An odd title for a post perhaps, but how many of us look at mountains every day? The mountains of “should”, “could” and all the other mountains we build when thinking of beginning something. You see a great guitarist play and you think “this is for me, I want to be able to do this too!” so you buy a guitar and take lessons. But no matter how hard you try, after two years of practice you’re still a beginner and can’t jam or are stuck in playing the same songs all the time, trying to fool people into thinking you actually are a guitar player. You’ve got the guitar after all and you’ve got the tuning down to an art.
This bit actually is autobiographical, I own two nice guitars, a dozen books on playing and the best of these is the tomb that is used at Berklee for music-sightreading. If only I could gt through it’s pages I would be a great guitar player. Ive been looking at the first 16 pages for years now. From time to time I take my guitar from it’s wallstand and tune it again, play the same (parts of) songs and stick it back on the wall. That’s your great guitar player for you, smoke and mirrors, an illusion.
We all have things we want to be able to do, but we want them instantly, without all the work to get there. We want to climb the highest mountain but it shouldn’t be to much work.
- Starting a blog and expecting loads of traffic and within a month your blog should make money
- Build a new business and expecting financial freedom instantly.
- We want to slow down, and be quick about it!
The few people who actually get to the top of that mountain write books about it and tell others what it’s like to b up there, fewer write about what the journey was like getting to the top and fewer still tell you only one in so many really do get up there and join the successful.
We all love the success stories and listen eagerly to people who travel the world or successfully start a business or top-50 blog. In listening to these stories we actually do the same thing as watching TV or playing on our game console. We numb our own senses and fantasize about living the life of someone else and flee reality. But that’s cheating ourselves. Be honest to yourself over who you are and where you are, that’s the first step into getting to the top.
Mountains are popular, mountains called “rich”, “famous”, “successful”, “entrepreneur”, “bestseller”. Two questions:
- Are your mountains really yours or do you want to conform to expectations or popular ideas?
- What are you going to do right now to take the next step to the top?
Now stop looking up at the top and look down at your feet to see where you need to take the next step.
Everyone loves a success story, but few people are willing to put in the work. They want it to be easy. Timing, or when you start, is important and the various factors at play. For instance, do you have a mentor or did one of your parents do this for a living. I think there are a lot more factors at play in success that have either never been acknowledged or not been brought to light.
I still think enjoying something is key. With blogging, you have to love writing and connecting with people. I don’t know how you could be successful otherwise.