Just Do It

Don’t you dare make excuses.

Don’t you dare think about the “what-ifs.”

Don’t you dare let someone else’s opinion stop you.

I’m taking a page from Nike with the title because it’s the truth. If you want to start something, the first step is to do it.

Last week, my brother and I opened an Etsy shop to sell his art (find the link in my bio). Our first product is a journal, which is nothing fancy, but we felt it’d be a start. There were doubts about whether this could work.

Backtrack a few weeks ago to a book I read called Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan, and one of the challenges for validating a business idea is to sell to three different people within 48 hours. If you can’t accomplish that, the idea goes in a dumpster. I had this challenge in mind when we opened up shop. At first, it didn’t seem too daunting of a task. The first two sales were a piece of cake. However, as Noah rightly pointed out, the third sale was more of a challenge. I remember by the time we were at 36 hours, I had to think deeper. Who else can we sell to?

I scrolled through iMessage, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms to find potential buyers. Some candidates came to mind, but I hesitated.

“What if they get annoyed?”

“What if they find it rude?”

“What if they flame me?”

That’s when I zoomed out and looked at the bigger picture. We are doing this to make money so we can achieve financial freedom. Who gives a f*ck what people think?

I dived in, and that’s when I locked in the third sale. Business idea validated; check!

So, why am I telling you this?

Well, my friend, I want to tell you that if you have an idea, you should act on it. It might crash and burn, but there are lessons in failure. We’ve made a few more sales since we validated our business idea, but I don’t know what will happen next. We will figure it out as we go. Regardless, we’re a little richer than we were yesterday. You can accomplish a lot with this mindset and it doesn’t have to involve business. Adopt this mentality to improve your health, finances, or relationships. Be unafraid and remember the bigger picture. The story is about you and the pursuit of your dreams.

Don’t be afraid. You’ve got this.