yann girard - rethinking the now

That's the difference

These days, pretty much everything is abundant.

It's the willingness to put in the work to understand it all, that's still scarce.

And if you don't understand it, you'll never be able to leverage it...

Balancing it out

When you're just getting started, try to make sure that you don't just work on high risk revenue sources.

And instead, try to balance it out with a few low risk revenue sources...

Don't get tricked...

What might feel risky at first, usually turns out to be the safe thing to do.

And what might feel safe at first, usually turns out to be the risky thing to do.

Try to keep that in mind...

Start it

Start your journey before it ends...

What they tell themselves...

The thing that gets your work to spread, aren't its features, its benefits, its supporters, its investors or its ideas. What actually really gets your work to spread, are the stories that people tell themselves about you and your work ...

Just a while ago...

The reason why change is so hard, is because it'll turn you into a person that's going to disagree with the person you were just a short while ago...

Too Late

It's never too late, to start going where you always wanted to go...

Winning

The way to start winning, is to become extremely good (and fast) at losing

Everybody

Everybody says it won't work.

Everybody tells me to not do it.

Everybody tells me that I'm not experienced enough.

Good enough.

Or resilient enough.

Now who's that everybody that you're talking about?

Turns out that everybody is the voice living inside your head...

I just don't have the time...

When things aren't going so well, you won't find the time for [insert what's really important to you], because you'll be busy making sure that things get better.

And when things are going well, you won't find the time for [insert what's really important to you] either, because you'll be busy making sure that things don't get worse.

So whatever it is that you want to be doing, do it now.

No matter whether you feel like it's the right time or not.

Because it's never the right time.

Which is why it's always the right time...

It's getting more and more difficult..

Nowadays, the problem isn't knowledge anymore. The problem is to really understand all of the things you know. And that is getting more and more difficult every single day...

Turning into a pro...

You don't wait until you're a pro to put your work, your self or your art out there.

Because the process of putting it out there, over and over again, is what actually turns you into a pro...

Good news/bad news

The good news: Most people are afraid of doing something that might not work out. The bad news: it might not work out...

Remember

You'll always remember the things you've learned on your own.

The things you did.

The things you've experienced.

And the things you've felt.

The things you've just read about, listened to or watched, not so much...

Think small.

And don't think too big. Otherwise you might end up missing some of the details that are necessary to turn it into something big...

Getting ready...

Your next idea could be your best idea.

Just like your next job could be your best job.

And your next relationship could be your best relationship.

So try to make sure that you're ready and know how to not waste it...

... you don't have to put in the work today

The benefit of regretting your past and being worried about your future, is that you don't have to put in the work today...

How to get hired

You don't need a fancy degree anymore.

Or a huge network.

Or live in a major city.

What you need though, is the ability to give good advice.

Because good advice is what gets you hired.

So how do you give good advice?

By knowing what you're talking about...

And the only way to know what you're talking about, is to have already done the things you're talking about...

So how can you do all of those things if no one hires you?

By doing small projects on the side.

Where you can learn the ins and outs.

With low risk.

And little upfront investment.

Like selling orange juice, for example...

Someone else's

The best way to start living your dreams is to start working on them before you're forced to work on someone else's...

Only by getting lost...

Only by getting lost every once in a while, will we be able to rediscover our true selves once again...

Somewhere along the way

You'll always have the wrong job, until you have the right job.

You'll always date the wrong guy (or gal), until you date the right one.

You'll always write the wrong story, until you write the right story.

You'll always say the wrong things, until you say the right things.

Ultimately, you'll always fail, until you succeed.

Unfortunately, most people give up before that happens...

You just can't

You can't be selling out when you do what you love....

This never gets old

The best way to protect your ideas is to start working on them before someone else will...

Start small to become big

Instead of writing a book, start a blog.

Instead of writing a blog, post your thoughts on Facebook.

Instead of starting a company, buy stuff low and try to sell high.

Instead of running a marathon, go for twenty minute walks.

Start small.

Minimize the upfront investment.

Remove all the obstacles.

And make it as easy as possible to build a habit.

With as little friction as possible.

So you can become really good at it.

And build momentum.

And once you're really good at it, have built that habit and that momentum, move on to the bigger stuff.

Because once you did, you'll be ustoppable.

Start small to become big...

Something better, faster or more efficient...

The problem about selling your time is that it barely leaves you any space to learn something new.

After all, you're getting paid for your time.

And the client/company/boss/etc pays for it.

So every hour counts.

And the risk of that new process, skill or tool to not deliver the results you need, is just too high.

So in the end, we decide for the process, tool or skill that we already know, no matter if there's something better, faster or more efficient out there...

 

Try to make sure

In the short run, it seems like we never have enough time.

And it in the long run, it seems like there's plenty of time.

But in the end, all the long runs consist of a bunch of short runs.

So try to make sure that every once in a while, you put the really important stuff (not the urgent stuff!) in some of your short runs...

Make it worth their while...

For someone to start reading, watching or listening to your stuff, they'd have to stop reading, watching or listening to someone else's stuff. Make it worth their while...

Ted talks, blog posts & books

The more you keep asking for the way, the more conflicting answers you'll get.

And the more conflicting answers you'll get, the more you'll get lost.

So instead of asking for the way, figure out where you want to be going and then start walking.

And if you can't decide on where you want to be going, start walking anyway.

You'll figure it all out somewhere along the way....

Around the corner...

Just a few years ago, the only prerequisite to be in business and to stay in business was to be just around the corner.

Today, with the Internet, pretty much everybody is just around the corner.

So those times are gone.

On the flipside, you can now be around pretty much everybody else's corner, as well.

If (and that's a really big if) you really want to...

Avoiding uncertainty...

Avoiding uncertainty comes at a steep price. The price of decreasing your exposure to future opportunities...

Until they don't...

A lot people will tell you that you can't.

That you can't do this.

And that you can't do that.

And they're probably right.

You can't.

You can't do it, if you do it their way.

If you do it like it's always been done.

That's why you've gotta do it your way.

That's why you've gotta find your way.

A new way.

Which is probably also not going to work out. 

Because new ways of doing things never work.

Until they do.  

Just like old ways of doing things always work.

Until they don't...