Anyone can write about personal development… anyone can read a few self-help books, change a few habits, and tell you to do the same. Anyone can tell me what I should be doing. Anyone repeat the same old cheers from the sidelines of life, waving tired pompoms in the air. Anyone can string together the language of the genre and tell me to live my best, most authentic, truthy, passionate life.
Then when someone decides to talk about your life in terms of the scriptural narratives that affect your thought & behavior patterns, I stand up & take notice.
Anyone can write about business… anyone can take what the “big guys” say and rewrite it in their own words. Anyone can tell you to hop on social media, build a tribe, create some products, fill a need. Anyone can convince you to tweak this, improve that, try this new application. Anyone parrot the same ideas as the rest of the industry and call it news.
Then when someone decides to examine business in a new paradigm for a new economy, I stand up & take notice.
Anyone can write about creativity… anyone can encourage you to pick up a paintbrush, get your hands dirty, try something new. Anyone can tell you what works for them, what coaxes them out of the box. Anyone can give you their version of The Artist’s Way, tell you to write your morning pages, and pat you on the head.
Then when someone decides to prompt & push you to creative action through the very nature of her prose, I stand up & take notice.
Anyone can let you know they’re going to be at an event & tell you to come find them.
Then when someone creates a whole experience around being “shot in the face,” I stand up & take notice.
Anyone can write about sex. Okay… maybe not anyone…
Then when someone tells personal stories, examines issues on multiple levels, and still gives you enough juicy bits to leave you wanting more, I stand up & take notice.
The barriers to publishing, public discourse, and commerce are lower than they’ve ever been before. If you’ve got something to say, you can say it and find people to read it.
Just how long can you sustain a business based on someone else’s ideas?
I ask — beg, plead — you to consider if what you’re saying is something new, noteworthy, or innovative. Are you just looking to put your spin on established truth? Or are you daring to push the boundaries of something, anything in pursuit of new truth?
You simply can’t compete with those who have already said what you have to say.
You won’t outspend them (they already made the big bucks), you won’t outproduce them (they’ve been at it for years), you won’t outangle them (they’re already top of mind).
So say something new. Say the thing that’s been on your mind — and frightening you to death — for so long. Say the new realization you had yesterday and ask for help working it through. Say something that goes against or beyond what we already “know.”
Watch how people follow you.
