Most Things Aren't As Difficult As We Make Them

Publishing a book is a really funny experience.

What I'm about to say is going to sound really arrogant, so I'm putting the disclaimer out there ahead of time.

Ready?

It's not that hard to do.

Yes, I said it. Publishing a book is not that hard to do. Yet people act like it's this big deal, this incredible thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of myself. I'm very proud. Holding that book in my hands, something that I created and built, makes me feel really great. But I didn't do anything that you couldn't do either.

In fact, if you wanted, you could sit down tomorrow and sketch out a book concept and start writing. You could create a cover on Canva, you could edit it over the course of several months, and you can then use a self-publisher tool as I did through Amazon, and next thing you know, you're an author.

The only difference between you and me at this very moment is I took the steps to actually make it happen. That's it. I'm not smarter than you. I'm not better than you. I'm not more successful than you. I'm certainly not better looking than you either. :)

The truth is that little book publishing experience always proves that the difference between achieving a goal and not is just deciding to go for it. All I did was go for it. I'll go for it again in another year or so. I may end up publishing a dozen books or so in my lifetime, and the only difference is that I went for it.

I don't even think I'm that good of a writer; I just happen to have the ability to punch the keys at a more rapid rate than others, but I'm not winning any Pulitzer Prizes anytime soon, I can promise you that.

The part that we always get wrong, though, is that we see the finished product and immediately assume there was some secret behind it. Some special talent. Some connection. Some incredible burst of discipline that we don't have. We look at the person who wrote the book, started the company, launched the podcast, changed careers, lost the weight, or built the side hustle and convince ourselves they must have something we don't.

Most of the time, they don't.

Most of the time, they just started before they were ready. They figured shit out as they went. They Googled things. They asked dumb questions. They made mistakes. They created versions that sucked and then made them a little better. They kept moving forward while everyone else was still sitting around thinking about whether or not they should start.

Almost every massive thing starts with some ridiculously small action that doesn't feel impressive at all.

We romanticize achievement so much that we make it feel inaccessible. We turn people who accomplish things into these mythical creatures who must have some superpower that the rest of us weren't born with. Meanwhile, the person you're admiring is probably sitting there thinking, "I can't believe I actually pulled this off."

That's exactly how I feel about the book. There wasn't some magical moment where I suddenly became an author. There wasn't a moment someone told me I was allowed to publish. Nobody tapped me on the shoulder and told me I was finally qualified to write one. I just opened a Google document one day and started writing. Then I kept writing. Eventually there were enough words that it became a book.

I think there are probably a lot of things in your life right now that feel bigger than they actually are. Things you've put on a pedestal because you've been staring at the finished version instead of thinking about the first step. Starting a business feels massive. Writing a book feels massive. Changing careers feels massive. Building something of your own feels massive. But almost every massive thing starts with some ridiculously small action that doesn't feel impressive at all.

So whatever that thing is that you've been talking yourself out of doing, maybe stop making it such a big fucking deal. You don't need to know exactly how it's going to work. You don't need anyone else's permission. You don't need to feel ready. You just need to start. The difference between being someone who talks about doing something and someone who actually did it might be a lot smaller than you think.

Oh, and if you made it this far, get the book on Amazon. Control Your Career is available on Kindle and Paperback.