GUEST POST: Idea + An Actual Thing = Never A Failure
This is a Guest Post by a gal I met through one of my entrepreneur groups.
She put a big, hairy idea out there and then all of a sudden, it wasn’t an idea anymore. It was an actual thing.
Over my twelve years of self-employment, I see over and over people wanting to _______, talking about ______, complaining about _______. But often that’s where it stops. Out of fear, self-doubt, laziness, “I’m too busy”, “I don’t have the money,” “That’s not me” — the PTU (Perfect Time Unicorn) rears its frickin’ annoying head. He often lurks around Mac & Cheese Productions℠ and is THE WORST!
Luckily, I’ve learned and have to remind myself —
The perfect time to ______ is never going to come.
A better time to ______ is never going to come.
This is why Kathy and her “thing” caught my eye. It was just yesterday it seems that she threw out some crazy idea! And here she is, not thinking of jumping, of what will happen if/when she does jump, but jumping.
That’s inspiring.
Even if her “thing” is a complete failure (which it won’t be, of course). What does “failure” mean?
In her case, she loses money? She has three sign-ups? People don’t enjoy themselves? She thought she’d be doing one thing and in fact did another? If all of these things happen, still not a failure. Because she had an idea and she breathed life into that idea and now it’ll breathe life into her, allowing her to grow and learn and most importantly, feel like the badass rockstar she is for having an idea and doing a thing.
Doing.
That’s the key.
I can handle and move on from rejection or things not turning out how I wanted. It is when I stay still and do nothing, paralyzed by What if? and I can’t, that I feel I’m losing at life. That I’m wasting it.
So, kudos to you Kathy for Nike’ing the bejeezus out of this weird, complex, scary, lovely thing we call life, and just doing it!
“Thing” Note: I know of a gaggle of people who’ll be in attendance — it will be impossible to walk away without feeling inspired, hugged, and full.
Here’s a truth: I’ve always known that I was going to run a business. Since I was 14 years old. But I’ve had this small problem of what my business would be. What was I endlessly passionate about? What was I going to be happy doing for my entire working life? At least that was how it was framed in my mind at the time.
For years, decades really, I have tried to figure out what business I was going to run. I’ve asked everyone I know. I’ve researched, and read, and reread and assessed for what seems like forever. I was stuck in research mode, which was great for learning, but not great for actually doing.
It was a 20 year analysis paralysis. And then there was the fear mix-tape running through my mind: I’m not smart enough, I didn’t have enough experience, I was too young, I was too old, I need more time, I needed to know more, I had to take that workshop, I had to get that master’s degree, no a business degree, and I needed more rather than figuring out what I could with what I had right now. The need for everything to be perfect kept me from taking action.
Then things began to shift because I found my community.
Last year I started to get together on a monthly with other creative badass bosses. We all supported and gave each other advice in our business endeavors. Some of us had just started our entrepreneurial journey, while others had been on this path for a while but were looking to take their business to the next level.
Through these conversations I realized that I had a wealth of knowledge to share. I finally found the confidence to own that I have a ton of experience in creative small business and that I have been training my entire life to help creatives with their business. I have everything I need to make an impact today.
I knew how to do this and finally I took steps to move forward with secure in my knowledge, yet with curiosity and that quiet voice that says “just do it already!”
So I had a HUGE idea and decided that I was going to run a one day workshop for creative entrepreneurs. I want to help other creative entrepreneurs move forward and own their whole story. To stop overthinking and just get it done. To step into being their “more” that they can offer right now.
On November 5th I, along with other creative bosses, am hosting the Midwest Meetup. It’s an opportunity to learn, grow and meet your tribe. I’ve found that I gain so much from other creative entrepreneurs and we’ve decided to host workshops with some fabulous speakers, but also allow plenty of opportunity to connect with people. Finding my community gave me the spark I needed to just do it.
We are supporting and cultivating our creative community here in Chicagoland and would love for you to join us. Check out midwestmeetup.com if you are interested.