Over the weekend, I had a good discussion with a good friend of mine. We had a real heart to heart. We discussed the uncomfortable truth about progress. I will share somethings that are an everyday reality for many individuals in Los Angeles. Particularly those who work in entertainment spaces. I know many people will post and share the glamour, the VIP events, they will share their latest threads and engaging social media posts. There is a reality to the curated content.
One of the conclusions of that conversation is that often, we CHOOSE not to grow because there is a much easier route opposite of progress. The easy route is always accessible. During the conversation, we were both honest about why, at times, we did not progress and we were honest about what it took to improve.
Common denominators for lack of progress fear of being laughed at. Fear of being isolated. Fear of being embarrassed. Fear. Common denominators of progress. Hard work, sacrifice and humility. As I reflected on that conversation, I thought back to the beginning of 2019. I was renting a room and extremely unhappy with my living situations. I wanted to move out of that situation and still maintain financial security. So I started getting more diligent and focused on budgeting. I decided to start my agency while freelancing. If you know anything about integrated communications and marketing, you know it is time-consuming. I did not have much time for much else. I was not making as much money as I wanted initially, so I started to deliver for Postmates. My truth is I was too insecure about delivering for Postmates. I thought, “What if someone I know were to see me?” I thought, “What if I deliver to someone I work with?” I had to be clear on the importance of my goals. If I was going to progress, I had to do a few things that made me uncomfortable until things started to shift. I began attending therapy to unpack and rewire how I processed a lot of things that no longer served me.
I knew that moving would also be expensive. At the time, I was spending a third of what I spend on bills now. I saved up as much as possible. I paid down as much debt as possible and started being proactive about handling my credit. I focused on career progression a lot in that first half of the year. I was missing out on a lot of things just to get to the place I wanted and needed to get to.
I said all of this to say the last half of the year sped up and put me in places of unimaginable joy. My agency did well. I received a call out of the blue for an apartment and was able to move within weeks of finding it. I landed great freelance opportunities and healed a lot of past trauma.
I know fear is gripping. I know anxiety can make you afraid to get out of bed. I know fear can have you stuck. Just remember that the fear that is holding you will always be there; however, those opportunities you want will not. They will continue to move on to people showing up and showing out for them. That love you desire will not be prepared for you if you are not preparing for it. Do not let fear hold you tightly. Just do it, as Nike says if you want to start saving, research budgets and look at how you can realistically live and still save. If you’re going to get in better shape, get up each morning and start doing something to be a better version of yourself. If you want to find a new career, start researching the steps it takes to get there and start applying yourself to get better and get to that point.
The Truth About Fear is it will always exist; the sooner you start training yourself to push through it, the better you become and slowly, you can and will improve. A consideration that will not necessarily make you alter your goal, but informs how you arrive at your destination.
iamjoecarnell 