yann girard - rethinking the now

Saying it out loud

If you're clear about, say out loud and announce what you want to achieve, then there are two things that can happen...

You either work as hard as you can to achieve it and consequently increase your chances of getting there or you're not clear about it and don't say it out loud at all because you're afraid of the humiliation if you don't get there.

Unfortunately, most people go with the second option.

Most people remain quiet and unclear about their goals, their dreams and their ambitions and consequently never really increase their chances of getting there. 

But is it really an alternative?

Is giving up your dreams, your goals and your ambitions really worth it just to avoid humiliation that might or might not occur some time down the road?

I think that's a good question to end the old and start the new year with...

What happens until then...?

What happens until you're successful?

Until you've found the love of your life?

Until things get better?

Until you're happy?

Until you're satisfied?

Until the sun comes out again?

Until you've found meaning in your life?

Until you've achieved all your dreams?

What happens until then?

Whatever it is that you're making happen.

Because no one else will make it for you...

The sun will one day rise again

It's not about being an optimist.

Or a pessimist.

It's about the fact that the night will always be darkest right before dawn... just like they say.

And that whenever you think it's darkest already, it probably isn't.

At the end of the day it's about being a realist.

About darkness and light.

Because darkness can't be avoided.

But it's also about believing and never giving up to believe that the sun will one day rise again.

That's what it's all about...

Mom and pops store structures

Just a few short years ago the biggest challenge was to reach your audience and growth.

This has changed a whole lot since the Internet.

You can now reach millions of people around the world and sell your goods and services to pretty much anyone living anywhere.

So today the biggest challenge is to pay attention to building the proper structures early on that are able to house that global footprint and growth.

It's never been easier to build a business with the complexity of a multi million dollar business with the structures of a mom and pops store.

But just because it is, doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea...

The truth is...

Entrepreneurship isn't about the stuff you love doing.

Especially, when you're just getting started.

As a matter of fact, a lot of it is about the stuff you probably hate doing.

Accounting, book keeping, taxes, marketing, sales, regulations, laws, design, business development and on and on and on.

Just a fraction of it will be about the stuff you actually really enjoy doing.

So why not hire people to do it for you?

It's pretty simple.

Because if you did, you'd already be broke before you even started.

So if you consider doing your own thing, then consider all of the above.

And then act accordingly...

The problem about success....

... is that succeeding (in any field) is probably exactly as hard as you imagine it to be.

Maybe even harder than that.

But just because it is doesn't necessarily mean that hiding, that not giving it a try and playing small is such a good idea.

As a matter of fact, it's the reason for not hiding, for giving it a try and for trying to play big.

Because everybody already expects you to fail anyway...

 

The nonsense radar...

The problem about breakthroughs is that they look like a lot of nonsense for quite some time.

They usually look like nonsense until the very last second before it's clear to everybody out there that they aren't. 

And when that happens it's usually already too late to be a part of that breakthrough.

So how can you spot breakthroughs in advance?

One way of doing it is to try to see more things like possible breakthroughs, instead of seeing almost everything new as total nonsense.

So how do you get better at spotting real breakthroughs then?

By having seen and believed in a lot of possible breakthrough that turned out to be total nonsense....

The things we're struggling with

Are usually the things we do last.

And because we never really run out of things to do, we usually end up never doing them.

So why should we even do anything uncomfortable?

Because everything you now feel comfortable doing, everything that's now part of who you are were once things you've felt uncomfortable doing.

Hang in there...

Barking up the wrong tree

You can't expect from (all) your employees to be more innovative, to take more risk and to keep creating something new.

Because all of the above is very likely not going to work out.

And it's not safe.

And not secure.

But that's precisely the reason why a lot of people became employees in the first place... and not entrepreneurs....

A lot of employees just don't want to take risks anymore.

And instead they want something safe.

Something secure.

If you're constantly barking up the wrong tree all that's going to happen is that you're going to scare a hell lot of people while they're busy doing the things they're already pretty good at...

How long does it take to change the world?

You can spend your whole life talking about that change you want to create in the world and end up changing nothing.

Just like you can think for decades about that grand idea of yours and end up doing nothing.

Or you can just go out there and start to make things happen.

Change doesn't take months.

Or years.

Or decades.

Or a million dollars.

Sometimes it takes as little as a few minutes a day.

A few minutes a day over a lifetime will add up to at least one life changed.

Even if it's just your own.

It still counts...

And matters...

More than you think...

The problem with problems

Is that they tend to multiply.

The more problems you try to solve, the more new problems will pop up.

And it never really stops.

The good news is that the more problems you solve, the better you'll get at solving problems.

The bad news is that even if you're getting better at solving problems, new ones and probably even more difficult ones will keep popping up.

But eventually you'll end up solving problems way bigger than you ever thought possible.

And that's the only way to solve big problems.

One small problem at a time.

Until all those small problems solved add up to one giant problem solved...

Your best...

Your best book will be read by almost no one.

Just like your best song will be listened to by almost no one.

Or your best video.

Or your best piece of art.

As frustrating as this might sound, your best work is probably not going to work out.

For quite some time.

So what can we do?

The only thing we can do is to keep putting ourselves and our work out there.

To keep putting out great stuff.

Over and over again.

Until more and more people will start to notice.

Because what's the alternative?

Putting out great stuff once and hoping that maybe somehow a miracle will happen..?

Unfortunately, miracles never happen just like that.

Miracles are almost always the result of compounded efforts over time.

Believe in miracles.

But don't waste your time waiting for them to happen.

And instead go out there and make them happen...

Your critics...

...aren't doing the work.

You are.

So keep going...

"What got you here...

... won't get you there" is a very easy but powerful concept.

Because most of the time to go from here to there, you've gotta risk at least some of your here.

Which is scary to think of.

Because you've worked so hard to get here.

Sometimes it might even have seemed impossible you'd ever get here.

And now you've gotta risk all of that again?

Just to get there?

Will it even be worth it?

Will it even work out?

Will you ever get there?

No one knows.

But if your "here" is not your "there" yet, then it's worth trying...

It's never been easier...

To write a book.

To start a business.

To go on dates. 

To start your own radio show.

To reach a million people....

But just because it's gotten easier to get started doesn't necessarily mean that it's gotten easier to succeed.

As a matter of fact, in most cases it means the exact opposite.

Even though entire industries want us to believe that succeeding is just as easy as getting started.

But it isn't.

Here's the thing...

The easier it is/was to get started, the less you'd have to lose if you'd just give up.

Especially when the next big thing is just around the corner.

It's never been easier to get started.

That's why it's also never been easier to just give up.

And why it's never been harder to succeed...

More metrics to fool you

On average, our sales increased by 10%.

On average, salaries increased by 8%.

On average,...

But what exactly does this even mean?

It means nothing.

And everything...

It doesn't tell you anything about the outliers.

It doesn't tell you anything about what happened on the edges.

Which were the best selling products?

And what happened to the worst selling products?

What about the best performing shops?

And the worst performing ones?

What about the best employees?

No one really knows...

It all gets thrown into a big pot and then forms a mash of numbers that will then be boiled down to a single number.

On average, no one really knows....

And what you don't know can't be replicated.

Or avoided.

Or improved. 

What about salaries?

Same thing...

No one really knows what happens on the edges.

And again, when you don't really know (or want to know) what happens on the edges you'll never be able to replicate them.

Or avoid them.

Or improve them.

Averages are a form of hiding.

From the uncomfortable truth.

They're a also form of fooling people.

Ultimately, they're a form of fooling ourselves... 

Metrics to fool you

It's easy to fool people with metrics.

All you've gotta do is to introduce a new metric.

You can introduce a "like" on top of a "retweet" that people give away more easily.

Or you introduce "claps" that allow people to clap 50 times whereas before each person only had one "clap".

You introduce "reach" on top of "likes".

And what do you get?

You get people who don't look at the old one anymore.

And you get people who look at the new one.

The one that doesn't really mean a whole lot anymore.

Because people like to be fooled.

We like to be fooled.

So don't let them fool you.

But even more importantly, don't let yourself fool yourself...

It's a lot easier

It's a lot easier to show up every single day than it is to show up maybe once or twice a week.

If you decide to show up just once or twice a week you'd always be busy thinking about hundreds of other things that'll only distract you from showing up.

Things like ...

Is today a good day?

I don't feel very well today, maybe it's better to do it tomorrow?

Maybe I need some more feedback first?

Is this really the best I can do?

Maybe I should do some more research?

Will people like it?

Maybe I need a little bit more time?

And on and on and on...

And because you don't have to show up every single day you end up postponing it.

Over and over again.

Until it's all over...

Needless to say that all of the above are excuses.

Excuses for not showing up, for hiding, for avoiding failure and ultimately for not putting in the work.

That's why it's a lot easier to show up every single day than it is to show up maybe once or twice a week.

Because after a while of showing up every single day it becomes a habit.

A habit that's really hard to break...

The good news...

The good news is that the hard stuff still works.

That it will keep working in the future.

Because less and less people do the really hard stuff.

And more and more people just give up.

The bad news is that the easy stuff stopped working.

Because more and more people do the easy stuff.

The stuff where you do x and z will happen.

The problem is that we've entered a period where there are no working maps anymore.

Where no one can tell you anymore what's going to happen when you do x.

But when everybody is doing x, then it's almost certain that almost no one will arrive at z.

Because there are just way too many people trying to get to z.

And we all know what happens when there are way too many people trying to get to the same place...

We all get stuck somewhere along the way, get frustrated, upset, mad and at one point just stop moving.

But whatever you do, don't ever stop moving.

There are 24 more letters in the alphabet that can be combined with one another resulting in an almost unlimited choice of paths to take and decisions to make...

What's it really good for?

You can do and achieve all you want but in the end if you don't do that thing you've actually done all that hard work for, then what was it really good for?

Sometimes you just gotta keep running in the rain

Most people will stop showing up and just disappear at some point.

Just like most companies will...

So is that the answer?

You just gotta show up long enough to succeed?

Yes, it probably is....

Because whenever things go wrong, people, companies and organizations tend to show up less.

And less.

Until they stop showing up for good...

At the end of the day it's all about what you do on a bad day when it's pouring rain outside.

Do you stay at home or do you keep showing up?

Most people just stay at home and wait for the sun to come out again.

But sometimes the sun just doesn't come out for a very long time and you just can't keep waiting for the sun to come out again.

Sometimes you just gotta keep running in the rain because it's the only thing you can do...

The hard part...

... is to be the person you think you are.

To act like it.

To talk like it.

To think like it.

And to ultimately be it...

You can follow that manual.

You can follow that manual on how to write that blog post.

On how to build that business.

On how to do social media.

On how to do this.

On how to do that.

But it's very unlikely that you're going to get on edge over everybody else who's following the exact same manual that everybody else is already following.

Not to mention that most manuals never tell you what to do when things go wrong.

And things will always go wrong.

Sometimes even more often than they will go right.

And when they do, they will go wrong in the most unexpected ways possible.

You can follow that manual.

But it won't get you past that abyss.

Only jumping will...

Fear.

If you don't start to own your fear, your fear will start to own you...

Beating yourself up...

Beating yourself up for not doing the stuff you wanted to do (which is usually the hard and scary stuff) is what will in the end cost you most of your energy.

But whenever you want to do the hard stuff and the scary stuff you'll need all the energy you have.

So the more you beat yourself up for not doing the things you wanted to do, the less energy you'd actually have left for doing those things.

It's a vicious and never ending circle.

The more you beat yourself up, the less energy you'd have left and consequently the less stuff you'd be able to do.

And the less stuff you'd be able to do, the more you'd beat yourself up.

So what's the lesson here?

Don't waste your time and energy beating yourself up and regretting the things you didn't do and instead just use your time and energy and do those things you're beating yourself up for....

The secret to...

... building an audience, selling tickets, getting that gig or selling products and services is to show up.

To show up well before you even know whether or not anybody else will even show up and listen to you or buy your stuff.

We'd usually like it to be the other way round.

We'd like to sell our stuff upfront.

Without having to put in the work first.

To see whether or not it'll be worth it.

We'd like to show up only once we know it's worth it to show up. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

Unfortunately, you've gotta show up way before.

You've gotta show up before you know whether or not anybody else is going to show up.

Way before you know whether or not anybody is ever going to hire you.

Or buy your products or services.

Because showing up way before you need to is the only way to build your audience, to build up trust, anticipation and ultimately get people excited about the things you do...

No more...

There are no more great ideas left.

No more great ideas for books.

For songs.

For businesses.

For paintings.

For designs.

For things to do...

It's all been said and done before.

Until you realize that none of these ideas ever started out great.

As a matter of fact almost all of them probably started out pretty weak.

And it's the work, the passion and the energy the people put in that made it great.

No idea is ever great.

It's the people and the work they put in that turn a weak idea into a great idea...

More, not less...

The problem when you're not happy where you're at is that the work you've put in up until now probably wasn't enough.

Or the wrong kind of work.

Otherwise you'd be somewhere else already...

And that's the hardest part about change.

Realizing that the work you've put in wasn't enough.

That you've gotta try harder.

Try something else.

Do more....

And all of this boils down to more.

More work.

More time.

More experiments.

More new things.

More uncomfortable things.

More things that could go wrong.

More uncertainty.

More courage....

Change needs more.

At first.

Before it gets less...

That voice in your head...

...won't shut up until you do it and see whether or not you can make it happen.

That's the only way to shut up that voice in your head.

There really is no other way...

Getting where you want to be

Where you are now and where you want to be are usually two different things.

And there are two ways to deal with it...

You can either focus on how you get there as fast as possible or you can focus on how far away it still is, how incredibly difficult it will be to get there or how others have it easier than you.

One will help you to get going (and keep going), while the other one will only slow you down.

The good news is that it's your choice.

It always is...

Chocolate or dirt?

What are the things you'd be willing to eat dirt for a while?

The things you'd be willing to sacrifice it all?

The things you'd give it all you got?

Try to do more of those.

One step at a time...

Because those are the things that'll actually get done.

And at the same time try to do less of everything else.

One step at a time...

Especially the things you do just because you get some chocolate for doing it.

Because it'll only make you fat.

And lazy... 

And in the end all that chocolate will only distract you from what's really important to you...