It IS Your Fault

One of the most “successful” phrases in the history of direct sales copywriting is this: “it’s not your fault.”

Fortunes have been made with this phrase.

Billions of dollars have been collected by telling people that their obesity, their poverty, their unhappiness, their dysfunctional relationship patterns aren’t their fault (and then selling them the “cure” that can fix everything).

There are all kinds of reasons why you don’t follow your deepest purpose.

Let’s see . . .

• Your passion might a require a large commitment of time and money (and and then fail)
• There’s uncertainty in starting a venture or launching a product
• You might fail and look like a loser in front of your spouse, children, and family (who didn’t think you’d make it in the first place)
• You’re afraid that if you follow your passion, you won’t be able to feed and house your family
• You’re afraid it’s going to take a LONG time before you reach profitability
• You don’t want to be in your mid-forties, driving a shitty car, and living in two-bedroom apartment with your family
• You’re afraid that you’ll end up a bum in the street, destitute, and in debt with no savings, no food, and no health insurance
• You’re afraid that you’ll be left out in the cold with no security
• You’re afraid that if you leave your job and start doing what you were born to do, that it will flop and you’ll have to re-enter the job force in a bad economy and that you’ll won’t be able to compete with younger guys who learn faster and will work for less money
• You’re afraid you’ll lose your house
• You’re scared about having enough money for retirement

Well, I have news for you. . .

. . . you might not have unlimited money, but you do have unlimited resources.

Your time IS now.

Your spouse might briefly hate you if you go for it, but over the next 5 years she’ll come to resent you even more after you’ve become jaded, passionless, and have lost your way.

There is no price too great for freedom. There is no price too great to pay for coming alive.

The time IS now. Your time is now. And if you don’t do it now, you probably never will.

Your time is now.

You know the thing you’ve been putting off the longest? That thing you’ve been procrastinated for the last 10 years? That’s the thing you need to start doing today. That’s the thing you need to start before going to bed tonight.

I can’t tell you it will be safe.  But doing shit you have to do because you’re afraid of the alternative: that’s the quickest way to lose respect: not just the respect of your spouse and children and everyone who believes in you or once belied in you – but also your self-respect.

And you’re children, they’re going to have enough to eat. They might not have all the latest bullshit toys, but they’ll have something better at home: an example of courage and life.

(And trust me… your spouse and kids would rather have in you a courageous “failure” than a cowardly “success”).

Putting off that thing you were born to do. That’s not safe.

Nothing is safe.

And if you’re too good to sacrifice for a bit, drive a shitty car, not eat out, and rent instead of buy . . . then you might not deserve the thing you crave.

You might not have unlimited money, but you have unlimited resources. And you know it.

The barriers to entry for nearly every endeavor you or I can think of are lower than they’ve ever been in the history of mankind.

Yes, you have a partner and children and mouths to feed. But they need a LOT more than food and money and some bullshit false notion of security. They need YOU.

Not the version of you that secretly hates 65% of his life. Not the version of you that gets up every morning unexcited about the upcoming day.

They need to version of you that is courageous, uncompromisingly true, HUNGRY for life, and ready to live and die giving your all to them and the world.

If this doesn’t describe you, then it’s probably your fault.

I would rather be a courageous (so-called) “failure” than a cowardly “success.”

Which will you be?