3439: 6 Steps to Successfully Launching a Dream by Andy Traub with Goins Writer on Overcoming Perfectionism

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[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: This is Optimal Living Daily, 6 Steps to Successfully Launching a Dream by Andy Traub with Goins Writer.com

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm your narrator Justin Malik reading you articles every single day of the year, including holidays,

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_01]: so that you and I can both take a step in the right direction and have just a bit more positivity in our day.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_01]: It really does add up. So with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: 6 Steps to Successfully Launching a Dream by Andy Traub with Goins Writer.com

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a profound impatience for those of us who are building our own platforms.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: We want what we want, and we want it now.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_01]: But we sometimes fail to see what it takes to see a dream through to the end.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: We see Seth Godin fund his Kickstarter project in hours.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We watch Michael Hyatt launch a book, WordPress theme, conference, and community all in the same year.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_01]: We see a quiet guy named Jeff get hundreds of people to sign up for his online course

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and sell tens of thousands of books without leaving the comfort of his home.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So how do you do that?

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_01]: How do you and I get what those people, those successful influencers and authors have?

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_01]: How do we successfully launch our dreams?

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_01]: We can read the books and buy the courses, and I suggest you do.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But at some point, we must take responsibility for creating our own art.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Because it's not enough to dream.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We must do the work.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Do what they do, not just what they say.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Dave Ramsey says if you want to be rich, then you should do rich people's stuff.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to grow my platform, so I'm doing what people with larger platforms have done.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm following the advice my teachers taught me.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Not just taking the tests, but doing the homework.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_01]: In other words, I didn't just study, I applied the concepts.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And it worked.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Here is my dream for this year.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Self-publish a book in every format imaginable for my readers,

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and do it four more times in the same year.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I've already done it once, and I'm excited to do it again.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what it took.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Number one, decide to do it.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01]: No one picked me.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_01]: No one said, you're a writer.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I had to choose myself.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't ask permission to make my work matter.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I had to take it.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: After years of reading books, I finally decided to act.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Convinced I could create my own art, I decided I wanted to write a book.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And I did.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Number two, fall in love with 5am.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend John built a powerful personal brand in a short amount of time.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_01]: How did he do it?

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: By being selfish at 5am.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: There are no excuses before sunrise.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing holding us back from writing a book or working on that business plan.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing other than our own laziness, of course.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I get up early because I have three young kids.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: For me, this is the best time to get my work done and still be a good dad and husband.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a matter of focusing on the right priorities at the right time.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Look, I know you're busy and I'm sure you've got responsibilities like me,

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and you need to honor those.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: But you also need to honor your dream.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: The secret to not flaking out on your friends and family while still pursuing a dream

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: is going to work before your world wakes up.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's what I found anyway.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Number three, follow a process.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Success is not an accident.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Not for those who build powerful platforms.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a result of consistency and following the habits of those who have come before.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: A little course called Tribe Writers helped me identify my world view,

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_01]: build habits to become more consistent in my craft,

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and determine the best route for publishing a book.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't have written this book otherwise.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Without an intentional process, we can't succeed.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_01]: It just won't happen.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Number four, be transparent.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Admit it.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: In an age when everyone has a voice,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: we're drawn to people who don't have it all figured out.

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_01]: It pays to be transparent,

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: and that's part of the beauty of building your own platform.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to pretend to know everything.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, it's more interesting when you don't.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: The best part about being transparent is you don't have to fake who you are.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_01]: People want heroes, but they also need sojourners.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Not just idols, but fellow travelers.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're honest and humble about your process, you can be both.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Number five, be generous.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: When Michael Hyatt launched his book, Platform,

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: he gave away a ridiculous amount of content to his readers,

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: just for buying a $25 hardcover.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I know I did.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Most of us love to consume abundance, but we're afraid to give it.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: It's human nature.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_01]: In less than a month, over 600 people signed up for free copies of my new book.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It took me three years to build an email list to that many subscribers,

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_01]: and in three weeks, I doubled it.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_01]: What's more, the most common feedback I get from those who've downloaded my book

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: is they love it so much they're planning to buy another copy.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: The lesson?

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Generosity wins.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And number six, ship your work.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're hesitating to ship something,

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and shipping means it's in the world, not on your hard drive,

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: then post a public deadline.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd never written a book before,

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: but I put out a deadline of mid-January for my book,

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and I stayed on schedule.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Not because I tried to be perfect, but because I shipped.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Perfection is a myth, and more often an excuse to not ship.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully, I'm not a perfectionist, but unfortunately, I'm not a great finisher.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Publicly declaring a deadline has been exactly what I needed to ship,

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and it caused me to finish.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe following these six steps will allow you to do the same.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Six Steps to Successfully Launching a Dream,

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: by Andy Traub with GoinsWriter.com.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Look, I'm sure there's someone in all our circles

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[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you to Anthony, a guest writer on Jeff Goins' site.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: This one really hits home for me personally since it talks about building something from scratch,

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_01]: which is exactly what happened with this podcast.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_01]: When I first started, I definitely wanted it to grow quickly.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember constantly checking the stats, hoping more people would find the show.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_01]: But like you mentioned, it takes time and consistent work

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and actually doing the things that successful people do, not just learning about them.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I had to decide to actually start this podcast. No one picked me either.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I just knew I wanted to read great articles to people and hopefully make a positive impact.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And then he mentioned getting up early.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_01]: That's something that's changed for me over time.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I used to be a complete night owl in college.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And even when first starting this podcast, it wasn't unusual for me to be going to bed as the sun was coming up.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_01]: But now I found myself naturally waking up earlier and actually enjoying the quiet time in the morning.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: He also talked about shipping your work.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It might seem obvious, but that's probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned doing this podcast.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_01]: In the beginning, I wanted everything to be perfect.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd spend way too long editing tiny little sounds that probably no one would even notice.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: But at some point, you'd just have to put it out there because done is better than perfect.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: So I couldn't agree more.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And hopefully this one sparked something in you today.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe there's something you've been wanting to create or share with someone else, if not the entire world.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And with that, have a great rest of your day and start your weekend.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll see you tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits.