These 23 Powerful Lessons Will Give You Limitless Courage And Creativity.
Over the last few years, I’ve read hundreds of books. Some were good, some I won’t be reading again, and some…changed my life completely and forever.
2 books that have impacted me more than all of the others are from some of the greatest entrepreneurial minds of our time, Richie Norton and Seth Godin, who wrote The Power of Starting Something Stupid and Linchpin, respectively.
These 2 books can forever change the way you think about life, work, and business.
These 2 books are worth reading 10 times each. Seriously.
Above all else, these 23 lessons stood out to me, more than anything else. If followed properly, these principles I’m about to share with you can dramatically upgrade your success and happiness.
You’ll experience massive growth and start living very, very differently.
You’ll accelerate your life and career.
You’ll stop living with regrets.
You’ll stop playing it safe.
You’ll become a creative genius.
You’ll be deeply happy.
You’ll choose to be indispensable to yourself, your family, and the world.
Let’s Get Started!
1. There Is No Tomorrow. Start Today.
“There is no greater time than now to start moving toward achieving your goals. Don’t wait. Start stuff. Live to start your stupid ideas, and start to live a life without regret — a life filled with meaning, freedom, happiness, fun authenticity, and influence. After all, now is, in all actuality, the only time you’re truly guaranteed. Life is too short not to start something stupid.” –Richie Norton
“Shipping is the collision between your work and the outside world….Shipping something out the door, doing it regularly, without hassle, emergency, or fear — this is a rare skill, something that makes you indispensable.” —Seth Godin
“If you wait until you are ready, it is almost certainly too late.” — Seth Godin
You can’t achieve anything in the future. Just try.
What you can do is decide who you want to be in the future and then act from that state, today.
When you do this, you become the person who realizes your future vision. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is a very powerful way to live.
Realization of one’s true potential can’t happen unless you start acting today, however.
The present is the only time in which you can truly act.
You cannot wait to start working on your goals.
Unless you act, you’ll never accomplish very much.
There is no map.
Stop waiting for somebody else to give you permission to lead the life you want to live, because it’s not going to happen.
Do not stake your future on that ‘magic moment’ or that ‘magical event’ in the future when the circumstances will be perfect for you to live your dreams.
If you’re waiting around for other people, the economy, your boss, or some other entity to happen, it won’t happen.
“Here is the cold, hard fact of the matter. No matter how hard you work, no matter how much you study, no matter how much money you earn and tuck away, no matter (insert your favorite excuses here), there is still no guarantee that the stars will eventually align in the way you’re waiting for them to.” –Richie Norton
You must become intentional today.
Your plans, goals, visions, and ideas should constantly be showing up in the way you talk to others, the way you write in your journals, and the way you live your day-to-day life.
The direction you are going becomes what you are focused on most of the time.
You become who you want to be today instead of getting stuck.
Live to start. Start to live. –Richie Norton
If you don’t want success badly enough to start moving towards it today, you don’t want it badly enough.
Nobody else can choose an amazing life for you except you.
Nobody else can choose amazing work for you except you.
The choice belongs to you.
2. Protect Your Commitments.
Unfortunately, today’s society is rather averse to commitment. In my experience, sending out shared events on google calendar often results in most people answering ‘maybe.’
We’re so averse to change that oftentimes we’re only able to commit to something for 30 or 90 days and then go back to living the ‘normal’ life. (diets are a supreme example).
Does this short-term, quick-fix mentality produce lasting results?
No.
If you want to make a difference, you need to truly commit to long-termdecisions that will continually pull you towards the future you want.
Your life is sacred. Treat it, and your goals with respect.
Stop looking for the masses to direct your life.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. — Mark Twain
Most people won’t be reading books like The Power of Starting Something Stupid and Linchpin.
Even less people will actually implement the principles contained therein.
This is because most people are scared of commitment.
They’re scared to start proactively designing their lives.
Are you?
Make solid commitments to your goals.
Invest money and time in yourself.
Create a future so strong of yourself that there is no going back. Then, success becomes inevitable.
3. Look Ridiculous.
“Stupid as the New Smart is that pressing thought that just won’t go away. That nagging hunch, that golden idea, that lofty dream, that if it weren’t so seemingly ‘stupid’, might actually have the change to become something truly significant — in your own life, and quite possibly, in the world at large.” –Richie Norton
Television, radio, the iPhone, the personal computer, and Amazon.com were all criticized heavily in their infancy.
Most amazing ideas look stupid at first.
So what?
If you’re not willing to look dumb, chances are very small that you’ll ever look like a genius.
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” –Sir Ken Robinson
You have to be willing to fail your way to the top.
You have to be willing to look silly to others while internally achieving greatness. Eventually your success will be obvious and ‘overnight,’ but it takes time.
Creativity is more important than perfection. That ‘nagging thought’ that won’t go away? Act on it. See what happens. It could be a business, a book, a relationship, a blog, or an invention. What matters is that you act on your ideas. Your brain is powerful but useless if you don’t physically manifest your ideas and share them with other people.
What about naysayers?
Ignore them. They create noise and distraction that pulls you away from what matters most.
Will you start something now, even if it’s stupid?
4. No Maps.
“Leaders don’t get a map or a set of rules. Living life without a map requires a different attitude. It requires you to be a Linchpin.” –Seth Godin
Society is very good at following instructions.
Since the industrial revolution and the advent of the public school system, we’ve been drilled into following exactly what the authority figure tells us to do.
Show up, do well, progress to the next level. (Until you get out of grad school and wonder what on earth you’re supposed to be doing with your life.)
Having no map causes most people to freak out and accomplish very little.
It’s unfortunate that creating your own map is a little-taught skill today, because creativity is an indispensable part of the equation of success.
While following instructions might be easy, it’s certainly dangerous.
And while it may lure you into a false sense of productivity, it’s never going to get you real success.
It’s scary to go figure things out for yourself when there’s no clear process of how to do it. Yet necessary to becoming indispensable.
A ‘goal’ is usually a new target.
Something you haven’t achieved before.
Therefore, you don’t have all the skills you need to accomplish that goal. (yet)
You therefore have to grow into somebody new to accomplish the goal. You learn to draw maps.
“But how do you get better thoughts? Your brain is constantly remixing inputs. You need better inputs. Try something new. Get confused. Seek novelty. Connect that to the familiar and you will think smarter. Explore the range of possibilities to see what work. Push thought-limits” –Richie Norton
Learn deeply and widely. Try stuff. Apply what you learn. Figure out what sticks. Go back to the drawing board. Create maps.
5. The World Needs You. (Not A Cliché)
“It’s time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must.” –Seth Godin
Have you ever done something that improved somebody else’s life dramatically?
Chances are, yes. Even if you never realized it.
What are the chances you could do that again?
Could you do that daily?
What ideas do you have that need shared?
What could help other people achieve their goals and live their dreams?
What do you offer?
What do you love?
Most people are scared or think it’s presumptuous to think that the world actually cares about their ideas.
And to be fair, sometimes ideas get ignored.
But other times, they get noticed.
Sometimes success is a numbers game. Some posts go viral. Some articles go viral. Some products go viral. Some ideas go viral. And the other 99% don’t. You have to persevere, be patient, and create a lot of stuff to hit a winner.
Sometimes you get caught in a slog. You wonder what went wrong. You wonder why you’re doing what you’re doing and attempting to be extraordinary.
And then you go back to the drawing board.
“Because people are positively affected by this and I need to keep going.”
Your WHY drives you deeply.
“…you want to remind yourself of your DEEPEST WHY when you’re doing something. And you want to operate from THAT LEVEL because at your deepest level, you’ll be operating from your heart, not your head. Thus, your performance will be much deeper, more authentic, and powerful.” — Benjamin Hardy, PhD
If you start acting from the idea and the identity that your ideas and your work matter, then you’ll be much more likely to succeed. As Apple says, the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.
What you focus on expands.
When you focus on helping as many people as possible with your work, you’re able to accomplish that objective.
What is your calling?
People with a true purpose perform better.
Spend adequate time in solitude, writing in your journal, about what change you want to see in the world. If you aren’t totally convinced that people need your work, you won’t put forth your best effort and won’t accomplish much.
What are the reasons you have for what you do?
Are you very clear on what you want?
“Are you going to work tomorrow because that’s what you did…yesterday? If that’s the reason you’re going tomorrow, you won’t be as good tomorrow as you were yesterday because you’re two days older — -and no closer to the goal you do not have.” — Zig Ziglar
If you don’t start those ‘Stupid ideas,’ you’ll never find out what could have been an amazing idea that changes others.
Start.
6. What Do You Do Best?
Based on classic scarcity-market theory, the less of an item, the more valuable that item becomes. Lamborghinis cost $200,000, and there aren’t that many of them.
Did you ever stop and think that there’s only ONE of you?
Not only that, but your value varies. It is completely up to you how you show up.
What skills do you have?
What skills do you need?
How could you become better?
If you show up trying to fit in with everybody else, then you’ve just labelled yourself to be a cog. You won’t get paid very much and won’t be very happy. The company or the client can simply outsource to somebody cheaper and get rid of you.
If you show up prepared to stand out with something unique, then you’re in for rapid growth, success, and happiness.
This is the one of the main premises of Linchpin and why this book is so valuable.
Are you a linchpin?
How do you serve and relate to others?
How do you connect ideas?
Be willing to continuously work on your craft, publish your work, and ‘ship.’
Engage in multiple skills. Find the perfect combination for you.
Doing just one thing can lead to being outdated.
Doing too many is exhausting.
Doing a few key things, just right, can strike gold.
7. It’s Easier To Avoid Change — But More Meaningful If You Don’t.
It’s easier to stay where you are. According to the law of inertia, you’re likely to keep going the way you’ve been going. It’s hard to stop or change direction.
And that’s why most people will never be successful. They’re unwilling to deeply change the way they think and act.
As Dr. Stephen Covey asks us, is your ladder against the right wall? Do you have a long-term vision of where you want to go and what changes you will need to implement to get there?
It’s only when the pain of not reaching your goals becomes more painful than your current situation that you begin to act.
Otherwise, your goals simply aren’t powerful enough.
Are you willing to change?
What are you going to do immediately after reading this article to invoke the change you desire?
Will you keep up with that habit or that task tomorrow?
Do you have people in your life who hold you accountable to your goals?
The true purpose of goals is to change.
Not simply to change your results, your lifestyle, or your finances, but to change yourself, as a person.
To change the way you think, feel, and act.
“Become a millionaire not for the million dollars but for what it will make of you.” — Jim Rohn
Who you become is more important than anything else. Change the causes in your life, not simply the effects.
Go deeper.
Your life has so much meaning, joy, and purpose when you embrace change.
You’re fluid and adaptable.
You don’t get frustrated easily.
You operate from peak state levels daily.
You step outside your comfort zone. In the words of Greg Denning, you get comfortable being uncomfortable.
8. Try Stuff That Might Not Work.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas A. Edison
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
“If you get enough bad ideas, the good ones will take care of themselves. And as every successful person will tell you, the ideas aren’t the hard part. It’s shipping that’s difficult.” –Seth Godin
Sometimes success is hit and miss.
You’ll fail at some things and succeed at others.
That’s a good thing.
The failures in the mix provide context for how you view your successes. Achievements are always relative.
Having an article with one million views would be meaningless to me if I didn’t also have articles with only 10 or 50 views before that.
Be prolific.
“I’ve produced more than a hundred books (most didn’t sell very well), but if I hadn’t, I’d never have had the change to write this one. Picasso painted more than a thousand paintings, and you can probably name three of them.” –Seth Godin
Stuff that doesn’t work is the gateway to stuff that does.
Failure weeds out counterfeits, those people who aren’t in for the long-haul journey of growth. Meanwhile, failure strengthens the resolve of those truly committed to becoming an excellent person.
Going through the crucible is often the only way to get the results you want.
When you fail, you go back to the drawing board.
You renew your purpose and your mission, and then act boldly to make it happen again.
9. Lead Everybody.
“A linchpin helps lead, and she connects people in the organization, actively and with finesse. This takes emotional labor, and can’t be done by following the instructions in a manual” — Seth Godin
Other people are too scared to draw up a map.
But you aren’t. So you give them direction and guidance.
Share your ideas with them and they’ll be inspired to draw their own maps too.
Don’t wait to start projects and ideas that enact change, even if you think you’re ‘unqualified.’ You never will be.
It doesn’t matter if you’re leading up, down, or sideways, everyone around you can be inspired and led if you do it right.
Don’t think up-down. Think circular.
“Leadership should be circular. We help each other. And yet so many are threatened by effective leaders….The greatest leaders make the world better when they leave power by creating more leaders who make the world better when they leave power. Be a leader who helps others. Be a leader that teaches in a way that is relevant and inspires. Be a leader that makes people better, more effective, more impactful than you.” –Richie Norton
This is essential because your creative projects, your stupid ideas, will need other people on board.
Become very good at networking.
Become very good at seeing things other people can’t see.
Master the art of whatever it is you’re trying to create.
Connect people, ideas, and resources.
When you can communicate your ideas effectively to others, and how you can help them achieve their goals, they’re much more likely to jump on board with you.
Inspire other people to be better.
10. Results Only
We have moved from the Age of Manpower to the Age of Mindpower. In this new age, you are no longer rewarded for the hours you put in but for what you put into those hours. — Brian Tracy
More and more work today is purely information-based; work that can be shared and created anywhere. This is backed by data:
“Last year, 43 percent of employed Americans said they spent at least some time working remotely, according to the survey of more than 15,000 adults.” –The New York Times, Feb 2017
The Results Economy dictates that commutes, office politics, paid breaks, overtime, and all that other crap is irrelevant.
The only thing that matters is whether the work got done.
Shipping.
There are no excuses.
Time is irrelevant.
Effort is irrelevant.
The only thing that matters is what you actually accomplished.
What changes you made.
What results you got for other people.
This is a powerful motive to become insanely productive, eliminate distraction, and build different experiences with your extra free time.
Embrace the new economy if you want to succeed in launching your Stupid ideas.
11. Constantly Adapt
“…when I graduated college [Facebook] hadn’t even rolled out to the public. No [Facebook]. No [Instagram]. No YouTube. No Twitter. No LinkedIn. So what? Look…by the time you graduate from college the entire world will have changed again….The job(s) I have didn’t exist when I graduated high school or college. The jobs you will have likely don’t exist today. Doesn’t matter. Add value today and seize opportunities that open around every corner. ” –Richie Norton
The average attention span is very small. Most people give up after literally 5 seconds when loading a webpage.
In modern business is you need to create something that satisfies people that fast.
People want results quickly and efficiently.
Amazon is now pushing for 1-day Prime deliveries. Any product in the world, at your house within 24 hours.
It’s obvious that physical products are adapting quickly. The real question is,
Do YOU adapt quickly?
Or do you simply repeat the same experiences, over and over again, never upgrading your mindsets and your skill-sets?
As Stephen M. R. Covey told Richie Norton (full story in Richie’s book):
“Richie, experience is overrated. Some people say they have twenty years’ experience, when, in reality, they only have one year’s experience, repeated twenty times.”
If you’re stuck in this trap, your career and your life will never upgrade.
Here are three ways to avoid the ‘repetition rut’ and continually upgrade yourself:
1. Feed Your Mind.
“It’s not an accident that successful people read more books.” –Seth Godin.
“The person who doesn’t read is no better off than the person who can’t read.” –Zig Ziglar
If you’re reading this article, you have access to a whole world of resources. With the right dedication and the knowledge of where to look, you can dramatically upgrade everything you know and do.
Never get complacent. Complacency is the death of creativity.
Learn to love learning.
2. People Matter (a lot).
“The 5 Actions of the New Smart: Serve, Thank, Ask, Receive, Trust.” –Richie Norton
It’s no accident that How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the bestselling books in the history of the world with over 15 million copies sold.
People matter greatly.
Learn the art of people.
Learn to Serve them.
Learn to Thank them.
Learn to Ask them.
Learn to Receive them.
Learn to Trust them.
Your life will be so much happier. Your business will thrive.
Connecting with people, genuinely, is one of the most beautiful things you can do.
3. Identity.
If you see yourself as someone who makes $40,000 per year, then you will not be able to make $100,000. You need to see yourself as someone who makes $100,000 before it happens. You see yourself as that person, and you act as that person. — Benjamin Hardy
How do you see yourself?
Are you constantly creating a better identity, or a similar/poorer one?
Unless your identity allows room for change and growth, you’ll always stay fixed, immovable, and stuck. You’ll never be able to jump outside your comfort zone.
Stop fixing your identity to a title that hinders growth. That’s never going to help you. Upgrade your future identity daily, and you’ll start to realize it.
12. Generosity + Gifts = Happiness.
According to Seth Godin, there are three ways people think about gifts:
1. Give me a gift! (jerk)
2. Here’s a gift; now you owe me, big-time. (transactional)
3. Here’s a gift, I love you. (transformational)
What is the quality of the relationships in your life?
Are you self-centered?
Are you so focused on what’s right in front of you, the work, that you fail to connect the dots and see the big picture?
Do you realize that people matter more than anything else?
Most people live in the second type of gift-giving.
They want ‘fairness’ and ‘equality,’ thinking these are great standards to live by, and congratulate themselves for not being the #1, ‘jerk,’ type of person.
Those people are missing out on so much more.
They don’t truly SERVE, THANK, ASK, RECEIVE, and TRUST. They’re unable to build relationships to a higher level beyond simply transaction-based. They’re unable to put full trust in other people, and therefore can’t connect in the same way as those who can.
All relationships are built on trust, and when you serve in the highest capacity there are no concerns about whether you’ll ever ‘get back’ what you put out. You just trust that it happens.
Why not upgrade?
Give-Give = Win-Win.
A friend of mine and I have an amazing give-give relationship. We’ll gladly exchange ‘favors’ that we’d each charge hundreds of dollars for outside clients because we both want to see each other succeed so much.
This is what true synergy looks like.
Give.
Receive.
Don’t let arrogance and pride get in your way.
“Ungrateful people are no fun. Don’t let that ungrateful person ever be you.” –Richie Norton
13. Take Initiative.
All the keys to success have been discovered.
Our earth has plenty of people with incredible: relationships, athletic ability, intelligence, wealth, and spirituality.
Some people have figured it out!
The rest stay stuck, frustrated, or jealous.
Which group do you want to join?
How do you truly act on what you know to get results?
The Percentage-Acted Theory
Your success is determined by, (a) the amount of principles you know related to success, and (b) the percentage of those principles you are acting on.
If you have access to the resources enabling you to read this article, you probably can take care of (a) pretty easily. You probably have plenty of books, mentors, and courses you could turn to right now that would dramatically enhance your success.
HOWEVER, most people have a very low percentage acted theory, because we’re naturally averse to change and changing is hard.
This is why motivational seminars often have no long-lasting effects. This is why we have a $10,000,000,000+ ‘self-help’ industry, supposedly helping people to change, and yet so often people revert back to their old ways.
Most people quit New Years resolutions before Valentines Day.
Most people are more likely to stay stuck than they are to change their situation.
Most people aren’t willing to reach inside to figure out how to get where they want to go. Blame is easy. As the Declaration of Independence states,
“…all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
In short,
People are more likely to put up with things they don’t like than they are to act and change something about it.
This is why true success is rare. Taking initiative is difficult.
What are you going to act on, today?
What miracles are you going to create, today?
What system (people, trackers) are you putting in place to design (not hope for) your success, TODAY?
You should have learned by now that you must act now.
Schedule 15 minutes in your day today to really think about your life and your goals.
Read some books.
Go on a walk.
Reach out to friends and mentors.
Consciously create your life rather than waiting for it to happen to you.
Nobody else can choose you.
14. Create BOTH A Life And A Career You Can’t Wait To Live.
Let me ask: Can you really be successful if you’re only focused on one thing?
You’ll never be able to enjoy an amazing family life if you have no money.
And you’ll never be able to enjoy an amazing career if you have no family.
Real success is holistic.
Your relationships, career, finances, fitness, faith, and personal growth all need to be rising in a continual upward spiral.
Don’t justify failures in one area of your life by pointing to successes in another. How you do one thing often bleeds into the way you do everything else.
You can’t have any part of your life be less than excellent if you want to be truly happy.
Choose yourself. Choose each area of life consciously. Be 100% engaged.
Wherever you are, be dedicated to that. Don’t let yourself get distracted in any way by anything else.
15. Emotionally Detach.
Seth Godin points out in Linchpin that the ‘lizard brain’ is infamous for creating cycles that distract us from important work.
It varies from person to person, but usually involves a mix of checking the news, checking social media, checking email, checking blogs, and repeating the entire process.
Such behavior can keep you from doing something important for a very long time.
There are two reasons people do this:
Checking through our various ‘web pages’ is a lot easier than producing real work and real creativity. Anything worthwhile requires real effort, which for most people is not the default mode.
The other reason, however, may be because we are emotionally attached to the outcome of what might happen. We publish a post, and then load Facebook for the next hour every 5 minutes, checking how many people ‘liked’ it.
We become so obsessed with how others perceive us at times that we don’t stop to focus on progress made or how we actually want them to perceive us or why we’re doing what we’re doing.
The way to accomplish great things is to plan them out very carefully, be excited by the experience, create a future identity to allow that experience to happen…and then to let go.
Shipping takes courage. It takes even more courage not to obsess about it afterwards. To plan, work, focus, and then to just…let it go.
This applies to all realms of life. Product launches. Emails you send. Parties you invite people to. All of it.
Getting caught in a ‘lizard cycle’ will only make you depressed and frustrated.
Living an amazing life takes tremendous courage.
You have to take big leaps.
You have to be willing to fall and fail and not obsess over the outcomes.
Find the outcome you want and then let it come naturally.
Come from a state of power and expectancy, not from force and attachment.
Results from a particular goal may define your current position, but they do not define your potential, your intrinsic value as a person, or future circumstance. They’re simply a window into how a particular event happened. Nothing more.
Whether you succeeded or failed, move on to the next thing and be excited by growth, not attached.
As Zig Ziglar said, “Yesterday ended last night.”
Be open to new things.
When you’re focused on what you can control, you aren’t worried about the things you can’t. They seem very small in proportion.
You’re happy and relaxed.
After all, you start to see what you’re looking for.
16. Stop Being Angry. It’s A Distraction.
According to Seth Godin, there are four basic types of people and how they view and interpret the world:
1. High Passion, High Attachment. –Fundamentalist Zealot.
“…the Fundamentalist Zealot. He is attached to the world as he sees it….Change is a threat. Curiosity is a threat. Competition is a threat. As a result, it’s difficult for him to see the world as it is, because he insists on the world being the way way he imagines it.” –Seth Godin
In short, these are the people offended by everything. They waste huge amounts of energy, money, time, etc. into exercising total domination and control over as many people and as much stuff as they can.
2. Low Passion, High Attachment. –Whiner.
“Living life in fear of change, the whiner can’t muster the effort to make things better, but is extremely focused on wishing that things stay as they are.” –Seth Godin
Again, super attached and fixed to their worldview. Except this time, they don’t even know what they’re fighting for. These people are lost.
3. Low Passion, Low Attachment. –Bureaucrat.
“The bureaucrat is a passionless rules follower, indifferent to external events and gliding through the day.” –Seth Godin
Total apathy. These are the people who don’t care about anything. Those types of people will not read this article. They’re uninterested in almost everything and are those who slumber even while awake.
4. High Passion, Low Attachment. –Linchpin.
“The linchpin has no time or energy for whining or litigation. Instead, she’s obsessively focused on the projects that have a likelihood of changing the outcome.” –Seth Godin
These people work hard, are constantly creative, and don’t attach to outcomes. If something fails, it was an experiment. They’re so focused on personal and organizational change that they don’t have time or energy to get obsessed and upset about things they can’t control. They disentangle themselves from what drains most people.
Marshall Goldsmith in his book Triggers explains how to remove emotional baggage from situations. Someone cuts you off? Ignore it. That car is empty. Your boss chastises you in public? Ignore it. That suit is empty.
Refuse to draw yourself into battles that drain your energy.
Will you make the choice to be highly passionate but not emotionally drained?
17. Decide To Be Different.
People are scared.
They’re scared to fail, scared to succeed, and therefore try to create this false ‘middle class’ to insulate themselves from courage and creativity, ultimately never succeeding at anything.
In Richard Paul Evans’ book, The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth, he points out that common amongst all wealthy people is the decision to be rich. They all got clear on what they wanted, decided they were worthy to have it, and then worked towards the goal.
Goals do not just ‘automatically happen.’
“You can either stand out or fit in. Not both.” –Seth Godin
Are you in acceptance of the fact that some people will disagree with you if you choose to live an amazing life?
There are haters and one-star reviews of any product, any book, and any person. If this is your reason for not becoming creative and powerful in your life, you’ve picked a poor reason. Some people will always hate you anyways. Those people hate almost everybody. They’re Fundamentalist Zealots.
Are you letting them hold you back?
What about standing out for you is so hard?
Commit 100%. Make the decision for yourself, not critics.
“Prove them wrong. Destroy them.” — Richie Norton
18. The Resistance Is Very Real. What Is Your Action Plan To Overcome?
“When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
True, but not entirely. Paulo Coelho struggles with writers block just like everybody else.
When you make a clear, definite, decision, opportunities will line up, because your mind will be looking for those opportunities.
This does not mean you’re immune to growing pains.
Change is still hard.
Resistance will come.
“If we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us.” –Marshall Goldsmith
What is your plan to proactively design your environment to pull you towards the future that you want?
Are you prepared for clashes when you make the leap of change in your life?
You need a system. To achieve any goal, you must structure your environment to help you succeed.
Find people to hold you accountable.
Track your progress on paper.
Remove junk food from your home.
Whatever system works for you.
For the best books on this subject view Triggers and Willpower Doesn’t Work.
19. Learn AND Do, Simultaneously.
Forget about needing enough ‘experience’ to start living out your goals and your dreams.
That’s pure nonsense.
As Zig Ziglar so famously said,
“And the rule is a simple one — you go as far as you can see — and once you get there, you will always be able to see further.”
You almost never know everything you need to do to achieve your goals.
However, waiting for more education/experience before getting there will never bring you the satisfaction and happiness you desire.
Starting projects is actually a way to jump-start your learning and your creativity.
When you set MAJOR goals you don’t really know how to achieve yet, you are forced to ‘rise to the occasion.’
What faster way to learn than to force yourself to achieve and create something?
To simply go about acquiring the knowledge isn’t good enough. You need to aggressively pursue your dreams now. As Dr. Stephen Covey said,
“To learn something but not to do is really not to learn. To know something but not to do is really not to know.”
20. Don’t Get Stuck.
Richie describes in his book the concept of an ‘innovation loop.’ Most companies release a creative and successful product…and then they keep releasing that same product year after year and eventually it fails. At this point, they need to release something new or they go out of business.
Apple is a prime example. The first iPhone was revolutionary. Now, sales volumes are declining because customers don’t want to buy the same product year after year. They want something new. Eventually, Apple will have to stop simply raising prices and actually upgrade their product.
The innovation loop applies to people too.
Don’t become wedded to your ideas.
You have to continually adapt and continually grow.
In my upcoming book, I explore the concept of different ‘goal-identities.’
In short, the only identity that produces meaningful success and lasting change is that of someone who is continuously adapting and changing for the better.
This is flexibility. You’re allowing yourself room for improvement. You’re always willing to go back to the drawing board and try again.
“What happens when the conversation doesn’t happen, the product doesn’t sell, the customer is not delighted, your boss is not happy, and the people aren’t moved? Make more art. It’s the only choice, isn’t it? Give more gifts. Learn from what you did and then do more.” –Seth Godin
21. Age is irrelevant.
“If you pick on kids or continue to hate the young and promote ageism, you are not my friend….” — Richie Norton
Regardless of age, live the rest of your life with purpose.
It’s not too early.
It’s not too late.
Now is the only time in which you are truly guaranteed the ability to act on your dreams.
Forget about societal expectations.
Act like your future self, today. Go where you want to be.
When you’re discouraged, go back to the drawing board.
When you hit bottom, you can only become better.
Become acquainted with the value of adding value and all else falls into place.
Start stuff. The perfect age is right now. No excuses.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” –Chinese Proverb
22. 100% Commit.
When you start living deliberately and with intention, clarity of purpose, you have to be ABSOLUTELY committed.
You have to do, not just know.
If you want absolute health, you need to be committed to excellent health routines and habits for life.
Not just the next 30 or 90 days.
Play the long-game. Give yourself time to build something amazing.
Forget about short-term quick-fixes. There are none that actually work.
Commit to excellence in everything you do.
As a friend recently told me, you and your standards are like a coconut tree. People in opposition to you will come shake the tree. If some coconuts fall, then they’ll keep shaking harder. However, if you don’t let anything fall, people will give up and leave you alone.
If you’re 100% committed, you experience less resistance than if you only partway commit. This is because you have no decision fatigue. You aren’t confused. You simply pursue what you want, 100%.
23. Mentors.
In this article I wrote recently, I explained the power of mentors and how to network with them.
Your mentors matter more than anything.
If you don’t have somebody helping you along the way, how are you supposed to succeed?
Parents ideally nurture their children through the early stages of life and teach them how to be adults. Parents have already learned how to become adults, and pass that skill onto the next generation.
We recognize this same process with teachers, family friends, even grandparents at times, yet sometimes we miss the bigger picture to see that you need much more mentoring than that.
When you start living by the other principles in this article, you’ll develop crazy amazing goals and act with intention towards those goals every single day.
You’ll be trying stuff that you haven’t tried before and therefore occasionally you’ll need help from others to launch your dreams and your projects.
It’s tempting to rush out and just ask people to help you, but you have to be genuine and develop trust.
You have to be committed to your mentors’ goals and dreams and aspirations.
You have to truly care about them.
Like other principles in this article, you have to play the long-game.
24. Project forward 50 years (BONUS)
If you give yourself a long time to accomplish something, you can create a beautiful life.
Richie explains in The Power of Starting Something Stupid a concept known as the Bezos Test. Jeff Bezos decided that when he was 80, he would deeply regret not starting his internet company. Therefore,
“…the choice was clear. He just had to jump ship.” — Richie Norton
Think about yourself in the future.
Who is that person? What is their emotional, social, physical, mental, spiritual…state of BEING?
Why do you want those traits, or those rewards, or those achievements?
Who is that person in the future?
What did they do to get there?
And so now what are YOU going to do about it?
What would you regret if you didn’t act on it today?
I challenge you to act on that thing.
Conclusion
Your life is important.
You matter.
You are powerful.
You can achieve anything if you’re truly committed.
Live to Start. Start to Live. — Richie Norton.
Call To Act
I’ve created this FREE Action Guide you can use to avoid getting stuck and achieve your #1 goal very quickly. Follow it and you will experience profound breakthroughs in your life.