I'm spending this year trying to make a living by speaking. I wanted to commit to this for a full 365-day period. Even though I already speak 15-20 times a year, and I've built up to that "on the side," I have made a commitment to go all in this year and see what can happen. I've stepped back from a lot of my day-to-day duties at Proof Branding, a company I co-founded just 18 months ago. Proof is thriving, going gangbusters with Matt Cheuvront's leadership and skill. On paper, it was foolish to walk away from that job and step toward one with no guarantees.
But after telling clients - entrepreneurs, mainly - at Proof that they had to put everything into chasing a dream, I decided to take my own advice.
As it turns out, I'm in good company:
- Shanley Knox committed to launching and growing Nakate for a year and would then either keep it going or shut it down. She's still going strong.
- Niki Mathias organizes her life around a theme or activity for an entire year, which is necessary with ambitious goals.
- Rosetta Thurman has selected three themes for her work for this year, wanting to take what she does to the next level.
- And, check out the idea of The Leap Year Project.
Often times, we go after our goals in spurts. This is not how great things were meant to be achieved. They were meant to be chased continually over a period of time. They were meant to be committed to, longed after, and sacrificed for.
My challenge to you is that if you envision a different life for yourself, spend at least a year (and then four) going after that life. An entire year. Quit your job. Focus. Work hard. See what happens.
You may still think you can't and you shouldn't. That too much is at risk. Fair enough. I'll just leave you with the question that has been nagging me: