EP90: Reaching Your Potential

Dreams…

We all have them.

But sometimes we let them go unfulfilled.

Do you know what I mean?

--

I believe that dreams are important.

They push us.

They give us a purpose.

--

If you are still just showing up for work and wishing you could be anywhere else, your dreams will push you to work harder.

Struggle harder…

…to fulfill your dream.

At least…

That is how it should be.

Right?

And yet…

Far too often we let things get between our dreams, and the real world we currently live in.

--

It is hard.

Feeling that you can do so much more than you currently do.

And yet you are feeling as if your dream is slipping away.

In a video by Cathy Heller which included Seth Godin - 9/2/2021 - we find out what people need to do to succeed online.

Seth himself said…

“You are not entitled to an audience that appreciates you.”

“You are not entitled to get paid for the work that you believe you were born to do.”

“And, if you want to have a hobby you should do it just for you.”

“And it should be whatever the muse tells you you should be doing.”

“If you want to be a professional, if you want to ship creative work, if you want to make change happen, you have to begin with the fact that you are doing it for other people.”

“And there is no such thing as what you were born to do.”

“And there is no such thing as the muse.”

“There is no such thing as external inspiration.”

“It…”

“It's a choice.”

“If you decide to serve a small viable audience of people, who trust you, who are waiting for you, who are interested in where you are going and who enrolled in a journey.”

“And you do it for them.”

“Either, they will get the joke, in which case you can do it again, or, they won’t get the joke, in which case you will have to do it better.”

“And then we repeat the process.”

“So, then they call it creative work, because it is work, not because it is a gift.”

Cathy Heller then asked Seth, “Why is it, that when we are growing up people say: What do you want to do when you grow up?, versus, What problem can you solve, or how can you serve?”

Seth says, “Industrialism, is a place where you go and do what you are told. And you have a manager who wants you to do it faster and cheaper than you did the last time.”

“And it made us all the richest people who ever lived.”

“Right?”

“It gave us roads and cars, and factories, and clothing.”

“You can buy a wedding dress by Federal Express for 80 dollars.”

“All of those things happened because we are cogs in the system.”

“And, we built schools for that.”

“And, so, we start with, will this be on the test?”

“Do I have to do this?”

“What am I being told to do?”

“And, then, we inserted, just to keep people from going crazy, follow your dream.”

“We inserted, find your voice.”

“And the problem is this - we don’t want to be on the hook.”

“We don’t want to be on the hook, to announce our thing, because if it doesn’t come true, it is on us.”

“So we bury that thing we call our dream, and keep it a dream, as opposed to turning it into a practice.”

“And practice says, I might not be entitled to be the ballerina who is dancing with Mikhail Baryshnikov.”

“I might not be entitled to match whatever fantasy I had when I was 7."

"But I am capable of having a practice.”

“Of showing up, and to make a promise, and then keep it, and to do it without a boss.”

“To be my own boss, whether I have a job or not, where I decide what I want to stand for.”

“But all the time, we are trying to get off the hook.”

“And, I think it is better to be on the hook.”

“Being on the hook is the best place I could image to be.”

(This can be seen in the Cathy Heller video, with Seth Godin on YouTube.)

So...

Yes, indeed, I believe Seth is right.

We need to do "The Work”, and “Ship the Work” because we want to help others.

We want to make a difference in other people's lives.

In other people's business.

And I believe that in order to reach our potential, our true potential, we must “Do”, and “Ship” the work.

Not because we believe the work is perfect…

No, No, No!

Far from it!

Not perfect.

Instead, it fits a specific narrative.

There is no such thing as perfect.

Everything we do.

Everything we ALL do.

Is imperfect.

Embrace that.

And, then...

Just give the people what they need.

Not too little, and not too much.

This can only occur if you follow your dreams, and put yourself in the uncomfortable place, of being responsible for what you deliver.

Find a small niche of people that have a problem that you can help them overcome.

Then, deliver that solution.

Take note of the outcome, and deliver more if it was received well. And if need be – deliver a better version the next time until you are meeting the needs of your audience.

Everything...

Everything we say and everything we do...

Should...

START

and

END

...with doing all we can for our audience.

Be vulnerable...

Be real...

Be helpful...

Be honest...

and

Above else...

Be VISIBLE!

That is it for me.

Thank you for being here.

I'll see you again next week.

Bye for now.

James "still reaching" Brown

P.S. - In the event, you DO find that once an episode has been produced and posted, that YOU really would like more information, just let me know. Use the Podcast Questions link, click on the link here. Or you can just leave a voice message here.