« August 2019 | Main | October 2019 »
Most things aren't really that risky even though they might feel like it.
Just like most things aren't really that difficult.
It's just that we haven't really done most of the things. yet.
And everything you've never done before feels either risky or difficult.
But that doesn't mean they are.
It just means we've never done them before.
And that's a whole different story...
| |
|
I can still remember when I started this blog back in 2013.
My goal was to get at least 20 visitors each and every day.
And I can still remember like it was yesterday how I failed to get those 20 daily visitors.
Each and every day.
For a long time.
For a very, very long time...
Now six years and 1727 blog posts later, millions of people have read my stuff across multiple platforms.
Which brings me to the only writing advice you'll ever need...
Hang in there...
P.S. Needless to say that this doesn't apply to just writing. It applies to pretty much everything in life...
| |
|
You don't win by convincing a million people at a time.
You win by convincing one person at a time.
Just like you don't lose by letting down a million people at a time.
You lose by letting down one person at a time...
| |
|
The only way to become an artist is to start creating art.
Just like the only way to become a writer is to start writing.
Just like the only way to become an entrepreneur is to start a business.
So what are you still waiting for?
P.S. A degree doesn't make you any of the above. Only doing any of the above will make you any of the above...
| |
|
We usually expect the good stuff to happen way earlier than it actually usually does.
Which leads to a lot of frustration, pain and misery if the good stuff doesn't happen when we expect it to happen.
Just like we usually expect the bad stuff to happen a lot later than it actually usually does.
Which leads to a lot of surprises, pain and misery if the bad stuff happens when we don't expect it to happen.
Long story short: it'll always feel like the good stuff never really happens whereas the bad stuff always happens.
But of course, that's just a feeling...
| |
|
Don't wait until people tell you when you can show up.
And don't give them too many options.
Because when there are too many options it's hard to choose.
And even harder to prioritize.
And a lot easier to just delay the decision until it's more convenient.
But it'll never be...
So instead of waiting for them, tell them that you'll be in town, let them know that it's their only chance to see you and then ask them if they're interested in getting a slot with you.
This accelerates everything.
A possible sale.
Just like a possible rejection.
And both of them will help you to move faster and focus on the things that really matter...
| |
|
... are rarely the ones who were the first.
Or the best at just one thing.
The ones who are usually winning are the ones who were good enough.
Good enough at everything all at the same time.
At product, at marketing, at sales, at finances and at understanding the customers...
| |
|
The problem these days is that there's an oversupply of pretty much everything.
Of ideas, of products, of services, of skills and of workers.
We probably all know this.
But we tend to forget it once we start offering our thing.
Whatever that thing might be.
So here's the thing...
Just because you're offering something doesn't necessarily mean that there'll be any takers.
As a matter of fact, it's very likely that the non-takers will outnumber the takers 10000 : 1.
Probably even more.
That's why the demand side is equally, if not even more important than the supply side.
No matter what you're offering.
And that's a good thing to remember...
| |
|
Showing up when no one else is showing up.
And leaving when everybody else is staying.
This is where true opportunity lies.
In what?
In everything in life...
| |
|
Big wins are the result of many small losses.
So that means to be successful we have to embrace small losses while at the same time avoiding potentially huge losses that can wipe us out.
Which is a lot more difficult than it sounds.
After all, even if you're bleeding just a tiny little bit every single day, you'll sooner or later want that bleeding to stop because you can't deal with all that pain anymore.
And that's when we usually either stop embracing those small losses or make catastrophic moves that can (and many times will) completely wipe us out...
| |
|
Starting a business is much easier than running it and keeping it alive.
Just like it's much easier to start a blog than it is to keep it going.
Just like it's much easier to start a relationship than it is to keep it alive.
We're so excited about starting new things.
Sometimes even obsessed.
So obsessed that we sometimes tend to forget that what's new today won't be new anymore tomorrow.
Starting is easy.
Not giving up isn't....
| |
|
That thing you did today, does it get you any closer to where you want to be?
What about the thing you did last week?
Last month?
Or last year?
Did it get you any closer?
Or did it get you further away from it?
| |
|
If you want to build an audience, build a community.
"But a community is about the community and not my company, my product or my service", you might say.
And you're absolutely right.
And that's precisely what this is all about.
It's not about your company, your product or your service.
Now more so than ever before...
| |
|
It's rarely the things you enjoy doing that will either make you or break you.
And it's almost always the things you don't enjoy doing that will either make you or break you.
So make sure you keep an eye on those...
| |
|
Timing the market is one of the hardest things out there.
You'll always be either too early or too late.
That's why the only thing you can really do is to either stick with it long enough to make up the fact that you're probably too early or you've gotta put in more work than anybody else if you're too late.
Those are really the only two options you have.
And counting on being at the right place at the right time is like counting on luck.
And luck is never a good strategy...
| |
|
A new career.
A new relationship.
A new phone.
A new city.
A new country.
They won't fix your current problems.
Only fixing your current problems will fix your current problems...
| |
|
Or more time.
Or more money.
Or more skills.
Or more experience.
Or more confidence.
You probably just need to decide...
| |
|
If you say that you probably did the same thing you're doing right now, then it might be time to shake things up a little bit.
Or else you'll be saying the same thing again ten years from now.
And then those ten years turn into twenty, thirty or maybe even 40 years.
Until there are no more years left.
It's never a good time to shake things up a little bit.
That's why it's always a good time...
| |
|
Almost everything is possible.
While at the same time almost none of it is realistic.
So starting with what's realistic instead of what's possible will always lead to the exact same thing:
Nothing...
So instead of starting with what's realistic why not start with what's possible?
This will dramatically increase your possibilities.
And that's what it's really all about, isn't it?
| |
|
Staying inside the prison feels like the right thing to do when you're afraid that the outside world is full of monsters.
But at the end of the day it's still a prison.
And the outside world isn't.
And there aren't really that many monsters out there to begin with anyway...
What's your prison?
| |
|
People never change when you want them to change.
They only change when they want to change.
Act accordingly...
| |
|
The optional stuff is what makes the difference.
The stuff that most people won't do.
The stuff you'd have to go the extra mile for.
Everybody else is doing what's mandatory.
But not what's optional.
So your only chance to stand out is to do what's optional.
To do a little bit more than everybody else.
Over and over again....
| |
|
Energy.
Strength.
Ideas.
Motivation.
Light.
Time.
Or money.
That day will come.
Stay strong.
And keep moving.
We need you...
| |
|
A lot of people will support it.
But they'll usually support it in silence.
And a few people will be against it.
But they'll do it as loud as they possibly can.
So it'll always feel like everybody is against it.
When the reality is that almost everybody supports it.
It's just that you won't hear them.
So keep going...
| |
|
... doesn't mean that there aren't any questions.
As a matter of fact, it's very likely that there are just way too many questions.
That no really understood what it was all about that, that no one even listened or even cared about what was said...
| |
|
Someone once asked me how many people he would need to hire to get he job done.
It's very simple.
And it always boils down to the same thing...
If you're hiring people who are cheap but don't really know what they're doing, then you're probably going to need an unlimited amount of people (and money).
And if you hire someone who really knows what they're doing, then you're probably going to need just one person.
In the long run it always pays off to get someone who really knows what they're doing.
Because if they don't, then they're not just going to screw up their own work but the entire company and with it everybody else's work...
| |
|
And the first 80% are usually the easiest.
Well, not necessarily easy, but easier.
It's the classic 80/20 rule.
And it applies to pretty much everything in life.
It even applies to leaning a new language.
When you learn a new language the first 80% are relatively easy compared to the last 20% that are necessary for complete mastery.
Most people will never reach 100% in their second, third or fourth language.
Just like most people will never really master anything.
Simply because the last 20% are so hard that it's almost impossible to achieve.
Not impossible but it would require complete immersion in the subject and doing nothing else for a really long time.
Time that most of us just don't have....
So either you go for the 100% or you don't.
And if you don't, then don't beat yourself up if you're stagnating and not getting any closer...
| |
|
No matter what you do, if you're just starting out and you begin with big steps, then all that’s going to happen is that you’re going to trip and fall without even achieving a single step...
| |
|
There are only two kinds of risks.
The ones you can control and the ones you can't.
The problem is that the ones you can't control will always be the ones that will ultimately bring you down.
So how do you prepare for the ones you can't control?
The only thing you can do is to diversify.
To diversify into all possible areas.
Even, no especially into the areas you don't really believe in.
The most unrealistic ones.
The ones you just can't see happening.
Ever...
Because those are ultimately the ones that are going to happen...
| |
|
Don't do it daily because it'll make you more successful.
Because it won't.
Don't do it daily because it'll make you any better.
Because it won't.
Don't do it daily because it'll make you smarter.
Because it won't.
Don't do it daily because you expect certain results.
Because they won't come.
Do it daily because it's the only way you'll ever be able to keep doing it.
Because that's the only way that any of the above will ever happen...
| |
|
