I was driving in my car the other day and all of a sudden I had a realization. I didn't just have a realization, the realization washed over me. I'm always the type to look forward, think bigger, and think better. But this moment drew me back to the past.
In this moment, I realized I achieved some of the biggest dreams I ever had. I'm actually living the life I used to dream about. I remember feeling extremely grounded for a split second and it's a moment I'm going to try to hold onto and recreate throughout the rest of my life.
What does this have to do with you, though?
Well, it wasn't just the accomplishments that washed over me. Also, the work I had to do to get here and the place I had to start from just...hit me. I wondered "How the hell did I even do all of this?"
I started from zero, where you probably are now. There was a time in my life where, like you, I'd spend the vast majority of my life not chasing a dream. I was just living a normal life. I didn't have a magic plan for the future. And when I did finally take action, I was at zero.
Zero just feels so far away.
Zero customers for that business idea, zero fans for your aspiring creative career, zero momentum. Zero evidence that you'll have a shot to pull off a dream at all.
How do you close that gap between where you are now and where you want to be?
Here are some of my biggest lessons looking backwards. Lessons that I hope inspire you to make this the week you remember a few years from now.
Success Doesn't Take All That Long
I repeat this over and over again -- 5 years. Put your head down for five years and make a dream come true. Momentum is like magic. Break through that wall of the first week, the first 30 days, the first 90 days, then to a year plus, next thing you know it will have been five years.
But what can I tell you now to begin that journey?
I can tell you to try to stay as present as possible for as long as possible. Focus on your immediate environment to the exclusion of everything else for a while until you reach the point where you can broaden your vision.
What do I mean? When I started, my only goal was to write. No grand visions to become a full-time writer and build a business from my words. Sure, those ideas were in the back of my mind, but I kept them where they belonged...in the back.
You'll reach a point where you understand you have a serious shot. For me, that was about two to three years in. At that point, I knew I wasn't going to quit because I was getting good enough results and I'd already put so much work in.
If you invest time and energy into a path and it bears some fruit, you're pretty much all the way there.
Escape From the Opinion of the Masses 100%
There came a point where I kept positive content in my mind at all times. I wouldn't even allow the negativity of society to enter my brain. Pretty much everything I saw in the 'real world' contradicted the way I thought, right down to the people closest to me.
This will start to make you feel lonely.
But then, you realize, you're not alone. You're just on a different path. You'll reach a point where you're no longer trying to convince anyone of anything but yourself. You go about your business and act normal in the real world, work on your evil side project in your spare time, and announce the results when you're done.
There's a great quote from the movie the Pursuit of Happyness:
"You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it."
I protected my dream. I wasn't hostile about it or anything. I just knew other people wouldn't believe in me. My wife at the time would say she believed in me, but she really didn't until the results started happening. That's ok.
You don't need anyone to believe in you. Expecting anyone to believe in you or trying to convince them to believe in you is a waste of precious time and energy.
Keep your mouth shut, go about your business, and block the noise of society the best you can in the process.
F*** It
Excuse my french, but at a certain point, you just have to say f*** it.
Why the hell not?
I just kept thinking the same thing "I'm going to die...why not go for it all?" As time moves forward, in a way I started to care less. I was very serious about the dreams I had, but to get serious about my dreams I had to stop taking life seriously.
You hear these phrases laced with over seriousness in a world that has no true rules except for the laws of physics -- 'risky' 'practical' ' the real world' 'a real job' 'job security' blah blah blah.
What level of job security can protect you from getting a bus or catching the coronavirus?
I seem to be moving at an even quicker and less serious pace at this point because the world around me is a clown show anyway. Might as well live well until you die well, regardless of what happens in between.
Carpe diem, dude. Seize not just the day, but your life.
