McDonalds sells burgers and has real estate as what their business really is

Facebook is a social media and has advertising as what their business really is

Amazon delivers packages and has advertising as what their business really is

If I want to be successful, installing a B2C model such as music, art, or something else, into my B2B WordPress tech help model I already have

I have a roommate who’s trying to start a sticker business

The first steps they’re doing is to establish how to print great stickers

They have that down

They have the design and printing down and ready to go

But, they are now trying to figure out exactly how much to charge for their offer to make it work

They’re looking into how much to charge for postage and shipping and work it into the price of the product

These things will have to be adjusted later, but for some reason, they think it’s a good idea to work that shit out now.

I don’t think it is

I think the challenge here is to market and sell

Make the first 10 sales

So many entrepreneurs I talk to run around in circles for years neglecting to make sales

Neglecting to do what it takes to make sales

By talking to people, marketing themselves, doing something uncomfortable, and venturing into the dark

They want to feel 100% ready when that sale comes in

They want to feel as though they have it all figured out when that sale comes in

They feel like that’s the real challenge

And maybe they do it

Maybe they figure out how to get those sales coming in after they figure everything else out

They figured out shipping and distribution and then go for a sale

What did they learn?

They learned that the way to do their business and be successful is by clearly seeing the future by spending a long time working on it and then trying to get over the fear of jumping into the dark

To my roomate, you’re not helping her, you’re not pulling her along, you’re enabling her to be more dependent on false information

You’re setting her up for a disaster, 5, 10 years from now

The longer she goes without learning that to be successful is to step into the dark with no fear

The greater the darkness will become

If you’re okay accepting this mantle of responsibility over someone else’s life

You’re her servant, her needs are far above yours

When she drowns, she’ll push you underwater reflexively without even conscious thought

Because that’s how it’s been for years

You’ll feel the pain then

I can see that shit from 1000 miles away

10,000 days away

I can see you desire more from life, more time, more things worked on

I see it each time a conversation happens once every week, which will become every month, which will become every 3 months or even a few years

You’re not going to be able to move in this world the way you want to

You’re not going to know why

You’re going to be even more trapped in this fallacy than you are today

Keep defending her position to take the easy way

Keep defending your position to take the easy way

Run away from hard decisions

Do as you’d like, but like what you do.

Don’t act today in a way you’d regret 10 years from now

This is the last thing I’ll say about it

This is the last night I’ll weigh in

My advice to venture into the dark and make the first 10 sales without being afraid of losing money isn’t something you want or need

For me to solve this issue down the line, it would require a lot of work and thinking

A lot of un-working

I’m trying to intervene now

Trying to fix a problem before becomes so big it hurts you and her

But maybe I’m not worried about me when I think of this

I’m not working on my life when I’m working on someone else’s

I’m not working on my business when I’m working on someone else’s

Maybe I need to work on me

Maybe I want to work on my stuff

Maybe I want to release my products before I feel they’re ready

Maybe that would be my path

Maybe that path would inspire others

What I’m afraid of is that I’ll become so wrapped up in my own journey that when others ask me for help, I’ll be so detached form their perspective that I won’t be able to help them without extensive work

I won’t be able to help them without charging them for my time

Because the amount of time and energy that it would take to undo a problem I didn’t see develop is not something that could be solved in a 3 hour conversation

It’s something that has to be solved in a 3 month conversation or in my case a 3 year conversation

That level of investment of energy and time would cost a lot to me at that time

But that’s the only thing I can do

Knowing what my expertise is, knowing that’s where I make money, or am motivated to work

That’s what I’ll do

You’re not the shadow

You don’t want the shadow

You want to ignore it

You want to ignore her shadow

I’ve got to leave you man

Mentally, I’ve got to leave this conversation and start my own journey.

That fucking shit hurts

I don’t want to leave

I want to stay and play games

I want to stay and work on life together

But you don’t want to work on life

You want to stay exactly where you are and your actions reflect that

I have to realize in myself that if I do really desire big things I have to act in big ways

I have to make the emotional sacrifices that I think others should make

I have to stop surrounding myself with people who hype me up, the same way I judge those who surround themselves with people who hype them up.

Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future

I have to make my future reflect the friends I hang out with today

I feel it when I have a high-value conversation and when I have a conversation of over speaking

I hurt those who I over speak to

But I worry I’ll hurt them in my emotional distancing I’m worried I’ll hurt myself in my emotional distancing

Be a badass, don’t try and force others to be a badass

Get the invites to the hard to get into rooms

Don’t try and latch onto others who will latch to their shadow more than they’ll latch to truth

If you want to grow in life, don’t surround yourself with people who get defensive when others call bullshit on their thoughts

That’s what I learned today

I had a conversation with someone who was open to my disagreement (a possible future business partner) and I had a conversation with someone who was not (my roommate)

It hurts me like a motherfucker to see the truth in that

The truth that what I see in others is what I need to change in myself

Is it true that they need to change?

Is it true that they need to do business the way I think they should?

No

That’s bullshit

They are doing exactly as they should

Is it true that Will needs to do business the way Will thinks Will should?

Yes

That’s more true than that they should change

Because that’s the only mechanism I have control over

I wouldn’t perceive them as doing anything wrong if I had empathy to see their struggle

If they’re struggle wasn’t my pain I wouldn’t lash out at it

I know what I need to do now is eat and exactly what I need to work on

Let’s see if I get it done

Or if I make just as much progress as them today

Let’s see which ballpark I fall into

Only the truth will show what I’m made of

Will I get lost in my work? 

Or will I get lost in distractions?

What I want is to have a game that I’m happy with

To re-gain that feeling I can follow my heart across the finish line

Even if it means I produce an imperfect product