Saying it makes it so, doesn’t it?
Speaking into existence. Power of intention. Call it what you will. It works. There are two general rules of thought when it comes to sharing desired goals: keep it to yourself and tell others.
Both sides make compelling arguments, but I don’t know that the approaches are mutually exclusive. I might share with you that I’d like to quit my job, but not necessarily that I’d like to spend a year living in Buenos Aires.
In my own life, I’ve seen the benefits of “putting it out there” recently. Ever since I started moving in the direction of full-time self employment (letting people know I put in my two weeks notice, updating my website, writing about my upcoming moves), I feel like the heavens have parted.
I’ve taken on some interesting and challenging projects with amazing people, and I feel myself beginning to stretch beyond the types of things I’d normally do (from a coding and design perspective) so this will definitely benefit my business and portfolio.
When my friend Pam Slim was ready to move on planning a Fall speaking tour with me, she tweeted about it. Encouragement and motivation is coming from all directions and because of this external support, it makes it easy to build momentum towards the goal—even if I’m feeling resistance.
So I’d encourage you to start making things happen by talking about them. Tweet about them. Blog about them. Put yourself in the mindset of completing the goal as you’re doing other things. I put it out there recently and seeing results already.
You should too.
{ 14 comments }
You’re so inspiring! Thank you for this post. Wow. Light a fire under me, why don’t you? ;)
Heyyyy Rachael! That was fast :) Thanks for the kind words. Man I miss you #liftoff ninjas! Is it time for the next one yet?
You know the next best thing is something we can do together, right? So what can we do? :D
::rubs chin slowly:: Something epic for sure :) We’ll have to collaborate on something this year. Perhaps the thing we chatted about in Phoenix :-D
So true and so powerful. We all can, speak truth to power and I am so proud to see your truth becoming reality.
Des! I don’t know that it would have happened so soon without the affirmation and support from my network. I’m so fortunate.
Ah yes, I can smell the sweet aroma of world domination wafting through the -ahem- universe. Congrats on the two weeks and future tour. I’m watching out for big things, mister. Inspiration indeed. :)
Hey Deas, thanks for stopping by :) The aroma you smell is emanating from your own operation—when are you going to bless us with post-cubicle insights and reflections? Hm?
As you know I have been sitting on my “opportunity”, if you will, for sometime. But as I “put it out there”, things are starting to come together. Thanks for the encouragement.
Hey man, I think the timing is perfect. As much as a want to say that I wish I would have started my business back when I was in college, there’s no way I’d have been poised to make smart moves like I am now.
Everything for a reason, and I’m glad to see you preparing for launch. Cheers bro.
This post is spot on! I too am moving on to do my own thing, and the minute I put it out there… I received even more support. I didn’t need to give all of the details… just telling others that I was going to start my company caused quite a reaction. What I love so far is getting support from some very unexpected places.
Willie, thank you for writing this post… it is a great reminder that it is good to put it out there!!
Hey Lojo-
That’s fantastic, and it shows that you’re surrounded with the right people. I have friends who receive no support from friends or family with respect to their side hustle/word domination plans—not even from family.
Having a support system that encourages you is one of those unspoken, unquantifiable things that makes the impossible…possible.
I’ve been very fortunate in terms of having a lot of support from people around me! What is interesting though… some people I thought WOULD support me strongly, haven’t, and some that I thought WOULDN’T be my strongest supporters… have been.
I think the main thing I’ve learned is that I shouldn’t count anyone out as a supporter until they prove they aren’t. :-)
That’s really interesting. I get a lot of “it doesn’t surprise me” and “I figured you were self-employed already anyway” responses (which is hilarious to me), so much of the support I get is implicit.
I don’t know that anyone hasn’t been supportive of my move, but I’m not (yet) shouting it from the mountaintops so we’ll see ;)