6 minute read
Do Not Fear. Do. by Jeff Shinabarger
DAY 29 DO NOT FEAR. DO.
By Jeff Shinabarger
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Founder of Plywood People and GiftCardGiver.com and author of More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity.
@shinabarger
Remember that time when you had an amazing idea and someone else made it?
Identifying a problem is a great beginning. Creating an idea and a plan that will help solve the problem is admirable. Understanding your strengths and identifying the people around you who will make that plan a reality means you are a great distance along in the process. Now it’s time to make the solution come to life. The hardest portion of any process is not the planning or concepting; rather it is the actual doing. Many people have ideas; few make them come to life. You will significantly influence the problem when you start doing something.
Good intentions rarely turn into solutions. Every day we must make progress on our project if we want solutions to see the light of day. One of the greatest threats to social innovations happening, is to leave them undone. We have dreams, we have visions, and we let fear overtake our ambitions.
We often mask our fears by filling time with mindless busy-ness.
I remember being four years old in a gymnastics class. We started with cart-wheels, progressed to the balance beam and then the uneven bars. When it was time for the rings I hit my plateau. Those rings are my first memory of fear. The instructor was pushing me to do a flip while holding onto the rings, but I couldn’t overcome the mental barrier. I was scared. My body was shaking and my hands were sweaty. I walked out of the gym in tears and told my mom I would never do it again.
Why is it that 28 years later, my fears still cause me to peak short of the opportunity at hand? To this day I still can’t do a flip; even into the water or on a trampoline. I could never overcome that fear. A few fears hold me back: how my friends view me, the fear of not having enough money, or simply the fear of failure. Right now, I stand at that great moment. Will I pursue something of significant hope or will my fear of not being self-sufficient over-take me?
Maybe you have stood on the edge of this same moment. Maybe today is that moment for you. Conspiring together can only make us stronger. Maybe you have never made the jump to overcome that fear. Maybe we should both face our fears head on. Maybe today is your day to realize something beyond the current lens through which you see the world.
Every person has different approaches to getting things done. Some people use lists, others plan their schedules and give time blocks for completions of things, but I use a simple approach to make sure important things get done. They are three simple questions that I continually ask myself.
1) What is the most important thing to do today?
3) What is the most important thing to do this month?
Once you have overcome your fears and understood what is most important to get done, are you willing to do the hard work?
We have this old door that a friend gave us. You know the look. It has three coats of paint on it that is chipped in different spots to reveal this weathered art piece with character. It’s beat up, it’s messy, it’s one of a kind and it literally weighs about a hundred pounds. Our team loves it and hates it. They love it sitting in our office and looking at it with its uniqueness. They hate it whenever we need to carry it to another place. Sometimes we use the door as a backdrop to our booth for festivals.
The last time we used that door at a festival, this is what happened: The door and everything else from our booth was in the bed of a truck after the festival and our team was bringing it back to our shed. Everything was nearly carried in except for that enormous door. Everyone was tired. So it came down to me and one other person to get the door in the shed. At that moment it started pouring down rain. Sideways rain. The kind of rain where every single ounce of your body is soaked. We carried that rock solid door into the shed. We walked out of the shed and ripped off our shirts and walked bare foot back to the house. I remember at that moment looking at my friend and what started to emerge was a smile, which led into unending laughter. We hated that moment and we loved that moment. potential investor. Sitting at a booth and not a single person stopping to buy your product, while you are sweating in the heat of summer. Reading the reviews of your creation and realizing that not everyone likes it. Or tearing down a creative space that ended up not being worth the time or money, only to return it to a corner to remind you everyday.
If you are going to start anything new, you will have to get dirty.
Every entrepreneur has moments that hurt. Sometimes it’s physical, often times it’s emotional and every time it is personal to your ego. When we start, we have heroic dreams of how perfect it will be and the never-ending press you’ll receive of everyone who wants to help you sell the product. The reality is, it takes getting dirty to make it come to life.
Here are a couple things to remember in the dirty moments:
1) You are setting the tone for your culture.
You can’t ask another person to work hard, unless you have been in the dirt yourself.
Think about these times as a premise to an environment of hard-working people.
The culture you have lived through will determine the culture of your workforce.
The perseverance you exemplify will be replicated by others you hire. Your team will be enhanced in the long run by your willingness to drudge through the rainy times as an example of what it takes to create. If you get dirty, others will be willing to get dirty.
2) Starting is hard work.
If it were easy to make something new, everyone would do it. It’s hard to make something from nothing. It takes a ton of work to cultivate a community. Getting off the ground takes physical exhaustion and commitment. You are doing the work
It’s the moments like these that people don’t tell you about being an entrepreneur. When you get dirty. The drive back to your office after the kids have gone to sleep. The moment when you are sitting at your desk not sure if you can make payroll that month and tears start flowing down your face fearing your failure. Making copies at Kinko’s early in the morning for a pitch to a last minute
that many others don’t have the courage or commitment to do. Others dream of the success; you are doing the [dirty] work to make that success happen.
3) Today’s dirty moment is tomorrow’s
great story.
None of us enjoy enduring these moments of difficulty. Your story is being written in those enduring moments, almost more than in moments of success. None of us love to hear a story that was easy. We want to hear about the tough times, yet we don’t want to live through them. The dirty moments you are getting through today, are what give you a voice to speak in the future. Great stories are shaped through moments of hardship and dedication.
Keep going. It is probably the start to something that is important.
