2-3-4 Friday

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

1 thought

Here's a question. When you graduated, did you ever expect life to be like this? 

You staring down the barrel of a Sunday, wondering how you'd get through Monday? 

Or staring at that email from your colleague, and wondering why she's getting so angry over something this small? 

Or even thinking what you're doing , pushing digital files across the office? Zoop, zoom, zeep.

Life just didn't turn out as the adventure that we first expected. 

So the question is ... 

Why?

Here’s a story I haven’t told often. In October 2021, I left my job as a social worker despite the company being willing to offer me a new contract.

I thought I needed a new environment to grow again. But I couldn’t find a job. I ended up going for 306 applications, 41 interviews, and was not offered a single job.

When my dad asked what I was doing, I would tell him that I was writing.

He snapped,

how long can you last?

I then approached friends for advice. One friend, an accomplished entrepreneur with online businesses across 5 countries today, asked me what I thought my skill was. When I told him it was writing, he frowned and said,

That’s not really a business skill.

For a long time, I felt I was written off.

The turning point came one afternoon in May 2022, 7 months after I had been working on my own, writing bits and pieces, and getting paid $100 per article. 

I went from earning $3690/month as a social worker to all of $700 per month.

I was doing things like IT support for online Zoom trainings, facilitation, training, and mostly doing a lot of things for free.

That afternoon, I passed by a Starbucks cafe and saw a leftover silver of cake on the table. I sat down on the chair, and looked at the cake for a long time. I hadn’t eaten something nice like this for almost 8 months, and wanted to desperately gobble it into my mouth.

I picked up the used fork and stabbed it into the cake.

Just then, a waitress walked out. I quickly placed the fork down.

That moment changed me, because I realised that for a long time, I had been content to accept shit (pardon the language, sorry) from the people and environment I was in.

Accepting how people wrote me off, and what became of my dreams to make a writing agency come to fruition, meant that I was now willing to take the easy way out.

Just eat the leftover cake on the table, and I could survive for longer in the in-between state where I was dipping my feet around what I really wanted to do, but never really succeeding.

I was smart enough to give myself excuses.

How could I say I failed, if I never really tried?

1 talk

Today my question is:

Where are you dipping your toes,

content to settle for leftovers?

1 tip

As humans, we are very smart. We are smart enough to come to the points where we are taking the easy ways out.

We never go all in on what we truly want, because we are scared of failing, scared of succeeding, scared of everything that success will cost.

That’s okay.

Succeeding is not for everyone. Because the cost of succeeding is enormous. You might find yourself at the top of your industry, but with a broken family in its wake, with children who barely recognise you, or lots of money, but little time to ever spend it.

If you are feeling the quiet seeds of discontent stirring in your heart, perhaps its time to re-explore what it would truly mean to stop settling for scraps, and go all-in for what you want.

I will tell you how my story ended.

In May 2022, I started taking myself as a writer more professionally. Rather than staying at home to write from time to time, I would get into the gym at 8, head to the (free) library at 930am, and start writing for the day. Later, in September, I committed to a monthly $128 coworking membership to have more reasons to get out of the home, and be in an inspiring space too.

In June 2022, I decided to get myself around like minded people who wanted to create businesses that lasted, and got myself a team that was willing to work on this business (with no money even paid to them).

I told everyone I knew, that I was writing for a living and told them to refer me to contacts they knew that needed these services.

And things turned.

Sure, we aren’t millionaires (yet). But we’re so much further along that journey than ever before.

And so my question this Friday for you is:

1. Where are you settling for scraps in your life?
2. Is that okay for you? Because it brings contentment, but rarely the sense of adventure that your life could be.

Tell me how those questions work for you.

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love

Think others might benefit? I’m counting on you. Forward this on.