He inspires me.
Thanks to Chris, I've been asking myself all of those big questions. Well, I asked them before, but the need for an answer has been heightened because I don't want to be rude and not respond.
One of the things I like about Chris is his honesty (you'll note that I usually mention honesty as something I really admire in a person). He's great about sharing his success, talking about what has worked, and providing suggestions and recommendations. What he's not good at is feeding you a line of bull about how you can work four hours a day and make a mint. Thank you, Chris.
He's honest. He works hard and he says so. And he tells you that you will have to do the same. He works more than a 40-hour workweek to write, market, and respond. That's another thing I really dig about him. He answers his own email, tweets his own thoughts, and gets back to people.
He's a traveler. That's another of his passions, and it's one of his major goals - to visit every country. Love that. But his travels aren't fluffy white robes and cushy slippers. He works while he's traveling, and he has figured out a way to do it that makes it affordable and doable. And then he shares all of that with the world.
Aren't you loving him too?
I've learned a lot from Chris (and am still learning), so I thought I'd share some of my insights since I've come to know him.
- Know your audience - Okay, so I knew that one. But I had only put it into practice when I was guiding my clients. Duh! I have to be specific about who I am talking to. Who?
- Why should they care? - And they have to care every day. Every day.
- You don't have to live your life the way other people expect you to - Okay, so I just learned this last year. Tough lesson. Totally shattered my world, and there are still a few pieces to pick up - but oh so true. I'm still working on defining and living my life the way I want to, but I have to keep reminding myself of this. My life doesn't have to look like everybody else's. It never has, so why start now?
- Prioritize your art - This is another one of those items that I get intellectually but don't put into practice. Better at it, but still need to prioritize. Another example of his honesty is when he says that he writes on a schedule and doesn't miss the schedule because of his own weakness. If he misses once it'll make it easy and justifiable to miss again. And so on.
- You must have your elevator speech ready - Another no brainer, but I have a brain and no excuse.
- Know how you add value - This isn't as easy as it sounds. It's one thing to 'help people and organizations succeed' but you really have to define what that means. As I reshape my business, how I answer this question becomes the strategy. It's all about impact, remember.
I think the biggest, greatest, most profound thing I've learned from Chris is that I don't have a good measure for success. It's the money thing. It's not about money. My success is not about money. I do great work, love to help people, thoroughly enjoy communications and strategy and creativity and generating ideas and guiding people to success. How rich is that?! But no, I have to get uptight because of money. What? Get a grip Maria.
When Chris talks about what he does, he shares how much time he spends 'earning' an income and then quickly and enthusiastically goes into how he connects with cool people and enjoys drinking coffee and traveling and... You can hear it in his voice. He is measuring his success by what he does all day. And what he does all day is connect with cool people, write, and make the world a better place by sharing and encouraging others. How rich is that?!
To clarify, I'm an advocate for making money, and I want to make lots of it. My work has value, and I want to be compensated for it. What I've learned is that there are occasions when my equation can become success = money. And frankly that devalues my work. There are right reasons to worry about money and earnings, and there are right reasons to worry about success. Sometimes those two lines don't cross. Okay, so I was never good at math.
The most important things to learn are the things we already know. And the truth is that I know a lot of what Chris teaches. I just don't put it into practice. Or at least, I don't put it into practice every day. Every day is the real key. To be what you want, you have to do it every day. Live by your principles every day. Do what you love every day. Remind yourself of your goals every day. Every day.
On November 18th, I'll get to meet Chris. He's coming to Houston on his Unconventional Book Tour, hitting all 50 states, and he will be hosting meet ups to talk about the book, blogging, and anything else the community wants to discuss.
You can learn more about what Chris does here. And you can pre-order his book "The Art of Non-Conformity" below. Join me on November 18th. I'm really looking forward to meeting Chris, and I'd love to meet you too.
