Did you hear about the person who wrote a blog post and made $100K? I see these articles all the time. Maybe you do, too. Here’s the thing. I never believe it. Sure, I want to believe it, but I know better.
Miracles don’t exist?
I always look for an interview with this person. Then I read about what really happened because maybe they really do have the answer to finding the perfect career, making a lot of money…. Right (heavy sarcasm). Nope. Miracles don’t exist at this level.
So, how did this person write a blog post and make $100K? They followed a process, a plan. They took it one step at a time. They kept going, even when they were knocked down. They never stopped. Ever. Not one of them. They kept moving forward no matter what. They were committed to the process of manifesting their dreams.
What process?
First, figure out where you want to go and how you want to get there – what skills, talents, experience, and passion you want to use to propel you forward. Goals. Little plans. It’s okay, they’ll become big plans later.
Then, take the first step. Create your first blog post. Find your first client. Bake, decorate, and sell your first cake. Write your first program. And you watch, evaluate and see how your first step worked.
Life gets in the way.
Then, build on those first steps and take a few more. But be ready!! Life will get in your way! You might have to detour, pause, or correct your course as you find out you need more skills, your family needs you, you need to make more money right this minute, whatever it is that life throws your way.
So what do you do?
You do some little thing that represents forward progress. Something that builds you up. That reminds you of why you’re on this path. You do not stop.
Do one thing.
You do one thing, just one tiny thing to move forward. Maybe you take a social media class, an online decorating class, a writing class, you publish one more blog post, or you take the time to figure out how to solve that engineering program. And you keep going.
Then you fall down. You fail. Things go wrong.
You fail.
Do not quit. Do not start over again because there is really no such thing as starting over again. Whatever you’ve learned up til here stays with you – goes forward with you. If you evaluate what went wrong, it will help you decide how to move forward.
You learned new skills along the way to this failure place. Just avoid the same mistakes and keep going. When you keep going, you are preparing for future success. Miracles (aka luck) only happen when preparation meets opportunity.
Adjust to make room for breakthroughs.
Contrary to what you’ve seen or heard, there is no straight path to a dream career or life. Things happen. You find out that you really don’t want to do that exact thing you thought you did. So adjust your direction. Tweak your goal. Adjustments make room for new ideas and breakthroughs.
Keep going.
Keep going. Don’t stop. If you don’t stop, you will get there. There are no miracles, only following through on the process, owning the process, working the process.
Watch. Read. Learn.
Watch: How to Actually Start Working Your Dream Job
Watch: The Science of Resilience
Listen: Learning to Fill an Unmet Need
Listen: How to Decide if Your Business Idea Sucks
Read: How to Be More Resilient
