Nothing is more powerful than the devotion of time towards your desired outcome. Good Ol' Father time works like this:
*Give time 1 year and time often doesn't come through for you.
*Give time 2 years and time shows you some promise.
*Give time 3 years and time does you good.
*Give time 5 years and time puts you on the map.
*Give time 7 years and time makes you a star.
*Give time 10 years and time works miracles on your behalf.
I swear by the above "time line," for many different reasons. First off, because of personal experience.
During the first year of trying to launch my speaking career I attended my first college market trade show. An agent named Scott befriended me and on the last day of the conference he put his arm over my shoulder, pointed to the bustling trade show floor, and said, "Look around, there are many new performers, like yourself, here for first time. Most won't return next year because they'll have given up for one reason or another. But the ones who do whatever it takes to last for three years will succeed in this market." Scott didn't know it, but I was certain he was talking to one of the few who would, no matter what, last the 1095 days. Both Scott and I turned out to be right.
If you had evaluated my speaking career at the end of my first year I think you would have rightfully concluded that I was a mediocre speaker with a very light speaking schedule.
But if you had peeked in my career at the end of my third year (hundreds of mistakes and hardships later), you would have noticed my steady stream of bookings, a published book, and speaker of the year nomination. Time was doing me good.
I can't wait to see what time has in store for me at the five year, seven year and ten year mark.
The seven year and ten year marks excite me the most... Like a kid waiting for Christmas... The seven year mark because I've seen seven years put comedians on Saturday Night Live. In college I did stand-up with a beginner named Rob. I didn't keep at comedy, but Rob did and seven years later he was famous as 'The Copy Guy' on SNL. At the ten year mark Rob Schneider was starring in movies.
The ten year mark sends my imagination reeling because in college I booked bands at a San Francisco night club. One of my favorite bands to book was a band called Model Society. I thought their lead singer, Adam, was terrific, and that he'd be world famous soon. I was wrong - it would take him ten years to become world famous. Maybe it seems like Adam Duritz and Counting Crows were an overnight success, but time is what made them stars.
What's your goal? What's your dream? What's your impossible outcome? Give it time.
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Hot Tip
Commit many years to making your dream come true.
"The things I've done in my life have required a lot of years of work before they took off."
-Steven Jobs
In the confrontation between the stream and the rock,
the stream always wins-- not through strength but by perserverance.
-H. Jackson Brown
"Use time as a tool - not a couch."
-John F. Kennedy
"The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed."
-Richard Sheridan (1751-1816) |
