You ever thought about gracing a stage (hey TedTalk 😉) or writing your very own book?
It's possible! If we look around us, we'll find people out there doing these things. So the question is, how do we get there?
This week, one of my favorite authors, Dorie Clark, dropped a new book "The Long Game: How to be a long-term thinker in a short-term world".
I'm just a few chapters in and already I've introduced a new habit in my life to get me closer to long-term thinking (i.e., I moved my entire to-do list to my calendar –– horrifying).
As I'm going through this book, I can't help but think about how different my life is since investing in giving myself a platform. I was 100% a short-term thinker before I started posting on LinkedIn. It was the paycheck to paycheck and "when's my next raise/promotion?" that fueled my short-term thinking lifestyle. And look, this wasn't necessarily bad. I had a young family at the time. There was no way I was going to keep up with what I do now.
I'm not going to reflect alone here –– I'm bringing you along for the journey in the hopes that this inspires you to find your own platform our get back on your platform if you fell off. Here are my three takeaways so far:
One door opens up another
This is not going to sound like a #humblebrag, but y'all... On average, I get about 10 recruiters in my DMs every week. Where were these recruiters when I needed them?! Back when I was struggling to get a job 😂
I got my previous CS role thanks to LinkedIn. I got my current job here at Catalyst, thanks to my blog + LinkedIn. I'm speaking at events thanks to a combination of all of these things.
The investment that I made when I started my first blog, Keep The Customer, has paid off significantly. It kicked off all of the above AND it made it onto a Forbes article 🤯
I'm talking about all of that in less than 2 years!
I'm more creative (and busier) than ever
The one thing I'll keep saying is that we don't give ourselves enough time to think. And I realized early on in my journey that if I was going to be creating content and engaging with people, I needed time to form my thoughts.
At least one day out of the week, I find 20-30 minutes to just get my thoughts out there. They could be ideas, feelings, rants... ANYTHING. But I get it out there. And what's magical about it is that it usually inspires new content or new plans.
Not all of these ideas see the light of day. For example, a few months back, I wanted to write a whole book about the similarities between the restaurant industry and SaaS. But it's something I keep in my back pocket.
Speaking of creativity, I'm also learning new skills. I created a YouTube channel to host a random video and now, I'm taking it more seriously. I'm learning how to create YouTube videos, editing software, and –– my favorite –– practicing my speaking skills.
My dreams are scary AF
I'm a millennial so of course, I want financial freedom!
But financial freedom for a person like me that grew up below the poverty line seems unattainable. It's not, though.
I want more time. I want more slow-cooked meals with my family. I want to travel more. I want to live somewhere warm ☀️
And I know that I'm not going to do that on just a salary. The older I get the more I think about the other options that are out there. And I'm not talking about the scammy 7 streams of income that YouTubers promise. I'm talking about the skills and the network we've built fueling the dream of financial freedom.
In another book by Dorie, Entrepreneurial You, I learned about just that. Honing in on your talents and your skills to create professional independence.
What about you?
What do you want to do long-term? What are your goals? What are you working toward?
Long-term goals require actions today and if those goals get easier if you have a bigger network or if you're establishing yourself as a "thought leader" then what are you waiting for? The time is now to start building your very own platform 🖤Here are some tips to get you started.