Phil Garland

Sometimes we get so enthralled with the future, what we’re going to do, the accomplishments we want to achieve, and the path we want that we forget about our happiness. Sundays are always a good day for me to remind myself to enjoy life. To enjoy the day that is in front of me. Sometimes I get so caught up in the future I forget to enjoy the present.

I’ve made money on my own before. Selling items on eBay, at a garage sale, or making money selling lemonade. All of that was as a child. I’m 26 years old, had handfuls of jobs, and been professionally employed since college. After quitting my last job I came to the realization that I’ve never created a dollar for me. Yes, I’ve provided value to an employer and made a salary, but making a dollar from a client you find is completely different.

Call Me Un-Entrepreneurial

There’s a major discrepancy from the corporate lifers and self-made entrepreneurs/startup founders. Often, I feel I sit somewhere in between. A corporate dropout, but not quite an entrepreneur. The difference is enough for me to convince myself that I can’t be a self-made entrepreneur. Before creating my first dollar freelancing I was fearful of my path towards self-employment. I had to jump in and get my feet wet. After all, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.”

My First Dollar

I earned my first dollar through Upwork.com. I was able to find someone who wanted content written. As I’ve been writing this blog for a while I said “Why not?” I can write, it might not be great, but it’s a start. I made $5 ($4 after the 20% Upwork fee). Instead of being fearful of entrepreneurship my whole mentality changed. I now realized I could create money out of thin air! I could make money by using my abilities. Yes, it took 26 years, but it’s an uplifting feeling.

Lessons Since

Since then I’ve had a few more Upwork contracts, so far earning a little over $100. Although it’s not much, it’s already started teaching me lessons. For one, my hourly rate is probably too low, and bidding flat fees isn’t always a good idea. I spent 12-hours completing a $15 task. That definitely was a rough lesson learned. But it’s worth it. Finding this out today, when the opportunity cost of 12-hours is pretty low, is better than learning that lesson later on.

Freelance sure is rewarding. I spent lots of hours, and connected with quite a few contacts, in helping a German citizen setup an LLC in the United States. He left me a stellar review. That signal not only feels good for me, but shows future clients I am reliable. If you have any aspirations of being an entrepreneur, or becoming self-employed, I would definitely challenge you to create a dollar, or two, from your services. Once you make that first dollar you will want more.

Lesson 2 of the Toltecs, Don’t Take Anything Personally:

“Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”

Get Out of Your Head

We have a lot going on upstairs (well, at least I assume so if you found my blog) and that sometimes lead to overthinking. A reaction we weren’t expecting from the cashier, a rejection from a girl/guy or employer, or an argument we have with loved ones. People will say things that come out of nowhere, or are completely out-of-line with your mind. Which leads to countless replays of the experience and trying to comprehend their meaning.

Stop. Get out of your head. You can’t do anything to change the words someone directed at you. But you can change you. You are the founder of your future, the pursuer of your passions, and the director of your desires. Even if someone says something unsettling, don’t take it personally. Instead use it as a chip on your shoulder. Make the words your enemy to propel you forward.

“Phil, That’s Easier Said Than Done”

I know what you’re thinking. “That’s easier said than done.” It is, you’re right, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. I think a lot, I get caught in my head a lot, but somehow I find a way out. I slay my demons, bury them, and move forward. Stressing about what someone else thinks of me does the opposite of what I want to accomplish. If I listen to them then I become what they think I am. Instead, I don’t take it personally, move forward, and continue kicking butt.

My strategy to getting through drawbacks, or other’s projections of me, is a few steps. First, I keep my composure. Yes, they might’ve said something that infuriated me, or put me down, but I don’t retaliate. The first lesson of the Toltecs is “Be Impeccable with your Word: Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.” After keeping my composure I then think what they actually meant. I dissect their words, and look for their perception. Third, I try to re-frame their words to what they meant according to my dreams. And last I use it as motivation. I vow to get better because of it.

Steps to Not Take Anything Personally

1. Keep your composure (Toltec Lesson 1)
2. Dissect their words
3. Re-word their words to align with your dream
4. Use their words as motivation

Move Forward

Always moving forward is the only solution to personal attacks or letdowns. No matter what happens in your daily life, pouting about the past won’t improve the future. You have to take each circumstance to heart and live life the way you want to live. Forget other people’s problems with you and focus on your strengths and capabilities.

 

 

Listen to a well-coached player talk about their game plan, or talk about the loss they just had. Almost all great players will say something along the lines of “It’s about the process, coach talks about developing good habits. Win or lose we focus on habit building, onto the next game.” I’m paraphrasing but think of the Tom Bradys, Nick Saban-coached college players, or Kawhi Leonards. Win or lose, they will always preach process.

These are the greatest athletes in the world. You’re probably not. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them, implement their processes, and become great at whatever we consider our sport. Becoming great isn’t something that happens overnight, it’s the repetition of habits that leads to greatness.

Developing Habits Like Athletes

Peak athletes have gone through some of the most challenging rigors their bodies and minds can handle. Not only do they have to fight off not feeling 100% and giving intense effort in the weight, athletes also have to win the mental battle. My cross country coach used to say “running is 10% physical, which you want to be 100% at your peak, and 90% mental.” In order to improve their mentality, athletes adopt great habits.

There’s a reason why baseball players are so superstitious and have batting routines. They’ve trained their muscles, muscle memory, to react based on their habits. Every time they repeat a good habit they get better. Same in basketball. Even when losing by 20 points basketball coaches preach fundamentals and making sure to not play the scoreboard but the next play.

Good Habits Breed Greatness

Good habits help good become great and greats become better. We marvel at the feats of athletes all the time, but we really should focus on the feats of ourselves, our peers, and the entrepreneurs around us. They’ve figured out the good habits that help them get better or at least they are trying to find those habits.

In order to become great, in whatever we want to be great in, we must preach the process. Whether we’re having a good, bad, or okay day, the process of daily habit building will pay dividends or sink the ship. I’d much rather build good habits, get better, and become great than to get into bad habits and live for someone else.

In the world of entrepreneurship, start-ups, and tech-wizzes there’s a method of creation called proof of concept. Basically you come up with an idea, you create a proof of concept to prove your idea, and then you move forward. You start implementing the concept with a minimum viable product (MVP), a product based around the hypothesized idea for the minimum cost/effort, and judge the reaction to your product. This allows you to be lean and nimble while exploring the best path for your product.

Proof of Concept in Daily Habits

You can develop good habits in a similar way. You come up with an idea, say dieting and then explore different diets, their effects on your body, and the best ways to achieve a diet. Once your research is complete you can start with a proof of concept. Maybe you go a week or two dieting the way you researched. Then explore how your body reacts, research if those reactions are normal, and make a few tweaks. This can be applied to almost any habit: getting up earlier, cutting down on caffeine, reading daily, or many other habits you want to get better at.

Minimum Viable Product and Side-Project Creation

If you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur or small business owner you can start applying the proof of concept and MVP approach to a side project. Instead of starting with a big idea and trying to start from the top of the pyramid, you can break the business idea down to smaller chunks.

With the first smaller chunk you can employ a proof of concept and create a MVP in a couple of hours. Although this isn’t your finished product, it gives you an idea of what potential clients are looking for. You can then go back to the drawing board, tweaking this and that, until you find a solution. Over time each chunk has been proven successful and you can build your pyramid by combining the chunks.

Think Like an Entrepreneur

Using this mindset helps you develop ways to tackle new problems that arise on a daily basis. It teaches you how to cope in difficult situations, how to improve your habits, and build a company from scratch. Although you may not consider your thought process as a proof of concept, a lot of times that’s how we think. Being cognizant of these two phrases can help you formulate new ways of finding solutions.

Yesterday I promised a perspective post. Here it is.

Imagine for a minute you’re dropped onto a remote island somewhere in the middle of the ocean. You don’t remember anything except falling asleep in your bed and waking up on this island. Once the initial panic wears off, what will you do? You’ll probably walk around the island until you’ve made a mental map of everything: the landscape, fresh water (if there is any), types of food sources, and verification it’s an island and not connected to mainland. Once you’ve done that you can form a game-plan.

Perspective Finding

No one’s about to kidnap us in the middle of the night and strand us on a remote island, at least I hope not. But that’s the mentality we need to have when pursuing anything. Walking around the island is opening our senses to opportunities. The opportunity to survive, subsist, or escape, are all being developed while exploring. Life is similar to a remote island, but much bigger.

In order to find our perspective in life we need to attack each situation with perspective finding. First we need to know the rules we’re playing in. Second we need to find the resources that can open-up opportunities. And last, we need to find a perspective to view our situations in. Each time we put ourselves in new places, positions, careers, circumstances, or social circles, we develop new perspectives. Stepping outside our comfort zones helps in finding perspective.

Pursue It

We all have the option to live comfortably in our little bubbles. We can shield ourselves from different cultures, ethnicities, social-circles, etc., but that isn’t going to increase our capabilities and will not increase our perspective. Instead we must step out of our comfort zones and pursue learning experiences. We need to pursue remote islands that we have no idea our surroundings.

Each time we put ourselves on a remote island we force our perspectives to be expanded. Each time they’re expanded our minds grow out comfort zones. Expertise in a field doesn’t come from constantly studying a certain subject, but mastering the ability to explore lots of subjects. Expanding our comfort zones provides us with the resources to explore new places because we’re comfortable with the old places. Pursuit of perspective is a never-ending quest of bettering ourselves.

 

Perspective is Everything is a thought I’ve been thinking a lot about. However, it’s late, I’ve been traveling, and I need a little time to ponder and write something cohesive. Expect a much more expansive post tomorrow.

Changing your surroundings and the environment you’re in helps in many ways. We develop habits and routines that make us successful on a daily basis, however, they confine us into specific roles. By focusing on our daily lives, we restrict other possibilities. Change, specifically changing environments, forces us to step out of our comfort zones, develop new ways of interacting, and build up our resilience.

If you haven’t made a change recently, I recommend trying to change something. Start something new and figure out a way to succeed. It’ll help break from the day to day that our lives are so easily confined by.

Relax. In time life will set it’s path for you. Doing the things that make you complete, happy, and whole, are the things you need to focus on. Let go of the struggle, let go of the angst, and in time your relaxation will repay you.

A few years ago I developed an interest in learning about modern art. I downloaded a book titled “What Are You Looking At?” It was a look at the 150 year history of modern artists, their paintings, and the place each piece holds in the story of modern art. It had a profound impact on me when looking at modern art, and has taught me valuable lessons in more parts of my life than just art.

What Makes Modern Artists Great?

Pablo Picasso, Monet, and other great artists didn’t become sensations overnight. Actually, if they were alive today they might be surprised at their place in modern art history. The path of modern art is winding.

The great artists spent years perfecting their craft, but as non-mercantilists know, value isn’t created by how much time you spend on something. Great art is no different. Great art also needs to find it’s place within the story. A painting needs to fit the timeline or, if it doesn’t fit the timeline, have a large enough following to pivot the path of modern art.

Modern art history is like a serpent, slithering back and forth and constantly moving forward. Great modern artists of today don’t know their place on the serpentine path until it’s been written. They can guess by trying to fit the political, social, and directional climate of the art world, but there is no way of truly knowing where the snake-like path will slither next. There’s no bypassing this fact.

For every Picasso there were hundreds of great artists who failed to find their place in the archives of modern history. Were they less talented? Maybe, but probably not much less talented. They failed to solidify their spot because the path didn’t slither close enough to their work. They missed the boat. That’s not to say their work was all-for-not, actually quite the opposite.

Finding Your Place

Pretend for a minute you want to be the Picasso of whatever industry you’re interested in. What would you do? You’d probably spend everyday working on your craft. Your craft probably isn’t painting but it might be teaching, accounting, marketing, or some other skill. Everyday you’re going to do tasks related to those skills and one day your skills will be Picasso-level in that field.

But wait, you thought you were trying to find your path, and perfecting a skill isn’t finding your path. Exactly! Remember, for every Picasso there were hundreds of artists with painting mastery. They failed to fit into modern art history because the path never slithered close enough to them. However, the skills the non-Picasso painters developed allowed them other opportunities, to live a fair lifestyle, and be equipped with tools to find happiness.

Lesson For You

This same methodology can be applied to CEOs of companies. Not everyone is going to be Mark Zuckerberg, but that doesn’t mean not trying. There are thousands of other companies needing CEOs who have mastered their craft. Although the path didn’t turn every CEO, who worked hard daily, into Zuckerberg, that doesn’t mean an unhappy life for them.

Finding your path isn’t something you should strive for. Your path will find itself in time. Instead, your focus should be on daily improvements, and hard work, which leads you to a place you want to be. This will equip you with the tools to succeed in whatever role you end up in. Maybe your industry’s path will scoop you up and fast track you to Picasso or Zuckerberg successes. But if it doesn’t, you have the ability to achieve personal success because you focused your time on yourself, not your place in the path.