As the days drew closer to 2018’s end and I thought about the things most people think about around that time of year, the phrase “make it right” kept swirling in my head. I couldn’t remember where I heard it and Googled song lyrics for days with no success. Then in a moment of silence, I realized I wrote that lyric in a song for a short film I worked on in college about two folk singers.
“Lately I’ve been thinkin’ about my life,
Remembered back and looking forward,
wanting answers to make it right.”
That’s what we do at the end of every December, year after year. We take an inventory of everything wrong we want to make right, from career to health, relationships to decluttering and look for someone else to give us the answers. In today’s information avalanche (overload doesn’t even come close to describing it anymore), there are people dying to give you answers in their “free” book (after paying for shipping) and the latest exercise machine (you took one look at) somehow follows you to every web page you go to after that as a reminder you wanted to make that part of your life “right .”
While the amount of advice available is mind numbing, you shouldn’t dismiss it all out of frustration. There’s great wisdom swimming in that sea of noise. You just need to do the work to reel in what interests you and decide if it’s worth keeping or throwing back.
I’ve learned so much from people like Tony Robbins, Ann Rea, Michael Port, and Chris Brogan and have stayed consistent with them over the years. But when things weren’t working for my business, I found myself being swept away in a wave of promises that just led to overwhelm. I have a number of those “free” books on my shelf that I started and never finished and some I never even opened! And I’m guilty of having what Chris Brogan called his students out on, which is a folder on your desktop loaded with “free resources” you downloaded and will never read. I’m sure you have that folder too.
It was in the last week of December that I reeled in the perfect advice from a name I’ve heard of but never listened to before; Seth Godin.
Speaking on how we hesitate to move forward, he talked bout how we often tell ourselves it’s always too soon, we have to wait for just the right moment or see someone else do it first and mimic their steps to guarantee our success. He said to his audience, “All of you are prepared, but you’ll never be ready. To be ready is to be sure it’s going to work and you can’t be sure it’s going to work.”
I joined the Chamber of Commerce, it led to nothing. I joined a bunch of online networking groups, it led to nothing. I paid extra to Constant Contact because I thought I may have more than 1000 subscribers to my blog and podcast… I had one and he’s a close friend. I placed a Facebook ad for a month, some clicks but no business. Do I stop, just give up? Seek out more advice online? It’s in the doing, taking action that will bring me closer to success.
I will follow Tony Robbins advice and keep changing my approach until I make it right. I joined a breakfast networking group in October and the possibilities are looking good that work will soon be referred to me. I will start up my podcast again and write my blog more frequently. I know my experience and contributions can help organizations and businesses BE SEEN AND HEARD, whether reading or listening to my ideas or using my video services. That’s what matters to me.
What matters to you?
Don’t confine your opportunity to take action to the month of January and fool yourself into believing there’s just one shot every year.
New Year’s Day is every day. You have 365 chances to start again until you make it right .
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