A dream you don’t have to fight for isn’t a dream—it’s a nap. One changes your afternoon. The other changes your world. Keep fighting.
Sometimes, people get in my ear. Not literally, but metaphorically. And under the guise of advice, they’ll say some interesting things.
Here is something I’ve heard a few times:
“Wow, I’m surprised you joined Dave Ramsey’s team. You could be doing all of this blog and book stuff on your own by now. Why didn’t you just start your own thing?”
How awesome are the words in that headline?
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Seth Godin
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Julien Smith has delivered a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come. The idea is simple: your flinch mechanism can save your life. It shortcircuits the conscious mind and allows you to pull back and avoid danger faster than you can even imagine it’s there. But what if danger is exactly what you need? What if facing the flinch is the one best way to get what you want? Here’s a chance to read the book everyone will be talking about, before they do. What are you afraid of? Here’s how to find out.
I haven’t read The Flinch
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Most of us dream in the wrong direction.
When confronted with a job we don’t love or a life that feels purposeless, we look forward to the future and ask big discovery questions:
What do I want to be when I grow up? What do I want to do with my life? What is my calling?
In that moment, the answer we get is often a little terrifying because every option in the world is on the table.
I used to be a serial Quitter. I had 8 jobs in 8 years and the same thing would happen at each one. I’d have a six month honeymoon period at a new job and things would be great. Then I would get bored and bitter and eventually become a jerk. I’d say things like, “They don’t get me here! They’re not using my talents the right way. I could be doing so much more with my life!” Then I would demonize my boss and the company until eventually I’d quit.
Then I’d start the cycle all over again at a new job.
Turns out, I’m not the only one who reacts that way. Curtis Honeycutt did too when he was an administrative assistant. He found himself headed to jerkville at his job. What happened next? I’ll let Curtis tell his story (and maybe yours too if this resonates with you.)
I’m an administrative assistant, but I want to be a graphic designer.
The great thing was I was working in a dream organization. I didn’t want to work anywhere else. The problem was, I had been an administrative assistant for three years going on what felt like thirty, and I began to feel like my dream was slowly slipping through my fingers.
In the third grade, my teacher Mrs. Harris laminated a collection of poems I wrote and bound it with a ribbon.
I felt like I had written my first book.
I felt like I would one day write another book.
It took me 25 years to do that.
Why?
Well, a lot of reasons.
Someone once told me that the secret to being humble is remembering that it’s not all about you.
“It’s” meaning the world, the day, the conversation at a coffee shop, the traffic jam you’re stuck in, etc.
My friend said that in order to really believe it’s not all about you, you have to believe that everyone is more interesting than you. The person who cleans your room at a hotel, the guy next to you in traffic, the businessman who sits next to you on a plane. Everyone.
I thought this was an impossible feat. And honestly, kind of dumb advice.
People often put their goal or objective on the top of their resume.
They write things like:
“My goal is to be a project manager in a fast growing company at which I can contribute my people skills and forward thinking approach to projects.”
I stopped doing that kind of thing a few years ago.
Why?
Wait, that’s not a real holiday? It should be. So today it is.
I’ll be back on the scene, like James Brown on Monday, November 28. Until then, Happy Day Before Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Day After Thanksgiving.
Jon
A few weeks ago, I saw Bill Cosby speak at a conference.
He was brilliant.
He did more with one story and twenty minutes than some speakers do with 1,000 stories and a 1,000 hours of stage time.
And, at the end of the speech, he dropped some knowledge about the secret of hustle that I haven’t been able to shake. Here’s what he said:
I recently had the chance to interview Nancy Duarte. She’s the New York Times best-selling author of two amazing books about storytelling, Slide:ology and Resonate. She also runs a design firm and helps massive clients like Pepsi, Cisco and Twitter tell their stories.
During the interview, she said something about failure and creativity that was really powerful.