One of the things that stood out for me from my interview with NYT best-selling author Jen Sincero was a statement she made about being in the game. You want to make money. Perhaps you also want freedom, flexibility, to enjoy what you do and to feel like you are contributing to society.
In order to create any of that you’ve got to be swinging the bat and trying, at a minimum, to play the game. You have got to be playing in order to have even a slight chance of winning!! There are different levels to playing, but being in the game means you are doing more than ‘thinking about’ how you’d like to double your income and have a house on the beach. It means you are actively doing something to make it happen.
How are you playing the game is the next question to pose to yourself
There’s being in the game to win and there’s being in the game to not lose. And there’s sticking your toe in the water so you can say you are in the game but you aren’t really playing at all. You may not know your exact path to wealth right now, but taking action is how you figure it out. Taking big, focused action is how you play.
I was recently speaking with someone about his new business (over a few months) and he keeps putting off starting it because he didn’t know all the answers. He didn’t have everything figured out and was waiting to start until he did. He was taking weeks to do vision boards and attending networking groups in the hopes of knowing exactly who his clients would be and what they would want from him. And THEN he was going start reaching out and selling.
This idea of having it all figured out before you start quickly leads to broke and a business that never has a chance of making money because it never gets started. You aren’t helping anyone by thinking and planning and not taking action. You aren’t helping yourself by playing it safe.
Showing up vs actually playing
Other folks THINK they are in the game because they have a website and may network here and there, but they aren’t truly playing. They play in the realm of their comfort zone, which may be spending hours a day posting on social media or attending a networking event here and there. There is not much sales or business conversation happening. They show up and talk the talk, but they aren’t walking the walk. Results speak for themselves.
Like Jen said in our Fresh Tracks interview, there’s this place where you just have to get in the game and get started if you want to accomplish anything. Most of it you’ll figure out as you go along. If you aren’t even playing the game you can’t expect to win.