The Human Race. Stop! That's Not What I Meant! AKA - A Brief History Of Time.
Hey there and thanks for stopping by to read the nonsensical ramblings of a slightly mad British dude who should really learn to express himself with far fewer words.
So let's get straight to the crux of why I have decided to inflict my extreme wordiness on you today.
I have been reading a LOT of blog posts over the last couple of days to gain a real sense of who this community is and try to ascertain the levels of expertise or lack thereof within it's ranks.
It is amazing!
There are people here who are still in education and there are those who are many, many years in to retirement and looking for a fresh challenge and something to get their teeth in to.
There are people with extensive knowledge of marketing, coding and computer science and their are those who waited tables or worked in a factory.
There are those who have been affiliate marketers with varying degrees of success for many years and those who have only recently stumbled across the term.
This is fabulous because what it means to those of us at the start of our journey is that there are folks here who can speak our language whether we have some technical understanding of the related terms and jargon or whether we are using a PC for the first time. This refreshing, eclectic mix of people from every corner of the planet can help each other along the success road in the most effective way imaginable.
BUT it seems as though some themes are universal and run through the mind of every segment of the community and know no cultural, age or technical barrier to halt them from being expressed.
I am going to talk ((or should that be aimlessly ramble???)) about one such aspect here today.
I have encountered multiple posts, discussions and comments today alone where the main theme is time.
"Steven you're confusing us again, what on earth are you talking about?"
OK not time exactly, more like speed, more precisely the speed of success. The platform is bursting with people asking if they are going too slow, if they can speed up the process, asking how long it takes to get indexed, get ranked, get referrals, get commissions...
You get the picture, I'm sure.
Many here are comparing how long it has taken them to get to XYZ, talking about how somebody else did it in one day, or one week or one month and it has already taken them 3 months to date. At this point in such conversations people generally declare that they simply MUST be doing it wrong. They MUST be missing a vital piece of the jigsaw or that those who are experienced are hiding some essential piece of crucial information that is necessary to pass go and collect £200, to use a monopoly analogy.
I gotta say folks, I believe this thinking is flawed!
I don't think what we are trying to accomplish here is a race.
I don't think comparing our progress with that of somebody else is helpful, often we are unwittingly comparing apples with oranges.
I don't think there is a hard and fast blueprint on just where we MUST be on day 1 day 12 or indeed day 627.
If this is to be our 'business' going forward then yes me must take it seriously but it must also be FUN, rewarding and empowering.
I learned a fabulous quote recently that I would like to share...
"Don't compare your beginning with someone else's middle or your middle with someone else's end."
Every single one of us is a unique individual with our own particular set of skills, our own inherent quirks and a combined life experience that has never and will never be repeated in the whole of time on this planet.
If you were a recipe nobody else could ever replicate the specific set of ingredients or the proportions of such that make up exactly who YOU are.
People often state that when they made so-and-so they broke the mold afterwards... Let me tell you they broke the mold after every single one of us, we are uniquely EPIC in our own respective ways.
That is heartening and reassuring to though, don't ya think?
This validates that secret that we always suspected deep down anyway...
The race is seldom with others, we just perceive it that way at times, if there is a race ((and I firmly believe there isn't)) then it is only ever really a race against ourselves!
Why is faster always considered as better anyway?
If for instance you are a whiskey drinker, let's imagine your favorite whiskey is an oak barrel matured single malt aged for 15 years. ((assuming that is even a 'thing')) Do you think you would have the same love for it if the distillery declared excitedly that it was now available after just 7 years of aging?
Would you join the clamor for the maiden flight of the new super-duper passenger jet that promises to never be late or delayed by pesky inconveniences such as safety checks?
Imagine the popularity of the new Doctor at your local surgery who decided to rush his way through medical school in just 2 years instead of 5 by skipping all the boring non-essential bits like the circulatory system and the heart? You'd be happy to be treated by him, right???
I know, I know those examples were a little extreme and maybe a little silly, but you get the point, right?
Faster is not necessarily better and it certainly might not be the best way for YOU or for ME.
Decide on your own comfortable pace, stay accountable to your personal time-frame and plod on in the way that suits you best. If you are feeling jaded or a little uninspired do something else and let your subconscious work on the next step while you take a walk have lunch with friends or take care of unforeseen circumstances in the real world ((you know that 'offline' place that people talk about sometimes.
Leave the comparisons for others, you don't need them in your life.
Don't feel as though you need to copy anybody else's journey EVER!
I will do ME and you do YOU.
In the words of Jim Rohn, one of the greatest business philosophers and self-improvement mentors in recent times, all life really expects of us anyway is to...
"Make measurable progress in reasonable time."
That's it!
I look forward to witnessing your success, whenever and however it happens, rest assured my friend there will never EVER be any pressure or expectation from me :)
Recent Comments
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Hi Steve, to each one his ways. Whatever suit's you, that's it!
Seriously, why hurry, find your pace, nurture yourself first rather than illusions of success. Success comes to those who do not burst in one go and sleep the whole day. It is the ever sustaining perseverance of smart work with having a sensible strategy to the finish line. If you know what I'm saying. Have a great day ahead, my friend!
Smart work... I like that :)
Yes indeed unlike the traditional corporate structure and mindset, we will not be passed over here, or interrogated for not hurtling along like the next big superstar.
That is an amazing level of freedom for the potential benefits we have at our fingertips here.
Thanks for taking a moment to give your thoughts my friend :)
It' great to do sharing our thoughts, my friend, this way we may enrich and may add the level of quality content on things we are doing.
And even better Steve, is that what is a reasonable time on one person's clock will be different from another's, and so on, and so forth! Excellent post!
Jeff
Indeed! Most business models are geared up in a way that if a life-event happens upon us and we are unable to touch our business for a while it will crumble and fail in a relatively short period of time or we will be eaten alive by our overheads...
WA offers us a system of relatively passive income that could actually still grow exponentially in our absence too.
That is a huge plus with the kind of business we have at our fingertips.
My ethos is touch your business every day, even if you only have 5 minutes some days.
The perceived race, if you see one is an illusion.
Thanks for taking the time to engage Jeff :)
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Hey Steve,
I agree with you whole heartedly. For instance I'm one of the oldest people here on Wealthy Affiliate and my rate of learning is a snails crawl compared to most of the people on here.
I think it's best to take one's time and make sure they have each segment of the lessons completely understood before jumping to the next one.
You're right about the mix of people on Wealthy Affiliate. I'm amazed about the backgrounds of where people grew up, went to school or got educated on their job, and what they are trying to accomplish.
I enjoyed reading the blog and will watch for the next one you do.
Best of luck here,
Don
You nailed it Don!
The traditional 'real world' barriers to success and even progress are simply not present here.
There is no form of discrimination that can impact our massive upside potential for achieving exactly what we desire unlike many of the biases that we see in the workplace.
Age, culture, social status are all completely irrelevant here, the only requirements are to learn well, at what ever speed we are comfortable with and act on that new found knowledge.
To learn each stage comprehensively and effectively, as you say, is the key part.
Thanks for stopping by and take great care :)