Find Your Reason to Hustle

Momma said there'd be days like this...

So last night I completely bombed at my show.  It's only happened one other time, but this time was a little worse, in some regards.  The first time I ever bombed, it was at a show that only had 20 people in the audience, and only five volunteered for the show.  Last night I had about 35 people, and six people volunteered.  In both cases, I couldn't get anyone to do anything.

What made last night worse than the first time was that I dismissed the volunteer group and started all over again, hoping that this time I might make a recovery.  Not so much.  The second group failed to get any kind of meaningful hypnotic depth, as well.  So I dismissed them and told folks the show was over.

I can't draw any parallel from any other aspect of my life to what it feels like to bomb on stage.  There you are, up higher than everyone else, special lighting highlighting you, and everyone is watching expectantly.  And nothing happens.  I hypnotize over 1,000 people each year!  On a regular basis I get people to transform into all kinds of characters and do all kinds of funny things.  To have a night when it doesn't work with anyone is absolutely crushing.  It's awful.

I drove home, almost four hours, from the gig the next morning.  When I got home I was still feeling down, so I figured I'd hit the gym to get my heart going and boost my energy.  I came home from the gym feeling a bit better, and then grabbed the mail from the box to find that someone had returned one of my products.  A polite note inside the package said the person "did not find this product helpful."  Sigh.

I love my job.  I love my job way more than the vast majority of people love their jobs.  To have two things happen like this in a 24 hour period is heartbreaking for me.  I tend to take these kinds of things very personally, so the knee-jerk reaction is "the universe is trying to tell me something.  Should I get out of this?"  But the job has taught me so much, so I know better.

The universe IS trying to tell me something.  It's telling me to not get comfortable with the success I've attained.  It's telling me there's lots more to learn, and lots more to do, and I better get to it.  It's telling me that the standing ovations I've gotten at shows are in the past, and now so is the show where I bombed, so what will I do with the present?  And how will I carve out my future?

My bad day is so much better than many other people's.  My bad day is a privilege.  My bad day will improve my life.  Starting right now.

Time is All We Have. Time is the Most Precious Commodity.

I have to admit that I got really low yesterday.  I mean, more down than I've been in a long time.  I just didn't feel like a success yesterday, and it first it was kind of a pity party, but as I processed it out, I realized that it was really about knowing that I haven't made the best use of my time.  And I'm talking on a big scale, not just in the "did I get my To Do list done this week?" sense of things.

I'm going to be 36 years old in March.  Most of the time, it feels like I just got out of college yesterday, but that isn't the case.  Not even close.  That was fourteen years ago!  And it has flown by, and now I realize that I can't get that time back.  It's spent, and there is no sense that it was put to the best possible use.

I've had good health all this time.  I've been safe financially, physically, but in some ways I've been living in a kind of haze.  When you get comfortable... that's how it happens.  A routine develops.  Eating and sleeping and watching way too much TV.  Did you know the average American now watches 31 hours of TV each week?  We lose an entire day each week, more than a month of each year, sitting and watching a stupid box.  And time just keeps ticking away.

There are people out there living their passions, inventing things and creating art and music and doing good work that helps others... but I'm all caught up on Battlestar Galactica, so I've got that going for me. 

There has to be an increased awareness of time, and the value of time.  I've got to appreciate the time I have now while I'm healthy and able to do things.  I've got to use the time I have now in a more productive, constructive way.  I have to make this time count.  Now.

Failure Presents an Opportunity

Last night I held a seminar for people who wanted to create more successful New Year's resolutions.  I booked a function room at a local hotel, paid for a direct mail campaign to reach out to people in the community who might benefit from such a seminar, and I reached out to all my clients and connections through social media.

One person attended.

I was disheartened, to say the least.  When I woke up this morning, I really felt like taking the day off.  I've been running my own business for almost six years, now, and sometimes there are these moments when it feels like it won't go to the next level.  I left a safe job at a state university and sold my car to start this business.  When failures like last night's seminar occur, it's difficult to feel like it's all worth it.

But then I get past that initial emotional reaction, step back, and look at the bigger picture.  Here I am, almost six years after I started, and I'm still going.  I don't answer to anyone but myself.  I have complete control over my failure or my success.  It's nobody's fault but mine that last night didn't work like I hoped it would.  I can either pout about that, or learn from it.  That's my CHOICE.

I'm going to do a seminar again in three months, and I'm going to do it better next time.  I'm going to learn from my mistakes, make the proper adjustments, and do a better job of marketing and promoting.  I'm going to fail forward.  You just watch me.

Jared Aronson Brings Humor to his Hustle

Jared Aronson is a pretty impressive person.  He is the owner of Madhouse Tees.  I first met Jared at a craft fair a couple of years ago, where he had a booth set up to sell his t-shirts.  I was immediately struck by his, um, different... sense of humor.  He really has a fresh take on things.

When I wanted to have my own t-shirt design to promote my work as a stage hypnotist, I went to Jared.  I just knew that he would come up with something that other people would think was cool and fun, and he did.  But Jared's story is about more than t-shirts.

Jared was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy at four-years-old. Even though he's confined to a wheelchair and on a ventilator he continues to design and run Madhouse Tees. He creates his designs using a software program that allows him to draw using a trackball mouse. The passion Jared has for his company and product is fueled by his love for laughter and making others laugh too. Jared wants to educate the world about physical limitations by saying, “Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you don’t have creativity and passion.”  I think he's got it spot on.

Drop on by Madhouse Tees website and check out Jared's work. 

Randy Pausch Teaches Us About Achieving our Childhood Dreams

Every now and then I re-watch this video of Randy Pausch lecturing at Carnegie Mellon.  Pausch's "Last Lecture" has become famous worldwide, and for good reason.  If you haven't seen it before, make the time to watch it now.

How's Your Golf Game? Need Inspiration? Meet Butch Lumpkin.

The vast majority of golfers, worldwide, shoot over 100.  Butch Lumpkin shoots in the 70's.  Did I mention that he has no arms?  Get a little perspective on life.  Watch this video.

"Crush It" Essay Contest Winner Announced

Monica Everdyke left a perfectly "safe" job working for a college to start her own photography business.  She works another job at an entertainment agency to supplement her income, and still finds the time to coach softball.  If that's not hustle, I don't know what is. 

I talk with people regularly about their vision of a more gratifying life, and it's really common for them to not pursue that life because of the risk involved.  Anything worth having is worth taking a risk!  Monica gets it, and that's why she's changing her life.  And she's going to crush it.

As the winner of our essay contest, Monica will get a free copy of Gary Vaynerchuk's book, "Crush It."  I'm confident that Gary's book will inspire Monica and help her take her business to the next level.

Teenager Shows that Entrepreneurial Spirit is Ageless

"Here's the deal:  if you want it badly enough, the money is there, the success is there, and the fulfillment is there.  All you have to do is take it.  So quit whining, quit crying, quit with the excuses."

-Gary Vaynerchuk, in his book "Crush It"

We live in the greatest country in the world when it comes to entrepreneurship.  If you have a good idea and are willing to hustle, you can make big things happen.  This article in Spirit Magazine is a great example.

Leanna Archer was eight years old when she first asked her parents about starting a business.  Today her company grosses about $100,000 selling her family recipe for hair pomade.  She's 13 years old.

If Leanna can do it, so can you.

Win a Copy of "Crush It" by Gary Vaynerchuk

I want to keep learning about ordinary, everyday people who want more than ordinary, everyday lives.  In my attempt to better understand what drives the entrepreneurial spirit, I'm holding this essay contest.  The winner will get a free copy of Gary Vaynerchuk's new book "Crush It."

Essay Contest

Write an essay that incorporates the answers to the following questions:

1. If you could "crush it" at anything in life, what would it be?
2. How would you rate your own level of hustle on a daily basis in life?
3. Who would you most want to be successful for, in terms of their approval?
4. What's keeping you from crushing it right now?
5. What's your age, gender, and economic background?
6. How do you hope Gary Vaynerchuk's book would help you?

Your essay should give a little background on you, share some of your personal experiences, and tie the questions above together to help paint that picture of you.  By submitting an entry, you give your permission for your essay to be used on www.findyourreasontohustle.com.  All entries must be submitted by Sunday, October 18, 2009.  Send your entry to paul@paulramsay.com

I'll announce a winner on October 21.  Good luck!

It's What You Do That Matters

Over the past year I've had a lot of great ideas.  Ideas for how to grow my business.  Ideas for new products.  Ideas for how to be more happy in my personal life.  Most of them are still just ideas. 

Sure, I've made a few of them happen, but the list of unfulfilled ideas is growing all the time.  That has to stop.  If my life is to become a better life, a life with meaning, a life of achievement, then it has to be a life of action.

Who invented the lightbulb?  Thomas Edison, right?  Nope.  Edison gets credit for the idea because he found a way to improve the lightbulb so that it could be viable as a commercial product, but other scientists had been working on the idea of a lightbulb almost 70 years before Edison.  Edison's ability to take action that resulted in getting the idea to become a reality is what secured his place in history.

It's great to have an idea, but if you don't do anything about it, then you're kind of falling short.  Getting a degree, changing your career path, starting a family, getting healthier... you name it.  They're all just ideas until you decide to relentlessly pursue them and take action.