Steal These 5 Hacks To Make Big Things Happen In 2022

Do you know the enemy of great? No, it’s not miserable. It’s safe.

True story; we prefer safety over happiness which is why so many people stay stuck where they are: staying in the role that pays ok and that’s ‘not too bad’, sticking out a relationship that should have been ended years ago or spending time with people they have outgrown long-time ago but putting yourself out there, experiencing new situations, trialling new things is daunting. What if it doesn’t work? What if I get negative comments on my posts? What if my business flops?

Maybe you’ve had the dream of starting your now podcast or speak at your favourite conference yourself one day or finally get onto the board that you’ve been working so hard for but when ended up chilling on the coach watching Netflix after a long week of ‘ok’ work.

Not judging. Been there, done done.

In fact, I moonlighted for 2 years next to my more than full-time job. 2 years! That’s long time and I know I could have done things a lot quicker. But then procrastination kicked in, having to research everything and spending way too much time on that rather than putting things into action and of course, the doubts were creeping in whether I could make this work. Let’s not forget: I was on my own at that stage, had not one but 2 mortgages to cover as I just bought a new apartment and had an investment property. What if I can’t come up with the repayments? I didn’t have a family who I could fall back on, nor another safety net in case everything went pear shaped.

Fast forwarding to now, nearly 6 years (in April) later, I can hands on heart say: best decision ever.

But if you’re not there yet and feel stuck - don’t worry. I know it sucks.

So if you’re looking forward to where you think you might like to be and comparing it to whether you’re now, it might seem  overwhelming and the distance between here and there seems just too big.

Often, you just don’t know where to start – so you don’t.

In this episode, I go through some steps you can take to, quite literally, achieve anything you want.

First thing first:

+ TAKE ACTION

In last week’s episode, Phil Pallen mentioned the most important thing to consider when building and monetising your Personal Brand: take action. Don’t get lost in the research, reading and preparation part and get trapped in this way too comfortable rabbit hole forever!  We are on a consistent journey and when you wait for things to be perfect, you’re going to wait for a long time. Firstly, it’s subjective and everyone’s got a different idea of what perfection looks like. Secondly, the world evolves, you evolve and so will your Brand. Embrace the suck that comes from starting and enjoy the journey. 

The thing is, no matter how small, it all counts and the funny thing about momentum is that it keeps going.

If nothing changes, nothing changes so the ‘secret is to let go of wanting to get it ‘right’ and just commit to taking this tiy went step today.

Tomorrow, you can do more – and you will accumulate more and more results too. 

But for today, just start.

It’s all about getting first-hand experience, analyse what worked what didn’t, adjust and repeat.

When I decided I wanted to speak at bigger conferences, podcast shows and at company retreats, I started speaking at local events, on small podcast shows and hosted my own workshops to build this speaking muscle. And honestly? It all snowballed from there.

+ TAKE A NEW PERSPECTIVE

You know the feeling when you’ve mulled over a problem or challenge, over and over and still, no answer or the anticipated lightbulb moment?

Here’s the truth: it doesn’t show show up one day or come to you. It’s a proactive process of changing your beliefs by asking yourself different questions to then get new perspectives.

As Einein said: you can’t solve the problem with the same mindset that created it.

For me, my best ideas come when I exercise. I usually work on a project until I hit a wall and think of 2-3 challenges that prevent me from moving forward. This is where my subconscious brain must kick in because I never get the answer when I standstill or sit. I usually get them when I’m moving my body. There is a reason hy I exercise 2-3x a day :)

+ CONSISTENCY BEATS INTELLECT

Let’s be real: we all know someone who’s smarter, has more credentials, more money, better connections and more privileges than we have. And yet- there are also people who are doing more with less. We can’t change that. The difference between the have’s and the have not’s is in the consistency.

I told the story in my book - by the way, shameless plug here if you haven’t grabbed your copy yet - it’s available on Amazon. I share the story of my friend at high school who is a lot more intelligent than I am, who was cruising through school whilst I had tutors 3x a week to help me just pass assignments. And yet, she dropped out, 2 months before our Grade 12 exams. She fell pregnant and off the bandwagon and never recovered from that.

We could be resentful to tose with natural born talents or, we can focus on what we can control and that is consistency in everything we do: running everyday seems achievable until you feel tried and are sore. Posting on social media every day seems achievable until we run out of ideas. 

You get the idea. Consistency comes from setting a) realistic expectations and b) a repeatable system that take out the guesswork on what to do next.

+ REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

Landing a $10k paid speaking engagements when you never spoke infant of an audience, completing a triathlon when you’ve never swam more than 1.5km or building a 6-fig business in the first 6 months of setting it up might be a little stretch.

Whilst you want to aim high, you also want to be realistic as otherwise you you’ll feel like a failure when you haven’t crushed the goals.

It was at the end of last year when I reflected on the year that was and I felt like a failure. Despite having written and published a book in less than 5 months, despite having had the biggest year yet in terms of 1:1 clients, despite of having developed and launched online courses. Why?

Because I didn’t set realistic expectations for any of them. There was no objective and realistic measurement that I focused on. I just saw this number one best selling book authors with their first book, the course creators who have consistently 6-fig launches. Now is it possible to get there? Sure is! And I know I will. Is it realistic when you have never done anything even close to that? Porobs not.

Great things take time and the right actions at the different stages which is also what I covered in epi 26, the first episode of this year.

 + COMMIT TO THE LONG GAME

Have you read Dorie Clark’s book the Long Game yet? She lays out such a practical and realistic view of what it takes to achieve your goals and also discusses how long it actually takes us to get there (and most of us underestimate the timeframe).

Don’t get me wrong- I’m the most impatient persona veer and yes, it sucks that we can’t just start writing and become a best-selling author or set up a business and be the entrepreneurs to watch in 2022.

The unsexy truth is about pretty much anything that you want to achieve, though, is that in order to do it well, you’re gonna have to spend a fair bit of time sucking at it.

This is my 3rd podcast show that I’m on (with not many know) and trust me when I say: the first episodes sucked Even now, when I listen to some of the episodes I think I could have said that more eloquently and more conversational but hey - every episode I hopefully get a little better and this is what counts.

So don’t be one of those who just want to show up when they are all ‘ready’ and perfect’. It’s not gonna happen. Give it a crack. Do okay. Get feedback. refine. Improve. Do it again.

As we know … the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Next best time is today.

To warp things up - if you’re serious about making significant changes in 2022, from starting a new job to setting up a business to landing your first or next speaking engagement … any decision that you make or not, any action you take or not is responsible for the result you get or not.

Every single decision, big and small, ultimately shape our lives.⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Think about it.

Things like ‘Should I pitch to my favourite podcast sow?

‘Should I quit my job and start a business?’ ‘Should I start posting on LinkedIn and share my ideas’.

They’re all really scary things to decide to do, and so often we just don’t do them. We stay where we are, doing the things we’ve always done, getting the results we have always gotten.

And it’s the reason that we end up missing out on all of the excitement, those big moments, those incredible experiences that makes life worth living. 

Every time I’ve made a big, scary decision and have decided to be brave and go for it, my life has improved. Plain and simple.

Bottom line?

You and only you are in control over tour destiny. If you leave it to chance or to others, don’t be surprised if you don’t end up where you want to be.

Acknowledge that big and new things are scary and require a ballsy decision. Remember that you don’t have to doit alone. There are a gazzilion people who’ve done what you want to do before you so don’t be shy and ask for help.

Now with that, there’s to your life. Here’s to your success.