Eight weeks ago I launched Bold Future with a post called Launch. It was completely spontaneous. Though I had been thinking about the project for years, I had never given myself a deadline for when I was going to actually put something up. Exhausted by debilitating excuses and inaction, I bought a domain, signed up for a Squarespace account and started writing. Five hours later, Bold Future was a reality. Finally.
I didn't and still don't completely know what this project will become, but there were only two things I committed to:
1. Quiet the voices in my head, overcome the fear and figure it out through action.
2. Share the journey with you authentically and honestly.
To say that my life has changed since then is an understatement. It's not because I have a huge following or that my content has gone viral. There are 51 people on my email list and I've had maybe 10 shares on all forms of social media combined since I started. It's not because I've made a bunch of money with it. I've spent about 20 hours a week producing content (mostly on upcoming podcast episodes) for 8 weeks and monetization is far from within reach. No, it's changed my life because I did it. The entire process has been a massive success because I just keep hitting add, record, save, post, submit and publish.
There are times when the content isn't as good as I want it to be. I wish my grammar was better, or I wish I had more time to edit, or I wish I had asked a different question in an interview. Struggling and feeling clueless has been the rule, not the exception. I've made all kinds of mistakes and I've been disappointed a lot. Yet somehow, none of that matters. What matters is the doing and the getting better at the doing.
The icing on the cake is the connections I’ve made along the way. It’s cliche to say that if my message touches just one person I’ll be happy, but it could not be more true. I’ve gotten emails, phone calls, texts, Facebook messages and LinkedIn messages from people I know and don’t know who want to share what they’ve learned. They tell me about specific points in specific podcast episodes where they had epiphanies. I’ve been sent pages of notes from a guy who dissected every word Dave Gray said and then used that information to increase his impact at work.
I’m telling you from firsthand experience, if there’s something you want to do, do it. You’re probably not qualified enough and you probably don’t know enough to make it work. Do it anyway. If you keep going, you will figure it out. I can’t guarantee you that your idea will succeed, your business will take off or that even one person will subscribe. However, I can guarantee you that trying is so much more rewarding than not. Next week, I will release a podcast episode that will give you further guidance on how to implement this mindset. My interview is with Caleb Chancey, a photographer, musician, event organizer and true launcher of ideas. Truth is, though, you don’t have to wait to hear the episode to take one tiny step in the right direction. You can take it this weekend. Better yet, right this second.