You can spend an awful amount of time being distracted.
Or…
You can get better. You can get smarter, braver, more motivated, and more involved.
People have an amazing ability to hide from what they fear.
But if you want to be great at something, somewhere along the way you have to make a choice.
Leaping isn’t something that is innate in our nature. It’s not something we naturally do because we want everything to be okay.
Everything is not always going to be okay.
The leap doesn’t come when you’re comfortable. It doesn’t come when there is a step by step set of instructions or a manual. And it sure doesn’t come when there is a map or a sign pointing where to go.
No. If you’re looking for safety, then you’ve missed the point of the leap.
Leaping means this might work, this might not work. Leaping comes when you’re standing on the edge of something great and something daring and you’ve done everything you can to prepare for your moment. Leaping is about ignoring the amygdala.
Maybe, you’re not quite sure what the outcome is going to be. But taking a leap is never losing faith in the end of your story. Believing that despite what happens you can prevail over whatever comes your way.
It’s about failure. The person who fails the most will win. In order to keep failing you need to be good enough to keep playing.
This might work. This might not work. If it can’t fail, then it can’t be remarkable.
Failure is an event, not a person.
It’s a marathon not a sprint. So where are you going to put the tired?
There isn’t any set of instructions or a map. Use the fear of failure as a compass.
There are lots of things and choices in our world we are making that are fake. Ignore these distractions.
When the voice in our head says you’re not good enough and who do you think you are, just say the word thinking. And then let it go.
Unless you’re running from a saber tooth tiger, don’t let the fear of failure stop you from doing work that matters.
There is no product, good, or service for everyone. If it’s for everyone, then it’s for no one.
Did they get the joke? Maybe you have the wrong audience.
We shouldn’t spend so much time getting all of our ducks in a row. The question is, what are you going to do with that duck? The one duck you have.
If it’s not working, make better art.
There’s no need to chase around every BBD (bigger better deal). Quick rich schemes don’t work. If there was a faster way to get from point A to point B, someone would have figured it out by now. Everyone is already using the short cut.
It’s exhausting running down every customer or reader that walks by. Shouting from the rooftops doesn’t work either.
But, somehow, we think that if only we had a bigger platform or more VC money that we will reach more people and make a bigger impact. So we end up spending our time on the wrong things: creating noise, spamming, gathering more Twitter followers, spending too much time on the logo, preparing for the big launch. And we end up ignoring the important work. The hard work. The work that matters.
Which leads to broken promises, un-remarkable work, and a failure to ship.
Being the real deal comes down to tackling one project at a time. Pushing through the Dip. Going a little further to the edges. Surviving today, so that we can do it all over again tomorrow.
We need your generosity, imagination, and leadership. We need risk takers. There is never going to be a shortage for people to care enough and be bold enough to make something better. So design things worth designing. Make big promises and keep them. Make better art.
Planes are more dangerous on the ground than in the air.
After sitting around for too long they begin to rust and malfunction.
They’re made to fly.
People are the same.
We’re not meant be sitting around, waiting to be picked.
We should be out there, making things happen.
Humans are the only species on Earth that measures time.
We have places to go, people to see, things to do.
Somehow, with all of this measuring and tracking, we can’t seem to make enough time to do the work that matters most.
Why?
I think about how tonight, I will travel in my car to get home. I’ll cover more miles in a fraction of the time than people ever did two centuries ago. I think about how I won’t have to till the ground or chase down my meal. I think about how I have more access to more knowledge than anyone ever in the history of the world. And it’s only one click away. I think about how I don’t have to keep the fire burning all night to stay warm. Or how I don’t need to go find clean water. Or that I don’t need to wash my dishes or clothes by hand.
I can go on. The point is that many of us live a life of convenience. More luxuries than ever before.
So what’s my excuse going to be today of why I didn’t have any time to do something that makes a difference?
[Anyone who spends an hour a day watching television, just demonstrated they have an hour of their time to solve an interesting problem, volunteer in their community or do work that matters.]
Right now, you might be standing on the edge of something really great and daring.
But then at the last second, you blink. You hesitate. You stop believing.
You’re probably thinking that you’re a fool to believe you could do something that matters.
[What difference does it make? I’m nobody. What makes me think I could ever do something so audacious? Why fly higher?]
But it does matter. You matter. Everything we do matters.
If we realized the dramatic effect that the choices we are making (the small, incremental, day by day kind) has on our outcomes, we would see a happier and healthier people.
It’s scary to think of a society of people who are uneducated. (Thank you public school.) But I think it’s more frightening living in a world where people believe that the choices they make don’t matter anymore.
[Do you recognize yourself? Do you have dreams and goals and things you want to accomplish before your time is up? What’s keeping you back? Probably has more to do with going on in the inside then what’s going on in the world.]
You’ve checked and double checked to make sure everything is perfect. You’ve crossed all your T’s and dotted all your I’s. You’ve made everything as convenient and accessible as possible.
But sometimes customers don’t do what they say they’re going to do. They don’t keep their promises and they fall between the cracks. They’re angry. And they demand that you fix the situation.
The question then becomes: Do you want to keep this customer? Is this someone you want to work with? Is this for them?
If the answer is yes, then simply say thank you. Don’t try to argue with them. Don’t point to the fine print. Just say, thank you. Even if you delivered what you said you were going to do.
But if the answer is no, then the only choice is to fire this customer. This takes enormous courage. Offer their money back. Tell them that you’re sorry this didn’t work out. If it’s not for them, it’s not for them. People think that this is crazy. But just because the tide is out, doesn’t me there isn’t enough water in the ocean. 20% of your customers will usually take up 80% of your time. If that 20% is gone, what would you do with all that extra time? Could you make bigger promises? Could deliver something bigger, something unexpected, something remarkable to the ones that deserve the most attention?
The thing to remember is that you’re an expert in what you do. On a scale of one to ten in knowledge and skill and expertise, you’re an eight. Or if you’re really good maybe even a nine. But your customers, operate at a two or a three. They’re not buying what you are selling on an intellectual level. It’s an emotional one.
[It’s apparent to me no one ever reads the fine print. So why do we insist on having it?]
Inequality only comes from one thing.
And that’s when people do things that are wrong.
It not the governments fault or the system or the lack of opportunities.
It’s people doing things that they shouldn’t be doing.
