It's Okay to Not Do Something Amazing

Spend more than two minutes online and you'll see a lot of people doing amazing things! People who are making millions while they sleep, people who are pushing out content like their life depends on it, people doing fantastic things with their side hustles, etc.

Just reading all of the awesomeness can be overwhelming.

I remember a few years ago seeing these popular youtube videos where a young(ish) guy leans on a super expensive sports car outside of a huge, gorgeous mansion (that happened to be empty (no furniture??)). They guy would walk you through his mansion and be super hyped (HYPED BRO!!!!) about how he makes millions of dollars and how YOU CAN TOO!

This really, really bugged me because I had impressionable young teenagers who were watching these videos. They, and their friends, were all on board with this idea of earning gazillions of dollars and having mansions and expensive cars.

Look, I'm not poopooing anyone doing something different and making gobs of money. I'm certainly doing my career differently than what I thought I'd be doing. I'm not inventing anything new, in the way of careers, but I'm having an unusual career. It's been great.

I've had people ask me how I had the guts to get started on this path. In short, I had the guts because I couldn't get a regular job. I was forced to have the guts.

I've had people ask how (and why) I was such a prolific writer for the first few years of my business. I did it because I had no money for marketing, and a lot of time (and healthy anxiety), and writing was what I could do and control. And so I wrote and wrote and wrote. And then I wrote more.

My point is, you can watch a lot of people do amazing things and wonder what the heck you are doing? You wonder if you are doing anything well, right, important, or if you are stuck in some rut while everyone around you is making $20,000 or $100,000 a month on their side hustle.

Here's my advice: Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Learn from them, sure. Learn that there are dozens, hundreds of ways of earning money. Learn that things you are frustrated with can be done different ways.

But don't sit there worrying that you are being left behind. Worrying about not being as cool, good looking, prolific, lucky (timing?), etc. as these people making gobs of money on TikTok or Youtube or whatever might leave you simply frustrated and unhappy with your life and career.

I'm not saying don't try stuff you feel you need to try, or that you've researched and know you are ready to dive in and try.

If you are doing decently well, and are mostly happy/satisfied, then keep doing you. Be happy for others who are trying other things with their careers. But if you want to make changes and improvements you don't necessarily have to buy a halo light and become an online personality.

Maybe you just keep working on your personal finances. Maybe you work on marginal improvements. Maybe you... HOLD THE PHONE!!!!

This whole post is about the power of marginal improvement, personally and professionally.

Seriously, don't worry about what everyone else is doing. But if you want to make changes in your life then start to make changes. Be patient as you strategically work on yourself and your skills. What you want to do might require years of preparation and marginal improvement.

I'm inviting you to ignore the flash and sizzle of people who have already invested hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours (and dollars) into their journey and just focus on YOUR journey.

Want to become a youtube star? Invest time and learn about it instead of worrying about why you don't have 250,000 subscribers yet. And then, like many people before you, start. It will likely be a slow start, like many of the youtube stars say they had, but keep at it. Be consistent. Learn to do better (Shorter? Longer? Better titles?). Work on marginal growth.

Want a big promotion? Figure out what you need so you can be considered and then work on that. Dress better. Volunteer more. Get certifications or degrees, if you need to. Work on your hard skills. Work on your soft skills. You might not get that promotion next week, perhaps you are preparing for a promotion in two years! Work on it now, and for these two years, and you'll be much more prepared.

Tortoise and hare. It's more than just a cute kids book. The hare, today, would be accused of having burnout.

Being the tortoise doesn't mean you have to be slow. It simply means you are making forward progress.

Be the tortoise.