Stand alone:

Stand alone.

It’s hard to stand alone.

Outside what anyone expects you should become.

It’s hard to go against the grain.

To do something that’s not typical.

It takes a lot of conviction and comfort with being uncomfortable.

To say something controversial in today’s day and age feels so looked down upon because everyone’s too scared to really speak their mind.

Cancel culture is too prevalent.

We can’t allow anyone in public to fail.

What?

That’s so ridiculous.

How else do you grow without failing, learning, and reflecting?

In public, it feels impossible to do these days.

Everyone feels under a microscope that anything and everything you’ve ever said can be used against you.

We don’t have people telling the truth in public anymore.

A guy like Joe Rogan is one of those guys who’s a no-nonsense, no bullshit type of guy.

He doesn’t care what you think of him.

He’s just trying to learn for himself and have fun.

He’s only gotten here because he’s put in decades of work.

When he first started, he was a nobody, just like we all are.

But he stuck it and created one of the biggest podcast brands in the work.

Just doing what he loved: talking to interesting people and having unique conversations to learn a little more about the world.

But it took decades of work.

If you want anything remotely close to that, you have to be willing to put in that time.

No problem, let’s get to work.

This is just the beginning.

All of my writing so far, no matter how good or bad has all been practice.

I know if I commit to this for long enough, my writing will be better 5 years from now than it is today.

Commit to your life’s work and if you do it for long enough, the exponential gains you’ll see will be more than anything you can imagine.

To do that takes a ton of courage, failure and setbacks along the way.

Are you ready for those?

Unforeseen events will happen in your life that could change everything.

Are you still committed to writing even through that?

You have to be if you want to be great.

You have to be willing to be laughed at and made fun of every day for a very long time.

You have to be mentally strong enough to not let other people’s opinions of your work dictate who you are.

Listen to those close to you and trusted sources, but forget about everyone else.

You have no control over their opinion of your writing.

Some people may like it; a lot of people will probably hate it.

No problem.

You’re not doing it for them anyway.

You’re in the arena.

You’re putting your reputation and credibility on the line in public for the world to see.

How many people are really doing that?

How many people are really living their authentic life?

Not many.

Why?

They’re scared.

They’re scared of the unknown.

They’re scared of upsetting their parents.

They’re scared of what their friends will think of them.

They’re scared of what people will say online.

Good, we’re all scared.

You just have to take the first step.

You cannot let other people hold you back from discovering who you really are.

You can’t do that without trying and failing at many things.

Just figure out the ones you enjoy.

Once you enjoy the process and the work itself, the outcomes will come.

Improve your work over time and you’ll go farther than you ever imagine.

Stand alone.