Success, Tony Hawk, and Hollywood
There’s a documentary about Tony Hawk on HBO called “Until the Wheels Come Off.” You should close this window and go watch it. In the first…
There’s a documentary about Tony Hawk on HBO called “Until the Wheels Come Off.” You should close this window and go watch it. In the first two minutes, you’ll learn more about what it takes to succeed than you would in a lifetime reading LinkedIn.
Recently I spoke with the owners of a small design studio. They were looking for some advice on how to get better results from their networking efforts to meet potential customers and sign new clients.
I asked them to tell me about what they had tried. From my perspective, they were doing everything right: Continually reaching out to people, asking for referrals, posting on social media, building a brand and a following.
They were disappointed that all of that work had only produced two paying clients. But I was overjoyed! That’s a great success rate. You can spend years trying to drum up business before you figure out what works.
This team was frustrated but determined. They’re putting everything they have into their business. Those one or two clients might not pay the rent, but they tell us that we’re digging in the right place. It’s a little bit of traction, which is what you should be hoping for at that stage.
It’s easy to fixate on an unrealistic vision of what success looks like. Hollywood, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube all contribute to this in different ways. We see outcomes depicted as though they fell from the sky. We don’t see what it took to get there.
Here’s what it takes: You try, and you fail. Then you try again, and again, and again, and you fail over and over. Every time you’re a disappointed, but you’re also satisfied because you know you’re making progress.
People tell you to be satisfied with what you have. Loved ones tire of watching you suffer. You get a little discouraged, you think about quitting. Maybe you do quit for a while. But eventually you come back. You’re learning.
If you see a video clip (or a LinkedIn post) of somebody doing something that looks amazing, ask yourself what you’re not being shown.
If you see somebody in the park practicing a skateboard trick, and they miss and crash, you might not think much of them.
If you see them try and fail to land that same trick twice, three times, six times, twenty times, if they’re still out there bleeding when the sun starts going down, if mom has to send a brother on a bicycle to get them for dinner…
Get your camera, because you might be watching someone on their way to becoming really great.
Thanks John Roshell.