This Is the Best Advice I Have Ever Given Myself

I hope I never forget it.

“Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.”

— Rosa Luxemburg

Statistic: 86% of all people have frustration associated with their jobs.

I am not even sure where that statistic comes from — or if it is even accurate.

And I am normally one who doubts most statistics.

But I will say this: I can relate to that statistic. I felt massive frustration in a prior job.

And I did not really know how to handle the frustration. So it grew — and grew — until I broke.

Finally, I had a realization. Something had to change.

It really came down to this: I had to change. I had to reinvent myself.

And this reinvention started with a piece of advice that I gave myself. I had a realization.

This advice — to myself — transformed me from a frustrated employee to a focused entrepreneur.

This is what I told myself.

. . .

Frustration Hits

“Most people don’t believe something can happen until it already has. That’s not stupidity or weakness, that’s just human nature.”

— Max Brooks

Most people want to do a good job when they start a new position. I was the same. I had just taken on some new responsibilities for marketing at my job. I wanted to impress and to prove my worth.

I was ambitious. Newly married, I wanted to make more money and develop professionally to support my family.

I did not have a marketing degree or background, but I was willing to learn. I read every marketing book, article, and blog I could find. I started to have so many ideas about what we could do.

My enthusiasm naturally led to the sharing of my ideas with colleagues and supervisors. And those people became excited and encouraged me.

Yet, I noticed something over time.

Nobody was doing anything with my ideas. No one.

I came to realize something that I still think is true: very few people do anything with ideas, even good ones.

My frustration started to build. Why wasn’t anyone trying any of my good ideas? It was obvious that the ideas were good. I was only proposing what was already working for everyone else.

I could not understand why others did not adopt my ideas and start trying (is it that hard to just try?) some of the ideas that I was proposing.

I would have tried my own ideas, but I needed buy-in from my superiors. Every idea required access to resources that I did not have. I needed help to even try any of my ideas — sometimes money, other times technology or something else.

Months passed.

And then one day, the dam broke.

Finally — an idea was used.

Instant revenue. Minimal cost. Minimal time commitment. That really seems like the best kind of idea, right? My ambition and drive had finally resulted in some progress. Something tangible. Something real.

I was elated.

But over time, I realized something: I didn’t benefit. I received a little credit and encouragement, but no financial reward.

The frustration built even more.

. . .

Breaking Point

“Your power to choose your direction of your life allows you to reinvent yourself, to change your future, and to powerfully influence the rest of creation.”

— Stephen Covey

Around this time, my wife confronted me. I arrived home from work one day. She was waiting for me and said the four words that few men want to hear: “We need to talk.”

I have written about this confrontation previously.

I thought she was leaving me, but in reality she was concerned about our future. She missed the person I was five years prior. I was full of hope, dreams, and enthusiasm. The grind of the prior years had changed me.

I was not the same person that she married.

In short, my wife proposed an idea: go back to school. Go to law school. She would work while I studied.

Time to reinvent.

As part of the massive professional change that I was about to undergo, I also gave myself a piece of advice that I hope I never forget.

. . .

The Basis for the Advice

“Expectation is the mother of all frustration.”

— Antonio Banderas

I had recently read a book by Seth Godin called Free Prize Inside. In some ways, it changed my life.

The book describes why some people can have good ideas and implement them and why others can have great ideas and no one listens to them.

After reading the book, I realized my problem.

No one believed in me and bought into my ideas because I did not have a track record of executing.

I had to get better. I had to improve. And the only way to do that would be to start executing my ideas. I had to prove the value of what I believed by proving that my ideas would work.

Execution can make any idea good. Or bad.

. . .

The Best Advice I Have Given Myself

“Advice is like cooking — you should try it before you feed it to others.”

— Croft M. Pentax

This is what I told myself. I made a vow and I hope I can keep it forever.

John:

You have seen the best ideas bomb.

You have seen the worst ideas make millions.

From this point forward, if you have an idea, you are going to execute on that idea. Don’t give it to anyone else and expect them to do it. You do it.

Don’t wait for acceptance or validation from people who are bystanders, or the opinion of “superiors.”

If the idea tanks, then you will take the blame and responsibility. Accept it, learn, and move forward. It might be a terrible idea, but you executed as best as you could.

If the idea is incredible and makes millions, you will keep the money.

Stop waiting.

. . .

Moving Forward

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”

— T. E. Lawrence

From that point forward, I decided to become the person who executes instead of the person who only talks about what might work.

I decided that I would no longer need validation for my ideas from other people.

It was the start of an amazing period in my life. I had already taken all of the steps to enter law school. I was in the process of reinventing myself.

But I had one problem.

What do I do with all of the ideas that I already had for my job?

• I felt a responsibility to be loyal and honorable.

• That job had given me so much. I learned an incredible amount.

• I had amazing opportunities.

• I loved the people there.

So I decided to give every idea that I have ever had up to that point to them. The only ideas that I would execute for myself would be ones that I came up with after I left.

Before I left, I was part of a committee that presented ideas on how the business could improve. I crammed every idea that I had ever had into a 50+ page report.

It was cathartic.

Every single idea that I tried to share. Every idea that I proposed. Every idea that I thought would be profitable. Every idea that I read about in the dozens of books that I read.

I wrote them all down. And gave the report to the executives. I emptied my entire brain into that report. I felt no guilt. I held nothing back. I gave them everything.

Not long after, I left.

A law school classroom awaited. And going forward, I would execute my new ideas, instead of waiting for other people to act.

So what did I learn from this advice that I gave myself?

The answer is simple.

Telling someone about an idea is not enough. It does not count as execution. “Having an idea” is never enough. Never.

Act.

Execute.

Stop waiting.

If you act now…

If you execute…

If you dream big, then act on those dreams…

If you pay attention to the small voice that sees an opportunity when no one else does…

Then a moment that flashes past can mean much more than other moments.

Then right now can count for a very long time — forever, even.

That is what I tell myself every day.

. . .

Learn the one lesson that has changed my life more than any other.