The difference between those who make it & those who don’t isn’t how talented, innovative, or hard working they are. It’s the support system they have behind them - a partner that gave up everything to support their dreams, parents that believe in them, or really good friends hyping up everything they do. Trying to do it all by yourself isn’t serving anyone. The sooner we learn to accept help & lean on our support systems, the faster we get where we want to go.
Even if that action is messy. James Clear says "motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing". After I left Amazon, there was lots of planning but not much doing - then after being left in the lurch, I was so keen to get the ball rolling on my next project that in under 72 hours, I booked a venue, hired a videographer, wrote a script & filmed a demo tape. Sometimes you have to just do it!
When last month's partnership ended, I freaked out for a sec. I've spent so much of my life worried about what everyone else would think - but 99% of the time, they don’t even notice! Your latest post flopped? That thing you tried didn’t work out? Dust yourself off & keep going, it’ll be old news in 5 seconds flat. People are way too busy with their own bullshit to stay up to date on ours. However, a sage piece of advice I have always followed: in the words of Lil Wayne, "real G’s move in silence, like lasagna". Just to cover your bases, don’t talk about plans or projects til they’re 100%. This saved me a lot of heartache last month.
We’re conditioned to want & need permission from others, especially when we’re little. Then suddenly we’re grown up but we’re still waiting around for other people to tell us it’s okay - to start an Instagram page, to write a book, to work on a side hustle. Whatever it is you’re dying to do, give yourself permission to just start. My first love was writing but as I got older, I stuffed that passion in a box so I could focus on doing well in school, then doing well in college, then doing well in corporate. I’ve waited my whole life for someone to tell me I can start writing again. But it turns out that someone is me! So here I am, typing away on my little Word doc like it’s 2001.
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