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High expectations combined with a lack of patience never works.
No matter if it's a relationship, a business, a career or any other endeavor.
The higher your expectations, the more patient you'd have to be.
But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it all you've got.
What it means is that you've gotta give it all you've got.
All the time.
For a lot longer than you've ever thought possible.
Because big things take time.
A lot of time.
And energy...
Do you have it?
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Do more of the things that give you energy instead of taking away all of your energy.
Do more of the things you actually really enjoy doing instead of doing things just because you have to.
But most importantly, do more of the things that help you to create more freedom instead of taking it away.
Step by step.
Day by day.
So that maybe one day you'll be able to only do the things that you actually really enjoy doing, that give you energy and freedom...
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It's easy to give your best when everybody is watching, when you get instant rewards and when it's going to be on the test.
And it's a lot harder to give your best when nobody is watching, when you don't get instant rewards and when it's not going to be on the test.
But this is what makes the difference between a pro and an amateur.
Because it doesn't really matter who's watching.
Because no one is ever watching.
Just like everyone is always watching...
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How long does it take until you get used to it?
Where "it" is doing something that scares you.
The answer is pretty simple:
Probably never...
But sometimes it's already enough to know that you're not the only one struggling with this.
Because you aren't...
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When things are going well you won't have time
When things aren't going so well you won't have time either
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It's possible that your boss is your bottleneck.
Or your partners.
Or your customers.
Or your financial situation.
But more often than not we are our own bottlenecks.
The things we believe in.
The things we tell ourselves over and over again.
Those are our bottlenecks.
So if you feel like something or someone is holding you back, look at yourself first before you look at anybody else...
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What are the things your future self would be thankful for that you started doing them today?
And then just start doing them today...
Start small.
Don't do them full time.
Do them on the side.
Day by day.
Week by week.
Step by step.
So that maybe one day you can look back at this day right here and thank yourself for having taken the leap.
Because what else do you have to lose other than being disappointed in yourself for not even having tried?
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You're probably going to have the biggest impact doing the things you're really good at.
Which might not necessarily save lives.
Or save the planet.
Or sound very sexy.
But a lousy poet, author, singer or whatnot is probably going to have a lot less impact than a great programmer will have.
The thing is that starting anything new from scratch and becoming really good at it takes time.
A lot of time.
And energy.
And being really good at something is the only way to have any impact at all.
If you're not really, really good at it, then not a whole lot is going to happen.
No matter how badly you want to make this world a better place.
So either you keep doing the things you're already really good at and find other ways to leverage it to increase your impact or you put in the time, energy and resources it takes to become very good at that other thing you're thinking about doing.
It's your choice.
It always is...
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You can learn a language for many years without being able to really speak it.
So even though you learned it, you don't really speak it.
Learning without doing doesn't work.
Just like doing without learning doesn't really work.
You can do something for many years without ever really knowing how to properly do it.
So even though you're doing it, you don't really know how to do it.
One can't exist without the other.
Doing without learning doesn't work.
Just like learning without doing doesn't really work.
It's the same thing...
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But it's overrated.
What's a lot harder than beginning is finishing.
We're all able to begin something.
But not a lot of us are able to actually finish the things we've once started.
That book.
That project.
That song.
That relationship.
Beginning is overrated.
While perseverance, showing up, building trust and not giving up is underrated...
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Will always be the direct result of the things you're doing right now.
And if the things you're doing right now are more or less the same things you've always been doing, then there won't be a lot of "what's next?"
So instead of focusing on "what's next? try to focus on the actions that produce the next thing.
Because inaction won't produce anything.
Only action will.
So what's next?
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If your plan is to have a plan that only works when everything goes according to plan, then you probably don't even have a plan...
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The hard part about going viral is that you'd already need a big enough audience of people who are going to share the things you have to say.
If you have no audience whatsoever then it's very likely that not much is going to happen.
No matter how good your idea, ad, blog post, video or book is.
It's the chicken and egg problem.
You want to go viral to build your audience.
But you can only go viral once you have a big enough audience.
Unless you somehow get lucky, of course.
But luck is never a good strategy...
So how do you go viral then?
Invest the time, money and resources in building your audience over time.
Step by step.
Day by day.
So that maybe one day your audience is big enough to help you cross the chasm...
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... is change itself.
No matter how good the change you're seeking to create will be, there'll always be some people that are going to suffer because of it.
And those are the ones that are going to scream the loudest.
Even if they'd just suffer from that change in the short run.
And benefit from it in the long run.
Those are the ones you're going to hear from the most.
Whereas the ones that agree with you and want that positive change will usually agree with you in silence.
You won't hear from them that much.
That's why it'll always feel like everybody is against it.
But the truth is that most people probably don't even know about it yet or they agree with you in silence.
So when in doubt, listen to the ones that aren't screaming at you...
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Talk is cheap.
Because it's almost impossible to run out of things to say.
That's why you won't be remembered for the things you said.
And instead you'll be remembered for the things you did.
So maybe today is a good day.
Maybe today is a good day to start doing and to stop talking.
So what did you do today?
But even more importantly, what are you going to do tomorrow?
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The problem about progress is that you rarely see it.
Or feel it.
The problem about mistakes and failure is that you always see them.
Or feel them.
That's why it's so difficult to keep pushing.
Because it'll always feel like you're either standing still or falling behind...
So how do you know whether you're making any progress at all?
You can't....
The only thing that's for sure is that once you stop putting one foot in front of the other you'll stop making progress.
So as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep walking, you'll keep making progress.
It's as simple as that.
But not easy...
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Maybe next year you'll have more time to do the things you really care about.
Maybe you'll have more money to start giving back.
Maybe it'll be less stressful.
And you'll get more support from other people.
And you'll be able to see your loved ones more.
Or... and that's the most likely, everything is going to be the same.
Just like last year.
And all of those years before.
If you want to change something, you have to change that something.
Because things don't change just like that.
And instead they become more and more of what they already are.
The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
But the good news is that it's not too late, yet.
It never is.
So maybe this year is the year...
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"I can do a lot more than this."
"I'm more talented than her."
"I'm smarter than him."
"I could've done it a lot better."
"Everybody can do that."
Do it.
And prove it...
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If you don't get it, ask.
If you still don't get it, ask again.
And if you then still don't get it, ask again.
Ask until you get it.
I know it sounds obvious.
But we barely ever do it.
Because we live in a world where everybody is afraid of not getting it.
A world where everybody is afraid of looking stupid.
But at the end of the day, the only way to start getting it, is to start asking questions.
There really is no other way.
P.S. No one asking questions doesn't mean that everybody gets it. More often than not it means that nobody really gets it...
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There's an almost unlimited amount of potential customers out there.
And all you'd have to do for them to find out about you and what you do is to do something.
Maybe you give a talk.
Maybe you organize an event or a meetup series.
Maybe you run a few ads.
Maybe you find people who write about you.
Maybe you publish a blog post.
Maybe you hand out flyers at the local mall.
Maybe you publish a book.
Here's the thing...
As long as you do something (preferably the stuff that works), people will find out about you and what you do.
But as soon as you stop showing up, potential customers will stop showing up.
It's as simple as that.
But of course not easy.
So if you feel like you're struggling with getting enough potential customers in the door, what you're really saying is that you're probably not showing up enough (or you're showing up to the wrong things).
Here's a cool side effect:
The more often you show up, the better you'll understand what it is that people do actually really want to see...
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But not because it'll make you rich.
Or famous.
Or successful.
Or happy.
Because it probably won't....
Be visible because you can.
And we all can.
No matter how good you are.
Or how much experience you have.
Or how big your network is.
Or how much money you have.
Be visible.
Because the more visible you are, the higher the probability that you'll be seen...
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The hardest part is to realize that your assumptions about most of the things out there are probably wrong or incomplete.
What makes it even harder is that you'd have to actively gather new information to complete, validate or invalidate what you believe in.
And here comes the biggest problem...
The internet has become the world's largest validation machine.
It only shows you the things you want to see.
The things you want to read.
The things you want to watch.
And the things you want to listen to.
It ultimately validates your view of the world.
Instead of challenging it every once in a while.
But here's the good news....
It works both ways.
Once you've started using it to challenge your current worldview, it will keep challenging it.
Until you'd have to start all over again...
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It's very likely that none of the work you do today resembles the work that your grandparents did some fifty years ago.
But that change didn't happen over night.
It happened bit by bit.
And day by day.
It happened gradually.
And then suddenly.
But today the period from those gradual changes to sudden changes is much, much shorter.
Sudden changes happen a lot faster now than they did just a few short decades ago.
And they will keep happening faster and faster.
Are you ready for it?
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Whenever you create something new there'll be millions of people who won't care about it at all.
Tens of thousands of people who could probably have done a way better job than you did (but they didn't).
Hundreds of people who are going to say that they could have done it better, faster or cheaper than you.
And then there'll be a tiny group of people that will really appreciate what you do.
And those are the ones that really matter.
Do it for them.
And no one else...
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Look for a new job before you need a new job.
Build a network before you need a network.
Look for investors before you need investors.
Talk to customers before you even have a product.
Here's the thing...
If you wait until you really need something, then you're probably not going to have enough time, money, patience and resources anymore to do it properly....
That'a why it's always a good idea so start planting the seeds before you need the tree....
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Most opportunities show up way before you're ready.
And by the time you're ready, those opportunity are usually already gone.
So instead of waiting until you're ready (you'll never be), just go with it and try to figure it all out along the way.
After all, if you never make that first step, you'll never really start walking.
And if you never really start walking, you'll never end up anywhere else other than the place you already are today...
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Of course it is.
Everything is easier said than done.
So what it probably really means is that's going to make you feel very uncomfortable.
And that you don't really want to do it.
Either because it's something you've never done before, because it's going to be difficult, take up a lot of your time and energy or because you've been avoiding it and want to keep avoiding it.
So of course it's easier said than done.
But if you never say it, it's also very likely that you're never going to do it...
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The more competent you are (or think you are), the harder it gets to learn anything new.
Because learning something new requires you to go from competent to incompetent once again.
Something that most competent people (or organizations) are trying to avoid as much as they can.
That's why it's so hard to innovate.
And to learn something new.
Because it might not work out.
And it might make you look incompetent.
When all you've been taught to do is to look competent...
That's why competence is the single biggest threat to growth.
If you allow it to be...
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Comparing yourself today to someone who's already been doing what they're doing for years or maybe even decades is a trap.
Just like it's a trap to compare yourself to someone with an entirely different background than you have.
It can be a trap that will ultimately hold you back from doing.
Because the gap will seem so big.
Too big to ever bridge it.
Comparing yourself to others can be a trap.
Because it lets you off the hook.
It lets you off the hook because it seems impossible.
But it can also be your rocket fuel.
Because it puts you on the hook.
To put in the work.
To try harder than everybody else.
To catch up.
And to close the gap.
It's your choice.
Choose wisely...
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Should I do it?
Can I do it?
Do I have enough time?
Is it good enough?
Will people like it?
The answer to all of these questions is very simple:
No....
So here's the thing:
As soon as you give yourself a chance to say no, you will.
Sometimes sooner.
Sometimes later.
So how can you avoid asking yourself all of these questions that will ultimately lead to a "no"?
One way of doing it is to do the things you're struggling with every single day.
Instead of just doing them when it feels right.
Because when you do something every single day you'll eventually have to ask yourself "How can I get it done?"
And then it will get done...
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