bloglovinBloglovin iconCombined ShapeCreated with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. rssRSS iconsoundcloudSoundCloud iconFill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch.

Tag: courage

Are you developing a marketing strategy or being real?

I wrote my first post on Medium this week. Before clicking “Publish,” I was surprisingly nervous. I think because this writing is very personal, an experience that is dear to my heart and involves people I love. I almost didn’t post it.

I had no idea it would impact and resonate with so many people. I’m talking just under 10k views in less than one week.

We spend so much time trying to come up with the right strategy, the right product, company, tagline or press relationship in order to reach many people. Maybe instead we should focus on being real…and simply living.

The last few months of my life have shown me that if you follow your heart and live authentically in the world, you’ll end up right where you need to be.

A New Year is a great time to start.

Two kinds of people

You’re feeling dissatisfied, unsettled. You want better than what life is presenting to you. You want to provide for yourself and your family. Maybe you’d describe yourself as unhappy.
No matter where I’ve gone in the world (or who I’ve worked with: students, prisoners, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, monks), I’ve seen two typical responses to this situation.
Option A — Action Paralysis
What does this mean? Ideas aren’t in short supply, but movement is. These individuals fail to take any steps forward. Excuses and fear restrict their progress and prevent momentum.
“I don’t have the skills I need.”
“I can’t find a job that pays well.”
“It’s too hard.”
“It’s always been done this way.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Somebody else will do it.”
“If only I could get x, things would be easier.” (x = more money, a different job, the right partner, a miracle, admission, acceptance)
Option B — The Creators
Concrete decisions are made and acted upon in order to build a better life — no matter what obstacle is in the way. These individuals are so committed to the taste of their dreams and the potential of the future that nothing can stop them. They just do.
The Nepali shopkeeper who wakes at 4:00am daily to buy vegetables from whole-sellers and farmers to resell at the local market. He sets up shop with his wife and negotiates with customers. After the market closes, he heads to the tourist section of town to sell the rest of his bounty to hotels at a higher price.
A family uproots from their village and rents a two-bedroom house in the city. They turn one bedroom into a hotel and sleep all seven family members in the other.
The mother who sends her daughter to a different country to study because tuition is more affordable.
The corporate worker who sets aside his exhaustion at the end of the day to finish his screen play.
There are stories like this all over the world. Stories of sacrifice and perseverance and commitment and character and strength of vision.
You get to choose: do you want your story to be peppered with excuses or do you want to make something happen?

On risk

Risk frightens some people. It paralyzes others. Risk has stopped many people from doing incredible things.

Risk has also failed to prevent others from wholeheartedly chasing their dreams.

It might be worth asking whether risk is your fear dressed in disguise.

If risk wasn’t an issue, would your decisions change?

Why you should quit

Before traveling to Nepal, I did some major quitting: I quit my job, quit a relationship, quit where I was living, and quit some hard held beliefs about the way life should be lived. At the time, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. The pieces were there, but the puzzle wasn’t coming together.
After taking time to revisit my go-to list of dreams (I suggest you write a list of your own), I set out to follow my heart. To many on the outside, not much seemed sensible about heading off to a different country to work for free and climb mountains. It might have been one of the best decisions of my life.
If you’re stuck, if something feels askew, consider whether there is something you can set aside. If it’s meant to be, it will be there after you’ve  found renewed energy and refreshed commitment. Perhaps you discover what was missing all along, something beyond anything you could have possibly imagined.
Quitting isn’t easy. It takes guts and courage and conviction to ditch plans and rewrite stories.

Get to know someone today

Pick up the phone and ask someone to meet you for lunch. Invite someone you’d like to learn from, someone you could get to know a little better.

Choose four questions to bring along with you:

  • What advice would you have given yourself five years ago?
  • Favorite aspect of your work?
  • Most challenging part of your job?
  • You can pick one person to have coffee with. Who would it be?
  • Where do you go for inspiration?
  • What do you do to recharge?
  • Last meaningful book you read?
  • If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?
  • If you were gifted one million dollars, what would you do?

Tomorrow, send a thank you email with two things you learned.