Just Start Now
Read time 4 minutes
The hardest thing about getting started, is getting started.
~ Guy Kawasaki
This quote from Guy Kawasaki is the story of my life. I’m a pretty successful fellow, but I can still procrastinate with the best of them sometimes.
It is part of the human condition. There are some high performers who plough through these behaviors…
But for the most part, we all get stuck sometimes and end up doing some mindless scrolling, bored eating, or Netflix binging when we should be working on something that is going to push the needle forward and put dollars in the bank.
Quick backstory… In 2005, I had 2 failing businesses, $40,000 in credit card debt and a mortgage I couldn’t afford.
After a year of fear, anxiety and debt, I finally started doing something.
I started learning about gold and silver coins…
I became a numismatist.
LONG story short… a year later, I built a $3Million/year business that changed my life forever.
It wasn’t that I just made a decision to change and life was just perfect and I made $1 million.
It was me making a decision, then learning everything I could, reading books, watching YouTube videos and then…. WORKING MY ASS OFF!!!
I didn’t know how to reach people on social media.
I didn’t know how to build ecommerce sales templates or how to build merchant accounts.
I didn’t know how to print my own shipping labels from the USPS and pack and ship from my own home.
I didn’t know how to find enough rare coins and precious metals to sell and make profit.
I just saw that there was an opportunity and I threw myself into it 100%.
If I had made an exact plan of how things were going to go, I would have been WAY OFF!!!
I also had a business mentor who held my feet to the fire to keep me accountable.
And, he also called me on my bullshit when I wasn’t doing my best work and could have pushed harder.
I just started working hard and one thing led to another and within 6 months, I had a cohesive system with a business manager and 2 additional people doing shipping and receiving.
I was buying $30,000/week in coins from some reputable suppliers I met while immersed in my daily activities.
And, I learned how to price my products effectively for maximum profit.
In addition to a salesman, became an accountant, a purchaser, a customer service rep, a graphic designer, an admin, and a shipping expert.
Other than sales, I had no idea how to do most of those things at a high level… I learned by doing.
And, that is how we all learn anything.
That isn’t to scare you… it is to motivate you!
We are ALL capable of MUCH MORE than we give ourselves credit for.
When the pain was deep enough, I did the work…
And, then the rest just unfolded…
And, it was way easier than I thought it would be.
Why do we do that to ourselves?
Why do we wait until the pain is so deep that we’ll do anything it takes?
The short answer is FEAR!!
Fear of failure… fear of success… fear of EVERYTHING we don’t understand.
I don’t live that way anymore…
LIFE IS TOO SHORT!
If I see something I want, I go after it with everything I’ve got!
I make a lot of mistakes. I fail often. And I am wrong about something new everyday.
But, I know that going in now.
It doesn’t stop me, it keeps me more aware and curious.
Whatever it is you want to do… JUST DO IT NOW!
It isn’t as hard as you think!
