I think the first time I wanted to do a magic show was when I was about six years old. I saw a magic show. I saw the audience respond. I felt the feeling they felt too! I had a hope that there’s a supernatural. I had the pleasure of being wrong. I had the delight of a crowd laughing together. I wanted more of that.
When I’m helping show business pros get unstuck, or drive toward something more powerful and lucrative, I usually ask them why they started. I ask them about the first time they connected with something that was entertaining and thought they could be a part of it.
This story is your fuel
When you let all the other artificial drivers of your career fade away, you get to this one. The important one. The one that will actually sustain you. Now, you’re not trying to impress your peers, or prove that you can earn a living, win an award, etc. You’re SHARING a spark. Remember that phrase.
You are starting over
If you’re asking yourself “Do I need to start over now?” the answer is yes. Start over. Fresh. The beginner’s mindset is extremely liberating and invigorating.
If you’re a beginner, no mistakes are your fault. The future is bigger than the past, so it’s more important. Shame and self-examination can’t keep up with ambition and promise.
Not all is lost
This time, you’re a beginner with capital! You might have money in the bank, a loving client list, skills, etc. That might be stuff you didn’t have the first time you were a beginner.
You might even be seeing yourself as a beginner doing the same thing you were doing before.
Escape the bummer
When we think the thing we’re doing doesn’t work any more, we gotta do more than just find something new. We gotta do something right away. We’re not going to figure it all out. What you have done in the past was not according to plan and this next thing will not be according to plan. It will be according to WTF happens when you continue doing.
Share the tiniest
If I get a fancy cheeseburger, my gauge of whether it’s good enough is In-n-Out. Is this burger worth four In-n-Out burgers? It has to scale proportionately for my satisfaction.
You’re getting started. That’s basically the entirety of the goal. You have to start small. Trying to make it as good as other stuff you’ve done, or trying some way to keep up with your past, you will get stuck behind the boulder of your ego. Make something that proportionally scales down to something small, but rewarding for you.
- You wanna make a youtube video for the public, but you think it will make you look bad? Make a video for one friend make it scale to awesomeness at the micro level and send it to them.
- Wanna write a novel, but you think it will suck? Write a super entertaining facebook post.
Who cares?! you’re a beginner. You’re going to ride the wave of joy of creating and sharing all the way to a new peak! Start now.