Keep Stacking Bricks

Adam Entrepreneurship, Personal Improvement

I like to think that I’m Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother) and that when I’m sad, I can just be awesome instead, but it doesn’t always work that way.

This has been a down week. Nothing particularly bad happened. Nobody died. I’m not sick. We’re all ok.

But one side project I’ve been working on seems a bit stuck, and while I put a ton of effort in to guest posts recently (and thank you to the bloggers who put me in front of their audiences – there’s no higher compliment), the traffic didn’t stick… at all. I’m definitely having a hard time with that.

I think I’m in the dreaded valley of despair that most online authors hit after they’ve been rocking for that first 6 months to a year that’s left the internet littered with dead websites (don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere). You look at the successes that seem to happen much quicker (key word is seem) and it’s discouraging.

Beyond that, my day job has just kind of sucked this week.

Sometimes that’s how it goes. Maybe you’re scared, sad, depressed, worried or just feel alone. Don’t worry. We’ve all been there. You may not relate to how bummed I was with my blog traffic numbers, but we’ve all got something we’re struggling with (big or small).

I read a great article the other day over at Unicorn Free that I really identified with. The author Amy Hoy said,

“In 2014, make this your mantra:

There is no such thing as an overnight success.

There is no such thing as an overnight success.

There is no such thing as an overnight success.

There is only stacking the bricks.”

That really struck me. I plan to hold on to that thought and I thought it might help some of you too.

Maybe you’ve been killing the diet and gym but progress has stopped. That promotion you thought was yours and went to the jerkoff in the cube next to you? I’ve been there and it’s not fun.

Keep stacking bricks

Maybe you’ve got a mound of student loans, credit card bills or a job that pays shit. It could be that your savings and investments are just creeping up and you feel like you’ll never get to that retirement number.

Keep stacking bricks.

For me, that means working my ass off at work this week, writing another blog post and continuing to hammer at my other side project (yet to be revealed) in hopes that I’m an “overnight success” at some point. I know that if I ever want this house (or stadium or cathedral – pick your metaphorical building) to be complete, I’ve got another row to cement in place this week.

Ramit Sethi started with a crap website and a $5.0 e-book. Tim Ferris was rejected by almost every publisher in existence for the 4 Hour Work Week, and I couldn’t count the number of stories in which James Altucher is lying on the ground, crying and broke. I could find another dozen examples just like that with business leaders, authors, celebrities, entrepreneurs and any other category that interests you. It didn’t matter. They kept getting up and now they’re the A-listers we all want to be. They did it smart, but they also just kept going. They didn’t quit.

Keep stacking bricks.

If you’re here because you like frugality, personal finance and are looking for inspiration, community or tips, same advice applies. Today go out and lay 1 brick:

  • Open a savings account
  • Bump your 401k percentage up one point
  • Automate that IRA contribution
  • Find 1 bill you can cut (cell phone, cable, etc)
  • Identify 1 habit to break (starbucks / smoking)
  • Find a habit to start (biking to work / bringing your lunch)

If it’s health that’s an issue. Same advice. Go lay 1 brick:

  • Don’t grab that soda
  • Walk 30 minutes per day
  • Toss the junk food in your cabinets
  • Literally go lay some bricks. It’s probably good exercise? Maybe not.

For me I’m going to keep working on some of the ones mentioned by Amy:

  • shipping a single blog post
  • …and another, and another
  • adding 5 subscribers to your newsletter
  • writing one page
  • fixing one bug
  • recording one short video
  • making my very first sale
  • receiving a single happy email from a reader or customer

Everything above has one simple thing in common. It’s not glorious. It’s not sexy. It’s WORK.

Everybody wants the money, fame and fortune. Nobody wants to put in the time. Everybody wants to be the Rock, nobody wants to be up with him at 4am, EVERYDAY for an hour of cardio, then an hour of weights, and eating in beast mode.

If you want to reach your goals, put in the time. Put in the work. If you don’t know what I mean, go watch, “Jiro Dream of Sushi”. That’s a man that puts in the work every single day.

wall2

Keep stacking bricks.

So don’t worry that it sucks right now or that you can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Determine your goal, make a plan, and figure out what that first step is. Small steps. Small wins. Little improvements. These turn in to BIG WINS (my favorite kind).

Focus less on outcome and more on process. Effort turns in to outcome but they may be pretty far apart.

If you are taking the right steps, eventually you are going to reach your destination.

Stay motivated. Don’t quit. The secret to success is to stop wishing and start doing.

Don’t despise the day of small beginnings.

Keep stacking bricks.


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