notion out there that we're all entitled to do what we love.

But the truth is we aren't.

No one is...

Because to be able to keep doing what you love, to be able to do more of the things you love, you have to do more and more of the things you don't love...

Because the things you don't want to do are usually the things that will enable you to do more of the things you actually really enjoy doing.

Until when?

Until you don't have to anymore...

If you're an artist, you have to become a marketer.

Because if you don't know how to market your art, then no one is ever going to find out about your art.

If you're a creator, you have to become a sales person.

Because if you don't, then no one is ever going to end up buying your stuff. 

If you're a freelance designer, then you have to become a business person.

Because if you don't, then you'll always be struggling to find new clients. 

If you're a business owner, you have to become an artist.

Because if you don't, then you'll always be competing with everybody else who's competing with everybody else. 

It's usually the things we don't want to do that will enable us to keep doing the things we really enjoy doing...

And the only way to do more of the work you love doing is to do more of the work you don’t enjoy doing.

Until you don't have to anymore...

Everybody is busy figuring out what's next

I'm busy figuring out what's next.

Your boss is busy figuring out what's next.

Just like her boss is.

Just like your entire company is.

Just like politicians are.

Just like governments are.

And even entire countries are.

Sometimes it's worth waiting.

And sometimes it's not.

And this time it's definitely not worth waiting.

Because once the above have figured out what's going to happen next, it's probably already too late for you to react and to adapt.

So stop waiting.

And start creating...

About detours and shortcuts

Most of the time shortcuts turn out to be detours.

Detours that need all of your attention, time, energy and resources to get back to where you initially wanted to go.

And once you're back on track you don't have the attention, time, energy and resources anymore that you need to get to where you initially set out to go and do the things you wanted to do.

Most of the time the things that look like a shortcut turn out to be detours.

And the things that looked like a detour at first turn out to be the real shortcuts...

More less time

You have more time than you think you have.

Just like you have less time than you think you have.

You have more time than you think you have to get to where you have to be.

But you have less and less time than you think you have to get started with your journey to getting where you have to be.

Because that journey will take time.

A lot of time.

So you'd better get going...

Great...

A designer will tell you that you need a great logo to succeed.

Just like an editor will tell you that you need a great editor to succeed.

Just like a marketer will tell you that you need a great marketer to succeed.

Just like a recruiter will tell you that you need a great recruiter to succeed. 

Just like a financial adviser will tell you that you need professional financial advice to succeed.

I think you get it...

But the truth is that you probably need none of them.

At least not right now.

So why is everyone telling you that you need them?

Because it's their job.

That's how they make a living.

And if someone's advice is directly linked to them making a living with the advice they're are giving then it's always a good idea to take their advice with a pinch of salt.

So what is it that you really need to succeed?

You have to be really, really good at what you do.

Maybe one of the best out there. 

And if you aren't, then none of the above will help you.

Ever...

So make sure you get that part right.

And then, once you've done that, once you're really, really good at what you do, then you can start to worry about hiring all those people...

New clients

That new website will rarely get you new clients.

Just like those new business cards will rarely get you new clients.

Or that fancy new logo.

Or that faster web host...

It's all just busy work.

Busy work that makes you feel like you're making progress when all you're really doing is to just keep yourself busy.

Without working on getting new clients. 

Because the only people who will even notice all of this stuff are people who already know about you.

And the people who already know about you are either already your clients or have already rejected being your clients in the past.

So what will get you new clients then?

Going out there and trying to find new clients will.

Like it or not, but that really is the only way...

 

Thinking about chips

You'll be thinking about that bag of chips until you eat it.

The good news is...

You can get it right away.

All you gotta do is to go to the shop just a few blocks away, hand the cashier a couple of bucks and that's it.

Unfortunately, most things in life have (almost) nothing in common with a bag of chips.

The only thing they have in common is that we won't stop thinking about the things we want until we get them.

Just like that bag of chips.

The bad news is that almost nothing important in life is as easy to get as a bag of chips.

Most of the really important things in life take an unreal amount of effort.

Which is why we never really start working on them.

Or if we did, we usually quit before we have them because it takes just way too much energy, time and resources.

The good news is that we can get that bag of chips right away.

The bad news is that a bag of chips is about the only thing we can get right away...

History...

Knowing and understanding what got the people you admire to where they are today makes it easier to understand where you have to be tomorrow.

Just like knowing and understanding what got you where you are today makes it easier to understand where you should (or shouldn't anymore) be tomorrow.

Just like knowing and understanding where we came from makes it easier to understand where we might be heading to next.

That's why knowing and understanding history might be the most important thing out there...

One way to think about luck

Is that it's just that, luck...

That you can't really do anything about it.

That all you can do is to just wait for things to happen.

And then maybe you'll get lucky.

Or maybe you won't.

This of course is very convenient.

And easy to believe in.

Because it puts you off the hook.

And reduces your efforts to a minimum.

Maybe a lottery ticket will do it.

You can't do anything about it, so why even bother working harder, learning that new skill, doing that new thing or showing up more often...

Very convenient.

And then there's another way to think about luck.

A very inconvenient way of thinking about luck.

Because it puts you on the hook.

So here's the thing...

What if luck was the result of working harder, of learning new skills, of doing new things and showing up more often?

Would you believe it?

But even more importantly, what will you do about it?

Finding you on Google

You could try to rank for hot keywords.

Or for that new niche.

Or for the long tail.

But you're probably never going to rank for that.

Ever.

And even if you're lucky and you do, then probably just for a split second.

The thing is that it's just way too crowded out there.

And it gets more and more crowded every single day.

So instead of trying to rank for the things that everybody else is trying to rank for, why not try to rank for yourself?

Why not try to rank for your name?

Or your brand name?

Why not try to do that instead?

Why not work on something where people will end up searching for you directly instead of trying to trick them into some kind of online funnel?

I know it sounds difficult.

And it probably is.

But in the long run it's probably the best (and easiest) choice to rank for something where you'll be competing with no one else other than yourself...

The bestsellers

Of course you're not going to get ahead when all you do is to read, watch or listen to the bestsellers.

Because millions of other people are already doing this exact same thing.

So all that's probably going to happen is that you're going to end up trying to keep up with everybody else who's trying to keep up with everybody else.

And trying to keep up is never a good idea when you're trying to get ahead....