School rarely if ever tells us the thing that we need to know. Beyond basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and the like it doesn’t put on the path that we want to be. And because of this so many of us end up places that we don’t want to be. For example working a job that we hate and the slowly but surely sucks the soul from us each and everyday. Granted this could also be applies to other areas of life (relationships, what to do with free time, and so on and so forth) but right now we’ll talk about a job.
One thing I talk a lot about here is getting the job that you want or at least a job that is high paying enough that you it affords you the things that you want. Don’t get me wrong work is work and even your “dream job” will have it moments of drudgery. Though still be far better than where you were before. I recommend the skills of sales, copywriting, and marketing to get you started anywhere even if you’re a electrical engineer just because of how valuable those skills are in dealing with people. But there’s more to it than that.
Often when I talk to people about such things whether coaching clients or just those in my life they want to jump in right away. Oh you can make a living writing books I’ll quit my job and get started right away or Oh all I have to do is be a top earner on Upwork and do this copywriting stuff? Great then I’ll quit my job and get started on that right away. But that’s just not going to work for the vast majority of people.
Keep Your Day Job…For Now
It might sound obvious but you’re going to need to keep your day job and maybe for some time. Success in any field is a process of years of work and study. Work and study that don’t just materialize out of thin air no matter how badly you want them (and don’t let nonsense like “The Secret” tell you otherwise. Meaning that there is time between living the life you’re living and living the life that you want to live, even if you had the perfect knowledge on how to get there.
For example say you wanted to get from Germany to France and had a perfect map to get there. Even so it’d still take time to get there. No matter how badly you wanted to get from point A to point B it’s still going to take time. It’s no different with changing careers and becoming established in a new one. My point with all of this being it’s good to temper your enthusiasm at the start. Not to mention it’s not enthusiasm or motivation that gets you to where you need to go, it’s discipline with daily action, but that’s a topic for another time.
But anyways say you know all of this, what then? How long should it take? What should you do beforhand? Let’s say you’re all jazzed up on becoming a copywriter/salesperson/novelist/etc. and wondering alright do I jump in right away and try to start getting jobs on Upwork or do I set aside a time every night to start writing that soon to be bestseller (at least in most first time writer’s minds). And so on and so forth?
6 Before You Start
Here’s what I recommend, before you think you have a chance of doing much with a subject take at least 6 months to learn all that you can about it. Let’s use a self-published novelist as an example. Sure you can start writing right away but chances are it’s going to be absolutely horrendous and your first novel is going to have little to no chance and selling and is best fit for the garbage can. But still I think you should write during that time but even more important than that is to learn about writing.
Read books about writing fiction, read good best selling fiction, take courses on fiction writing, listen to lectures about fiction writing, and just immerse yourself in fiction writing. Your knowledge will grow and gain so fast that you’ll be constantly changing how you write from all that you’re learning. What you write from month one to month two will be drastically different, and that’s fine, it’s a good thing.
Knowledge increases so fast the beginning that it pays to take about 6 months and just work on the craft/skill. Take 6 months to study and learn and not really hope to do anything serious with it. Maybe write short stories instead of a novel that you may make the mistake of trying to clean up and make publishable later. The first 6 months should be focused on learning and understanding and then after those 6 months dive into actually making money at the thing (which is not going to come right away either but the 6 months will help it).
Your Dreams Are There But Farther Than You Think
You can accomplish your dreams and work a dream job (that remember will have it times of drudgery, trust me rereading your novel for the 5th time looking to edit can at times be as boring as any spreadsheet for some corporation) granted that you’re willing to put in the work. Enthusiasm must give way to discipline. You must approach anything with a “workmanlike” attitude to get anything done. Put in the work day in and day out. Learn, study, and grow and become better little by little.
And that’s how dreams, skills, and crafts grow little by little. Like building a great wall you build it brick by brick. Or to use the cliche “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” neither will you dream job be. So take 6 months and just dive in studying and learning everything you can about the skill/craft/dream job before trying to make a real (meaning money making go at it) you’ll be better off for it. So pursue those dreams but do so in a smart way. Then work hard and work smart until you accomplish it.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
