Failure

What You’re Keeping Track Of

Garth Beyer

I’ve got a list of past failures. Given that I fail often, it’s a long one.

What are you keeping track of? The number of times you’ve failed, guessed wrong, invested in the wrong stock, passed on pursuing an invention?

Much more productive – and I’m working on this myself – to keep track of our successes.

Sure, learn from the failures and the paths not taken, but why hold onto them. Better to remind ourselves of when we were right, what worked, when we took risks and turned out to succeed by doing so.

It’s a tough list to make, but worth the investment of attention.

 

Stay Positive & Focusing On The Good Attracts More Good

Permission To Suck

Garth Beyer

There are a few tasks a day, I imagine, that we absolutely need to do things right. There are some projects at work where there is simply no room for being wrong, especially if the shipping deadline is EOD.

That being said, each project or obligation we have to get right, we actually think to ourselves how it must be right, it must be perfect before we send it out. It becomes a constant reminder to do things slow and safely.

Oddly, though, a project where there is room for being wrong, we often don’t acknowledge that privilege and thus don’t exercise it, thus putting us at a disadvantage to those cashing out on the privilege of being wrong.

We ought to notice when there is room for wrong or, as I consider it, permission to suck because the path toward creative righteousness is made of moments of wrong, of failure, of suck. How?

Because regularly shipping work that sucks a bit or being off about a project direction – essentially being wrong about something, goes from feeling like death to being a bit of a nuisance to being a treasured opportunity.

 

Stay Positive & Recognize The Moments You’re Permitted To Suck (and cash out on them!)

Unlocking Potential #13: Q&A With Ryan Paugh

Garth Beyer

Ryan Paugh

When researching for a story centered on entrepreneurs under 30, a friend connected me with Ryan Paugh. At the time, Ryan was at Brazen Careerist writing, speaking and preaching about career-management. He was big into entrepreneurship… still is.

Like all the others on the unlocking potential series, Ryan is a linchpin. He is the source, the center of many entrepreneurial circles, providing resources and connecting people just as my friend connected me with him.

Without further ado… welcome, Ryan.

Q: You’re known for building epic communities. What does an epic community look like to you?

Ryan: An epic community is one that can help you unlock any door in your industry or trade. For communities like YEC and FounderSociety, we aspire to help our members gain access to everything they need to grow successful businesses.

Q: How did you get to where you’re at now? What’s your story?

Ryan: This is very geeky, but blogging changed my life. After I graduated college I started a blog with one of my best friends about Gen Y entering the workforce. Through the blog came my first business, Brazen Careerist, which was a free community for Gen Y professionals seeking career happiness.

Q: What’s the best and worst parts of being an entrepreneur?

Ryan: The best part about being an entrepreneur is having control over your own destiny. The worst part about being an entrepreneur is the toll it takes on your personal life and the lack of stability.

Q: What gets you filled up with passion and ready to take on the world, to go the distance, to be in it for the long haul?

Ryan: My family. Now that I’m a father especially, I find that I’m more motivated to be successful than I have ever been. I want my family to live the best life possible. I want them to see me as their hero.

Q: What do you see people regularly failing to do while starting a business? What would you suggest they do differently?

Ryan: Spending too much time on one idea is a common startup killer. Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they didn’t get it right on the first try. They had to iterate on their existing idea to make it work.

Q: What are four hacks you can share? They can be about life, relationships, getting a job, starting a business, whatever you would like.

Hack #1. Invest in a virtual assistant and outsource work that takes away from building your business. Challenge yourself to delegate at least one new thing per week to your assistant.

Hack #2. Perfect is stupid. Come up with an idea for a business. Build the minimum viable product (MVP) as quickly as you can and get it to market. Iterate based on feedback from your early customers to get better.

Hack #3. Become an early riser or a night owl and you will get more accomplished than 99 percent of the population.

Hack #4. Take care of yourself. You physical and mental health are strongly linked to your success.

Q: Here’s an open-ended question for you: What are your thoughts on waiting?

Ryan: Don’t.

Q: What about failure?

Ryan: Embrace it.

Q: Would you tell us about a truly challenging time and how you got through it (or didn’t!)?

Ryan: Without going into too much detail, I had a health scare a couple months ago that left me feeling mentally paralyzed. It took weeks for me to feel better and get back to my business. The reason I was able to take the time off that I needed to recover was my amazing team. At some point in the future, you’re going to need to take some time off too and it will go a lot smoother if your company can operate with you missing. Being a great leader means learning how to delegate to your team and trust that they can get the job done. You should spend time early on in your career getting comfortable with this. You’ll thank yourself later.

Q: What are three lessons people should know about building a community?

  • Community businesses are are some of the most difficult businesses to run. I love what I do, but it’s not an easy road to riches. There are plenty of other avenues you could take to get rich quick
  • Great customer service can keep a paying customer loyal even when the product still needs work.
  • People will pay a premium for a concierge-level community experience.

Q: What makes an idea or a business or a person remarkable?

Ryan: Vulnerability. I’m drawn to people, ideas, and businesses that are not afraid to be what they are even if that might lead to them being criticized.

Q: Any last advice you want to give someone in marketing or someone who is thinking of starting a business?

Ryan: Share your ideas with as many people as possible.

Q: Lastly, where can people find you and the remarkable work you do? (Shamelessly self-promote here.)

Ryan: The communities I’m currently building are YEC and FounderSociety. We also run a great startup advice website for early-stage entrepreneurs. Follow me on Twitter. I try to blog semi frequently at ryanpaugh.com.

 

Stay Positive & Go Share Your Ideas, Be A Hero, Start Something

A Different Kind Of Plan B

Garth Beyer

Off The Path Plan B

Working on every project like you would a jigsaw puzzle is essential if you want it to be a success. Lean the box against the wall and start putting all the pieces together, regularly looking at what the final product is supposed to be. But work projects (and life!) aren’t that simple.

You can plan everything out. You can have the perfect strategy. You can create a system that will get you from start to finish. But – and this is a big but because it’s always existent – things won’t go as planned, as strategized, as systemized.

Tactics will change. People will let you down. You will take an unexpected and uncontrolled turn toward the unknown.

Knowing your plan and visualizing the final puzzle, final product, final campaign has it’s value, but knowing what you will do when the plan doesn’t go as planned – that’s what proves a person is in it for the long run versus only if things go the way they planned.

 

Stay Positive & Yes, You Can Plan For Your Plan Not To Work

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10 Principles For Creating Remarkable Work

10 Principles For Creating Remarkable Work

Garth Beyer

Creating Remarkable Work

 

1) You’ve got to give yourself time. For some that means working a job they don’t love because it affords them a few hours at night they can work and not worry about paying the bills. For others this may mean living in an area that is cheap, quiet, far from distractions. It may mean a hiatus from family and friends or it might just mean waking up an extra hour earlier. Without time, you won’t be able to do work that matters.

2) Get funded in odd ways. You’re fortunate enough to be creating in an age where crowdfunding is a popular method of supporting your art, your project. But don’t neglect the opportunities that don’t require a healthy network of supporters. A simple grant here, a one-day-a-week job there can do the trick. And remember, you don’t need a mass of supporters, you only need a few people who already value your work, who are your core tribe.

3) Write out your story. If you have to force it to be interesting, then change your story. Go restart your pursuit in a way that is whole-heatedly interesting. You can own a motto and a personal statement, but keep it to yourself. Let it inspire you and only you. People want to hear your interesting story, not the four word motto that only breaths life for you or the promise you made yourself at the start of the new year.

4) Declutter. Destroy. Decrease your inventory. Purge your inbox, your Evernote, your journals. When going through your collections, either find a way to use what you’ve planned, written, drawn immediately or toss it. Don’t think of incomplete projects and musings you see as failures to launch, see them as ideas that never had life in them to begin with. It’s okay. Let them go. It will be weight off your shoulders now and save you time later.

5) You don’t need regular input and feedback when you’re in the creating phase. Create in privacy. Fail in privacy. Closing your door means you shut out criticism that cripples your momentum, it means shunning the naysayers that drain your motivation, it means giving nothing for others to judge you by.

6) This tip and what prompted me to write this list comes from Teresita Fernandez’s commencement address: when someone compliments your work, don’t believe them unless they can convince you why they believe it’s good. “If they can’t convince you (and most people can’t) dismiss it as superficial and recognize that most bad consensus is made by people simply repeating that they ‘like’ something.”

7) Other than bad habits, you don’t have to give up anything you love or want to do in life in order to create remarkable work. You can travel to all the countries you want, have as many babies as you want or go to school for five more degrees. You can create remarkable work all the while. You don’t have to forfeit your dreams to do work that matters.

8) Don’t believe you need a mass following to fuel your work. A few people who support you, who care about you, who believe in you is all you need. Don’t tell yourself otherwise.

9) Be nice to everyone. Be gracious. Be thankful. Be sincere. Be personal. Be human. Be likable rather than interesting.

10) When you face fear, troubles, setbacks in life–be it with your fitness, family, finances, faith, friends–fall back on your work, your art to hold you up, not drugs, not alcohol, not other miserable people. Remember that the work you create to help others, can also help you.

 

Stay Positive & Any Other Principles You Think Are Essential? Tweet at me: @thegarthbox

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Where To Find Your Muse

Where To Find Your Muse

Garth Beyer

Find Your Muse, Stay In Your Flow

The feeling of boredom comes to every linchpin, artist, and entrepreneur from time to time. The reason is quite clear: actions have become easy, challenges are few and far between, and there is less need of a growing skill.

As a result, the impresario seeks out larger challenges that require focus, additional connections, and an incessant need to learn new skills to accomplish the goal.

But once the artist sets down that path, she realizes she has set too lofty of a goal, too large of an expectation of herself, too tough of a challenge, so she returns to the start of this post, desiring a calmer path, a quieter challenge, an easier goal.

As Peter Turchi writes, it’s a cycle of satisfaction and frustration. To find our muse we must find the flow between the anxiety of a difficult practice and the boredom of an easy task.

The real problem isn’t doing what it takes to stay within your flow, your muse; it’s noticing when you’re outside of it, when a task is too easy or a challenge too large. Both of which are slippery slopes that lead to failure and resentment.

 

Stay Positive & Be Aware Of Your Flow

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They Weren’t Always The Way They Are

They Weren’t Always The Way They Are

Garth Beyer

Conversations And Opinions Change

Richard Branson. Bernadette Jiwa. Chris Brogan. These idols of ours, they weren’t always this remarkable, this flawless, this all-knowing, this helpful.

Jump back to page 400 of Seth Godin’s blog and notice how different the style of writing is.

Listen to the first few podcasts of Debbie Millman or James Altucher and notice how different their conversations are.

Watch some of Tim Ferriss’s old YouTube videos compared to what he rolls out today.

They weren’t always the way they are now. Through falling, failure, and feedback, they’ve come a long way. However!

If we asked any one of our idols if they are happy with where they are at, they would say there is still room for improvement, that they’re still tweaking things, still trying new ways of communicating, of growing.

The way they are now won’t be the way they are 20 months from now either.

You can’t glide at remarkable, you can’t plateau at incredible, you can’t pause at excellent. These labels are only stamped on those who keep moving forward. It doesn’t do anyone justice when we just accept that someone is talented.

Nor does it do us justice to think we can’t also work to where our idols are at now. They’ve made it to remarkable and work to stay that way. Why can’t/shouldn’t/won’t we?

 

Stay Positive & Let’s Do It

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