Recently, I did a talk at American Family’s DreamBank titled “Reengineering Your Life and Your Business.” I shared some of the life planning strategies I’ve learned over the last year to the sold out audience. The big idea that came out of the talk though was this – “Do it scared.”
All of us are afraid sometimes. Afraid of looking foolish, afraid of making a mistake, afraid we’re not enough or too much… I am sometimes. But we really need to get over ourselves and whatever dialogue that’s going off in our heads and ask different questions like “What if it did work out?” “What if this idea worked?” “What would happen then?”
I’ve started a couple of businesses and a number of line extensions at Creative Company. The Hispanic communications firm I started in the mid-90’s called “Atencion Hispanic Communications” didn’t go anywhere. I sold one job to one client – Famous Footwear and that was the end of it. That’s okay. We tried. Other things have gone well – clients who seemed a little beyond our reach, times where we decided to go big or stay home and it panned out for everyone involved, people I took a chance on who turned into not only great colleagues but also some of my best friends.
I guess my point is, you don’t always know how the story will end, but if you sit this one out and the next and the next because you’re not sure if you’re safe, you’ll never play the game and the game is meant to be played full on with everything that’s inside of you.
Many years ago, my Mom and I were at the Attic Angels sale in Madison. I found these words penned by a woman named Martha and I bought it for $5. For a long time, it hung in my office. A couple of years ago, I read it to a friend and client at his birthday party. A few years before that, we all read it together at a Leader to Leader event I hosted in Madison. It was originally written and spoken at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910 by Theodore Roosevelt. It was a reminder in the early years of my business to get in there and play to win. There will always be critics and naysayers, but they usually aren’t in the arena – are they? Don’t take advice from people on the sidelines. Listen and learn from those who have actually spent some time in the arena and they’ll tell you – it’s the hardest work of your life and the best. There really is nothing else as satisfying as being in the arena.
Being ridiculously in charge isn’t for the faint of heart, though, and you can get tired if you’re not careful. Leading myself has been the biggest job of all.
I write about it in my new book, now available on Amazon and at www.180in120.com.
Your one and only life matters. My goal is to provide you with the tools so you can move towards MORE of what makes you come alive. Your family, colleagues, clients and community will be better for it too.
You’ll also learn:
- Which steps I took to turn things around.
- How transparent leadership builds trust.
- How your stories shape everything.
- Why time to THINK is your most valuable time.
- Why embracing processes and planning is the key to your success.
You can read the first 10 pages of the book here absolutely free!
Beautifully designed in full color by former American Girl artist Jessica Nordskog, this book is packed full of great ideas and I want to get it into as many hands as possible, so we’re offering 25% off with the coupon code 25off180, plus I’ll sign it too.