What to do When You Want Something

There are two kinds of wanting.

Wanting something unspecified:

Success, Fame, happiness, more followers, more money, to lose weight, to have a better marriage, to sell more books.

And wanting something tangible and concrete:

$10,000 of revenue in February, a cover story in the New York Times Magazine, 350 new followers this week, $2500, to lose 2 pounds this week, to have at least 5 good interactions with my spouse for every bad one, to sell 25 books at the conference Tuesday.

See the difference?

The first thing I want to explain to you today is that if you have a mushy goal you are going to get a mushy result. If you want “more followers,” for instance, there are no less than 1,000,000 things you could do to get more followers. Chances are you won’t do any of them. If you want 350 new followers this week, your options go way down, and now you could pick one next action to take that you believe will get you to that goal.

Once people have a specific goal in mind however, that’s not always what happens.

Let me tell you something that happened to me.

 

On Saturday, I was at my sister’s house in New York. I was staring out the window at the Hudson River and I realized I wanted to do a new podcast. It wasn’t a choice as much as it was instructions from the universe: “ANGELA LAURIA: THOU SHALT CREATE AN INSTRUCTIONAL PODCAST FOR AUTHORS-IN-TRANSFORMATION.”

 

I’m pretty sure it was Charlton Heston’s voice.
1. Google lots of conflicting information about how to do a great instructional podcast. Read and synthesize all the information. Create a plan of action. Hire designers and producers and other resources to get the show live. Get distracted and overwhelmed and keep putting it off.
2. Hire someone who is an expert at making amazing podcasts and do it right the first time.
3. Drop the idea completely.
What I have discovered is the energy wasted from having an item like this lurking around on my to-do list slows down all the other aspects of my business. So Googling around is no longer an option for me.

For me, new projects enter my own private shark tank and as quickly as possible it’s in or out. If I’m in, that means I am ready to make an investment with the world’s best to get the result I want. And if I’m out, I won’t spend another single second thinking about the idea. That’s it. In or Out. No wasted energy.

The Charlton Heston declaration was an inspiring one and I wasted no time reaching out to the people behind my favorite podcasts. Who is the best at producing an informational podcast? I got names and made a significant investment within 24 hours.

I’m looking forward to launching my new podcast by my birthday this year — March 26th!

Here’s my question to you – How many projects are kicking around on your ‘I really should do that’ list? If you aren’t willing to invest in an expert to help you get them done quickly and well, I highly recommend taking them off your list.

That’s not to say there are no DIY projects, but unless you are doing a school report or a craft project, the key elements of your business that represent you and your brand to the world, should be done with excellence. If you aren’t one of the best in the world at podcasts, hire someone who is. If you aren’t one of the best in the world at web site design, hire someone who is. If you aren’t one of the best in the world at creating and publishing a book, hire someone who is.

And always… always… always Be the Buyer You Want Your Prospects to Be.