yann girard - rethinking the now

Having more time...

... might not necessarily make it any better.

As a matter of fact, it might just eat up more of your time...

The biggest difference...

... between being an entrepreneur and being an employee is that as an employee you're going to end up making money.

No matter what you do.

On the other hand, if you're an entrepreneur, you're mostly going to end up losing money.

No matter what you do...

Your strategy

Nothing will happen. 

It won't affect me.

It won't happen so fast.

Last time nothing didn't happen either.

I'm safe.

It takes a lot more time...

Whatever your strategy might look like, try to make sure it includes none of the above...

More valuable

These days almost everything is available on demand.

And all of the things that are available on demand will race to the bottom.

But there are still a few things that aren't available on demand...

Ideas aren't available on demand.

Just like creativity isn't.

Or empathy.

Or compassion.

Or patience.

Or focus.

Or perseverance.

Over time, all of these things will become more and more valuable.

While everything else that's available on demand will become more and more irrelevant (and/or automated)...

When you're just getting started...

Comparing your best work with the best work of the best in your field is never a good idea.

A much better idea is to compare your best work with their best work when they were just getting started.

And to then realize that we all have to start somewhere.

Which is usually from the bottom.

And not from the top...

On another note:

This was the first post published on this blog...

More shots

The only way to hit more home runs is to take more shots.

Because the probability that you're going to hit a home run with just one shot is probably zero.

Unless you're a pro...

On the other hand, if you're not a pro yet, then the only way to increase the probability of hitting a home run is to take more shots.

But not only will taking more shots increase your odds, but you're also going to get better at it.

And the better you get, the more home runs you'll hit.

Of course, this doesn't apply to baseball only.

It applies to petty much everything...

Bottom line:

Take as many shots, as often as you can.

Even, no especially when you don't feel like it...

 

The things you know

You probably don't need to learn a new skill.

Or a new language.

Or a new way of doing things.

Just like you probably don't need to read more books.

Or blogs.

Or watch more videos.

Or listen to more podcasts.

You probably just need to figure out how to properly leverage the things you already know...

Commit. Don't quit

It's never been easier to acquire knowledge than it is today.

Never been easier to start a business.

To meet new people.

To get your ideas to spread.

To experience new things. 

To reach an audience.

At the same time, there's one thing that's getting harder and harder to get:

Commitment...

But without it, all of the above is useless.

Because without it, you'll just be jumping from one thing to the next.

Just because it was so easy to begin with.

Commit. Don't quit...

The easy stuff

Almost everybody wants to do the easy stuff.

Which is why doing the easy stuff almost always ends up in a race to the bottom.

That's why the easy stuff usually turns out to be really hard stuff.

But with a very limited upside.

So you might as well just start doing the hard stuff right away.

To be able to benefit from the potentially huge upside the hard stuff usually offers....

Do you still remember?

Shortcuts are supposed to save you time, energy and resources.

But most of the time they end up being detours that cost you more time, more energy and more resources.

And because it's so easy to run out of time, energy and resources, we sometimes get lost along the way, not even remembering where we initially set out to go.

Do you still remember?

 

 

Big shifts

Big shifts rarely happen when we expect them to happen.

Because we expect them to happen with a big bang.

But they never happen with a big bang.

They always happen slowly.

And gradually.

But once they finally hit, we're not prepared.

Because we never even expected them to hit anymore.

Which is why we're usually caught by surprise.

But not because we weren't prepared.

But because we already forgot about them.

Big shifts do happen.

But rarely when we expect them to happen...

The gatekeepers are all gone...

And instead we now have that feeling of silence.

That feeling of not knowing whether or not people like what we're doing.

Because there's no more central authority that will tell us what to do or what not to do.

And instead it's all decentralized.

And there are millions of gatekeepers.

Millions of potential readers, listeners, viewers and customers.

Millions of people that we have to convince one by one.

Because the internet won't actually really help us to reach those first few hundreds or thousands of people.

So we have no other way than to keep working in silence.

Until maybe one day we'll break that silence...

The trick

You just need to get it right once.

Or twice.

The tricky thing is that it's most probably not going to work out the first time around.

Or the second time.

Or the third.

Or the...

So the first trick is to understand that you just need to get it right once or twice.

And the second trick is to not give up if it doesn't work out the first, second or third time around...

Big bangs

Never happen just like that.

Big bangs are the result of many small bangs that added up over time.

So that maybe one day they might look like a big bang.

Even though they're just the result of all of those small bangs that added up over time.

So what about your small bangs?

It won't work

It won't work in my country

In my city.

In my industry.

At my age.

With my network.

With my skills.

With my financial background.

With my education...

If you catch yourself saying one of the above, take a look at the people who made in work.

Against all odds.

And then you'll soon realize that all of those barriers mostly exist in just one place.

In your head.

And nowhere else...

Does it even matter?

How your logo looks like?

How your cost structure looks like in detail?

How many units you're planning to sell?

What colors your company is going to use?

What exactly your margin is going to be?

How your business cards look like?

How many units you're going to sell in ten years?

Does all of this even matter if you haven't had a single sale, yet?

Does it?

Probably not...

The only thing that really matters is to see if people are buying what you're selling.

And once you've successfully done that a few times, then you can go ahead and worry about the details.

The details are important.

Because they help you to optimize things.

But there's no need for optimizing things if there's nothing to be optimized, yet...

Busy

You can be busy all day long.

Or all week.

Or all month.

Or all year. 

Or your entire life.

But just because you're busy doesn't necessarily mean that you're actually getting the things done that you should really be getting done. 

As a matter of fact, it might be the exact opposite.

The busier you are, the bigger the chances that you're not getting the stuff done that you should really be getting done...

 

The big letdown

The internet gives you a huge leverage if you already have a big audience, a lot of fans or followers.

On the other hand, if you don't have any of the above yet, then the internet will usually not give you any leverage at all.

It might even be a big letdown.

So if you don't have a big audience, a lot of fans or a lot of followers yet, you've gotta put in the work first.

And you shouldn't get all frustrated if no one seems to care.

Because that's just the way it is.

You've gotta earn it first.

So that maybe one day you can use the miraculous leverage that the internet offers all of us to spread our ideas, work and art.

So get going...

It always is.

It's always easier said than done.

But at least you said it.

Saying it is the first step to commitment.

And the more people you say it to, the more you'll be committed at actually really doing it.

Saying it isn't doing it.

But it's the first step.

And a lot harder than most people think it is...

The things we strive for...

Freedom.

Money.

Independence. 

Stability.

Pleasure.

Power.

Growth.

Safety.

Happiness...

Those are some of the things we strive for.

And the things we strive for are often the things that end up ruining us... 

Why it doesn't sell

Maybe because it's too complex.

Too complicated.

Too hard to understand.

Too difficult to explain.

Not easy to use.

Or maybe it tries to do too many things at the same time.

Which is usually the root cause of all of the above.

Is it trying to do too many things at the same time?

Are you trying to do too many things at the same time?

Pick one...

The opportunity paradox

The only way to see opportunities is to go to a place or to put yourself into a position where there are no opportunities.

Then when you come back to your place, you'll see all kinds of opportunities you might never have seen or recognized before.

And the only way to then seize those opportunities is when you have no other choice than to seize them...

In the short run...

In the short run we never have enough time.

And in the long run it seems like we're going to have a lot of time.

Time to do the things we really want to do.

The things we really enjoy doing.

But the problem is that the long run consists of many short runs.

Short runs where we're constantly busy meeting deadlines and obligations.

So if you don't pay enough attention, then your long run might turn into a short run where you didn't do any of the things you really wanted to do...

It's not worth talking about

The things worth talking about are usually the things that no one is ever talking about.

Because that's where existing boundaries are being challenged.

And fresh insights are gained.

Where new ideas are being shaped.

And new ways of thinking are being created.

That's why the things you don't want to talk about are usually the things you should be talking about...

 

What list?

We tend to only put things on our lists that are rational.

That we expect to happen.

That are realistic.

And possible.

Things that we understand.

That are based on our past experiences. 

But it's never the things that are on our lists that will ultimately break our necks.

And it's almost always the things that aren't...

Two ways to fail

1. We're too optimistic about our current situation and don't have any backup plans in place in case that "Plan A" stops working.

2. We're too pessimistic about our current situation and have too many backup plans in place and are too distracted to properly follow our initial "Plan A".

I know. No real magic here...

The tricky part here is that no matter which of these two situations you're in, you're probably not going to admit it...

Are you?

Popular vs the best

Popular and the best aren't necessarily the same thing.

As a matter of fact, many times they're the exact opposite.

The best singer might not necessarily be the most popular singer. 

Just like the best writer might not necessarily be the most popular writer.

Or the best employee might not necessarily be the most popular employee.

So if you want to do your best work and master your domain, then you've gotta make sure that you're not getting distracted by what the market is saying about you.

On the other hand, if you want to become popular, then you've gotta work on a lot of other skills that don't necessarily include the mastery of your domain...

Better than it has to be...

Making it better than it has to be is really hard to pull off.

It needs a lot more time, money and resources than what you'll get paid for.

But if you're not making it better than it has to be, then you won't be able to keep making it at all.

Because if you don't make it better than it has to be, then someone (or something) else will.

Sometimes sooner.

Sometimes later...

Shopping carts

Some supermarkets have extra large shopping carts to seduce us into buying more stuff.

After all, an empty looking shopping cart somehow just doesn't feel right. 

Especially when everybody else's has a lot more stuff in it than ours.

So we end up buying a lot more stuff than we really need to.

This of course doesn't apply to shopping carts only.

It applies to pretty much everything in life.

So if your cart somehow feels too big, just take a smaller one...

The commitment problem

The writing isn't the hard part.

Just like the singing isn't the hard part.

Or the painting.

Or the exercising.

Or that instrument.

Or that career.

Or that idea.

Or that relationship.

The hard part is the commitment.

And everything that comes with it...

Because no one ever started big...

Start while you're still inexperienced.

While you don't have a reputation.

While you don't have any credibility.

While you don't have a network.

While you're not skilled.

While you're not an expert.

Just start.

Because starting is the only way to get experience.

A reputation.

Credibility.

A network.

And skills.

Starting is the only way to become an expert.

So start small.

Because you can start small today.

If you wait until you're big, you'll never start.

Because no one ever started big...