Month: July 2014

What you believe, is what you become.

If you believe you have nothing or you always are in need, then that will be your future.

And everything that you do—your actions and deeds will reflect that.

The scarcity mindset reflects a belief that your circumstances cannot improve.

It stifles action against making things happen for yourself.

Scarcity is a mindset that breeds ever-increasing futility.

I choose to believe that my actions are not futile, but they point toward a future that I am creating day by day.

The people that I choose to work with—they also believe that their actions have significance.

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You create your reality.

This is a difficult thought for many people to handle.

This goes against everything that many people believe.

Some believe their life is governed by destiny or fate or cosmic balance.

Or they may wait for the Deity of their choice to rubber stamp their path before embarking on it.

While I am a very philosophical and metaphysical person also, I believe that your destiny is shaped by intention.

I’m not a Calvinist, I do not believe in predestination.

Like the song says, no one’s going to tell you when to run—
so don’t miss the starting gun.

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The future is always unwritten.

You are creating it day by day.

I think this responsibility is a frightening thought for the majority of people.

It means that luck is meaningless and imaginary.

There is only intention and the opportunity you create for yourself.

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The opposite of the scarcity mindset is the abundance mindset.

If faith is the belief in things hoped for but unseen, then the abundance mindset is strikingly similar.

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Your words have power.

Is it merely coincidence that every major religion and culture has a creation story in which the Universe came into being by the spoken word?

I believe this is not a coincidence, but rather pointing toward the hidden truth standing in front of us.

It is not just the words of our respective gods that have power, it is our own words that create our circumstances and our reality.

I have often heard it said that the measure of your character is not your circumstances, but rather your reaction to your circumstances.

It is true, at various points my life I have had both abundance and the lack of abundance, both spiritually and materially.

At this stage of my life I am choosing to believe in myself and in my ability to create a future for myself—out of thin air if need be.

Rather than wait for things to get better on their own, I choose to show my belief in abundance by acting as if that abundance is already here.

Similarly, those who have a scarcity mindset live their life—and act out every day as if that abundance is never going to arrive for them.

This creates fear, anxiety, and desperation.

This is not something that I want for myself.

I want to live up to my goals, not down to my means.

Will I realize every single goal that I set for myself?

Time will tell.

But if you do not dare to believe in your dreams, it is a guarantee you will never achieve them.

If you’re like me, you’re continually making goals, and trying to figure out how to where you’ve never been before from where you’re at. I feel you. I’m also trying to hack reality. I’ve had some successes, and some failures as well. I understand the struggles beneath the surface appearance of civilized society.

The last couple of years, I’ve made my full-time living from web design and development. I came to the game a little later than most, but this is not a disadvantage in my eyes. It’s made me more intentional about my choices.

Being skillful at your craft is essential to earning a living, but if people are familiar with you and like who you are, that makes it even easier. Being unknown is a detriment. Anonymity forces you to prove yourself to every fresh set of eyes and ears you encounter. Most people want less gatekeepers between themselves and their goals, not more. Wherever possible, make sure the doors in front of you are already open. Meet others within your industry face to face whenever possible. To have doors unlocked ahead of you, you must gain trust of the community, one person at a time.

Writing and sharing what you have learned helps greatly. Knowledge is something that wants to be shared, and y helping others, you help yourself to grow as well. A taller challenge is to be in the places where people meet, and keep expanding your presence. Traveling to local events is a good place to start. True friendships are formed by doing things with other people. Intimate trust is something that cannot be gained through social media. Your lasting impressions will be made in the presence of others. This is a basic human feature that will probably never change. I believe this is why many web companies still have issues supporting remote teams, even though we possess all the tools to do it. People simply feel better about people that they hang out with versus people they don’t see face to face.

It seems important to go to the larger events and conferences as soon as possible. There are many people you will likely never get to meet otherwise. Rapport seems easier to develop with those who you physically meet at events such as these. I also believe it alters people’s perception of you if you have the time and resources to travel to different conferences often. It means you are doing something right, and that you are successful enough to make it happen. Perhaps this legitimacy is something that I strive for because I have always sought acceptance from my peers.

The large barrier for most people is the time and the financial constraint of traveling. But there is a great deal of legitimacy that comes from speaking, having a podcast, or writing a book. In order to achieve any of these, you must have something to say that others perceive as having value. The speakers on the event stages have made great sacrifices of time and effort to prepare, research, rehearse and deliver their knowledge to others. If you wish to be where they are, you must make those same sacrifices.

There is a great deal of envy, desire, and admiration of industry celebrities. I think people believe life is somehow easier if you are well-known, but I think successful people are all very good at managing their time. They manage their 24 hours differently than the majority of folks. To take all the steps and micro-steps necessary to reach your goals is to live with intention. People seek an easy road, but there is no easy road. Everything gained must be earned, paid for with decisive action and thousands of hours.

I must provide more value to people in order to earn more, so I may have the time and resources to accomplish my list of goals. I must teach others what I have learned, so I may provide more value, and therefore, be more valuable to others. Without this step, the other steps cannot be completed. I guess that’s it – there is no secret. You simply have to work harder than everyone else, and then put yourself in the position to have those opportunities in front of you.

I wish I would have been ready for this phase my life a long time ago, but you cannot change the past. You can only change today; that is all you have. Make use of it.

When we hear stories others getting the fame, recognition, and traffic that we desire, our first tendency is to wonder why that isn’t us. We look for shortcuts to becoming a black swan. We long for the quick win—we wish we could have overnight success, but we forget that years of work go into being suddenly discovered. The performer on YouTube that gets 500 million views on their first video, the business that shoots to the top of an industry, the blog that is an instant hit — these results are not common. We feel bad because we only have 5, 50, or 500 followers. We fail to recognize how amazing it is to even have one.

Continue reading “Growing Your Business Gradually”