A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
This book came about rather organically. Having recently weathered the emotional storm of feeling defeated in the pursuit of my dreams, I realized that passion comes and goes. Your desire goes through ebbs and flows as you face obstacles and failures. That is why it is important to protect your passion by building a framework in which it can burn productively and not be affected by the winds of change that are extremely common in this world of entrepreneurship.
While there are many books and articles that attempt to outline specific steps or “ways” to achieve your goals, I feel that they can mislead people into thinking that there is an easy, formulaic way to achieve your goal of doing something you love for a living. I wish it was that simple. I wish I could say that by doing these few things you can just sit back and watch as success flows your way. But I can’t, and that is not the intention of this book. That is why I chose to focus on the “words” and not the “ways.” I don’t believe that these six words are all you need, but I do believe that without focusing on these six words, you will never take the appropriate action. You will feel your passion dissipate in the face of adversity. You will sit on the couch and wonder ‘what if’ rather than get up and equip yourself to fight for what’s most important to you.
With that being said, this book is the result of my own introspection. I dedicated six episodes of my podcast to focusing on each word as I tried to think through the ideas that were coming to me on this entrepreneurial journey and tried to articulate them the best that I could.
This book is nearly a word-for-word transcription of those six episodes. It has been edited to a degree, but I have left the overall flow of conversation intact. Forgive me if some of it seems redundant or is not grammatically correct. I feel that there is a benefit to tracking my flow of thought in written form to see the human mind at work, even if it is not the best representation of these ideas in terms of literary soundness and structure.
I hope you enjoy this book, and more importantly, I hope that it encourages you to take the steps necessary to turn the things that you are passionate about into something more. Something that defines who you are and directs the choices you make. The very thing that gives your life meaning. The purpose for which you were created. Now let’s start this journey together and see where it takes us…
Thanks for reading and Godspeed,
Geoff
So what are the “Six Words,” you ask?
Well, here’s a brief summary:
There is a lot of talk out there about having a business plan. Typically, it’s a 40-pg document that you read one time and then store somewhere to collect dust. Instead of thinking of a plan as a noun, we need to think of it as a verb. In order to take that initial dream or idea and make it a reality, we need to invest our time, talent, and treasure into outlining our path. We need to commit to planning, but also to recalibrating when things don’t go according to our initial plan.
#2 PRACTICE
Once you have laid out a plan and decided what you will need to do, you need to get to work acquiring the skills necessary to successfully achieve your goal. This is the important work that no one sees. The studying. The acquiring of new skills. The writing and rewriting of your mission and vision. Taking lessons. Taking classes. Whatever it is you need to do to improve your skills and knowledge base. It’s time to talk about PRACTICE.
There are a lot of wantrepreneurs out there. People who have “great ideas” and like spending their time on fake business-y things like designing business cards and logos (I am guilty of this) before they even know what their business is going to be, and putting in the work to get it off the ground. I am convicted by these words even as I write them because unless we (I) are willing to hunt down our dreams by pursuing challenges and prioritizing hard work, we will never take our passion and turn it into our purpose.
We were not created to live in isolation. We need others around us in order to thrive and to enjoy life to its fullest. The trouble is that entrepreneurs can sometimes be loners. Since we think differently than most, we tend to not “play well with others.” It is integral to our growth that we not only find people who are like-minded, but that our main motivation in life be to put other’s ahead of ourselves. God said, “It is not good for man to be alone,” so He created us to be in relationship. This is why the only way we can find our true meaning and purpose in life is when we are in community with one another.
Starting a new venture is always exciting. But the initial emotional reaction will dissipate and then you are faced with the obstacles and hardships that come with trying something that is hard. If turning your passion into your purpose was easy, then everyone would be doing it. It is when things get difficult that most people quit and go back to their mundane lives. But we will not quit. We will persist because when we look to the reward we see that it far outweighs the temporary pain of adversity.
Learning something new takes time. Building a successful business takes time. But in our microwave oven, 140 characters or less society, we don’t like waiting around. Patience is not only a virtue but it is the key to turning your passion into your purpose. Without it, you will constantly be quitting or restarting your journey because you think it is “taking too long.” Time passes at the same speed for everyone, it is our attitude and how we use that time that determines success or failure.