Focus on What Will Help You
In the audio blog, I answer a four-part question about KDP Select and self-publishing.
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I’m a little stressed out. Every time I log onto Facebook, I’m bombarded with ads about how you can “write and publish a #1 best-selling book in eight weeks.” Or, how “you can get a cheat sheet a particular guru used to make seven figures.” The ads make crazy claims, and the sad thing is people buy those programs like they’re going out of style.
When I started building my dream, I was desperate. I wanted to make progress quicker. I figured if I invested money into one of these programs, I would make progress. You know my story so you know I got hustled. The sad truth is that there is a lot of lying happening in the online space.
To be fair, maybe I just picked the wrong programs. There are a lot of good programs out there. But, in general, the ones that we see the most—like through Facebook ads—are the ones that won’t help us. They might work when we reach a certain level, but, in general, they aren’t relevant to where we are in our journey.
In the Middle
I was listening to a conference and the speaker was someone I greatly respect. He has released four New York Times best-selling books, and I have had the pleasure of attending two of his live events. I have heard his story several times, but for some reason, something caught my attention as he was telling it as this event.
He talked about the fact that before he got started with his lifestyle business, he was a consultant at Accenture. If you’re not familiar with the company, watch any major golf event. They are a consulting and strategy company worth $62 billion dollars. The average salary is $93,101 a year.
He left that job to consult, coach and speak. I don’t know what his finances looked like, but I think it’s a fair guess that he had some money and a lot of knowledge from his former job. The point being: he had a good head start.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but for most of us, we will begin this journey living comfortable or paycheck-to-paycheck. I learned a lot at his conference, but it wasn’t relevant to where I was at because I didn’t have the money to spend on all the systems he recommended.
I would LOVE to use Infusionsoft, but at an average of $2,000 just to set up, that was out of my reach. Hiring a web designer for $3,000 to build a custom website, that was out of my reach. Spending $4,000 with a developer to set up my online course, app, or some other monetization method, was out of my reach. When I started, I cut my neighbor’s grass just to afford the $900 it took to design my website and put my eBook together. That’s where most people who read my blog are at.
Most of us are in the middle. This means we have to stop learning from people who are teaching things that are far beyond our level. Sure, listen to that podcast if you want, but realize it’s more for pleasure. We have to stop trying to copy what they do and how they look because we don’t have the money just yet. How many people have you seen doing income reports that are making less than $2,000 a month? When a potential client sees that they won’t be impressed, and it will scare them away from hiring you. They will hire the person who’s making over $10,000 a month because that’s where they want to be.
Embrace the middle. Learn from those who are just a step or two ahead of you. Stop dreaming and start focusing on what will help you where you are in the journey. Focus on how you can be unique and add value. If you want to learn from those who are way ahead of you, study their mindset—try to understand how they think and how that affects the actions they take.
My goal is for everyone who reads this to experience freedom in his or her work, health, and relationships by the end of the year. The only way to get there is by focusing on what will help you make progress. Focus, value, and action will get you there.
Audio version:
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Photo: Flickr/ Michael Dales
