Write Your Own Story
You pour yourself into every blog post.
You give yourself away in every comment, RT, and generous email of praise and encouragement.
But people don’t seem to notice.
You give yourself away over months and months of free content. Your community builds and you think you’re on top of the world.
And then you ask them to buy something…whoosh! They’re gone to the next blog.
Why do lies taste so good?
Where others throw smoke, you bring the fire. There’s truth in what you offer, but for some reason it seems as if people prefer to eat the lies.
They say they don’t want to hear about money, but they worship it.
They say they’re there for you until you ask them for something.
They want you to succeed…as long as you don’t before they do.
This is the nature of the beast, and it’s the demon we all face.
Why?
I’m not sure I have an answer. Human nature perhaps?
The cynic in me says that people are selfish and free seeking.
The realist in me says yeah, that may be true, but how the hell does that help me? I can’t fix them. I can only fix me.
I think that’s close to the truth, at least the truth we need to hear.
There are two things I’d like to accomplish in this post.
1) Show you that you have something of worth to offer the world.
2) Show you why you’ll never be happy trying to please someone else.
I’ve been there
I tried to please people every hour of every day. In some ways, I’m still not comfortable doing anything but…yet I know it’s not healthy.
I’m a watcher, and there are a few people I’ve been watching as of late. One of them worked their ass off to build something that made people happy and gave people value.
There were cheerleaders and everyone was saying “rah, rah!”
But when it came time to raise the price of the tickets from free to a few nickels…the crowd disappeared.
The cheerleaders left. The fans left. The team was on the court wondering WTF happened.
I’ve been there, and it’s a dark place.
Two mouths
I’ve also watched people do the opposite of what they say.
They say they are turned off by money and marketing, but they fall for it every time.
You…the gal that tries to do things differently…well it doesn’t work out so well. You’re a friend, but not a lover.
The lovers always get the prize at the end. The drunk dude at the party always gets the chick. Not because he’s better, but because he’s worse.
It’s not you, it’s them
Screw them.
Seriously.
If selling something turns people away, then they weren’t true believers in the first place.
If trying to help only gets you a pat on the back, then you’re going to the wrong parties.
I know it’s tempting to sacrifice your values in order to change the state of now, but trust me, it’s not worth it.
Those people that you’re chasing…well…they aren’t your people, and as hard as it might be to bear, it’s good to find that out.
What you have to offer the world is more than just a cheap ass ebook and a nice sales letter.
It’s more than a circle of friends that seems impossible to break.
No, what you have to offer is an idea. Innovation. Idealism. Truth.
Do you know why there isn’t more of that in the world?
It’s because it takes guts to stick by your guns.
It takes confidence to be the only one with a vision…to refuse the coward’s way out.
Why You’re Failing
Do you know why you aren’t seeing the results you want?
It has nothing to do with what your doing, at least from the non-technical side.
It’s because you’re chasing people instead of making them chase you.
You’ll never be happy trying to please someone else because in doing so, you chase their dream and give up on yours.
It’s like spending 4 years in high school trying to get the prom queen, not realizing that the better looking, better loving, “girl of your dreams” is waiting just around the corner.
Looking at the closed door instead of the open door right down the way.
In the words of Fleetwood Mac: “You can go your own way.”
It might take longer to get there, hell…if you’re like Howard Roark it might take a lifetime, but at least, in the end, you’ll be a place that you recognize.
That dream that you see ever so clearly inside of your head.
Look at the empire beneath your feet. It’s something you’ll have built, not because you caved, but because you stayed true to your vision, and more importantly, to your integrity.
Take that with you every day, and when you’re feeling down, remember the story you’ll be able to tell.
It’s going to be an amazing one isn’t it?
I was listening to the album “Sometimes” by City and Colour when I wrote this.
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