hello blog fronds. if I were really savvy, I’d instead be greeting you on IG stories, with a video of my face, and you’d be ‘guys’, and I’d flip my hair over in an exaggerated side part (far more flippage than anyone can manage throughout the day) and we’d talk ‘real’ talk about the line at the smoothie bar this morning, how I can’t believe I sweat so much! and what I CANNOT WAIT to share with you GUYS (wtf is it!?!).
But, here we are. I can’t. You can’t. We all just can’t. Like the one sturdy brick house in the soon-to-be gentrified neighborhood that the speculators dare not knock on the door of because it’s very clear someone lives there who isn’t leaving, and that this home will never be torn down and replaced with a modern house because developers building modern houses for profit is really just code for: concrete is cheaper.
So what’s up! Hello! What I really wanted to discuss, in my chosen medium of typing on my laptop in my bed at 8:31pm, is a little mock-chicken-nugget of experience I’ve had, and wisdom I’ve gained: you have to do the work.
I’ll credit my friend Jordan Ferney for flying that flag ‘(just do the work’ is one of her many wise mottos). I’ve been trekking up the career mountain, getting sidetracked with interesting rocks and darty squirrels and maybe a berry moment, while many of my peers have built big things, sold things, built new things and planted their banner on summit of actual work. Jordan pitched her tent at the peak, and she’s been sending postcards with advice on the path to me for years. All the while, I was literally telling people what it was like on the top of the mountain: how to get there, what the amenities were like, the weather patterns, the degree of the slope = I essentially wrote a guidebook on how to get to a place I’d never been.
Honestly – my cart was pimped out with a V6 engine, a sub-woofer in the back and rims, while my horse was wandering off by a waterfall, pinning pictures of Bjork on his iphone (my horse is a he), with a bright red mane and platform hooves.
This ridiculousness went on for years. I will give myself some credit – I didn’t turn around, I kept climbing, and I stayed at it, but all the while, penning the guidebook on how to get to top of WorkMountain™.
It’s only in the last 10 months of my work, with Furbish, and my blog, with other brands, and really, on myself, that I’ve listened to my fellow climbers, and heard them. That I’ve taken advice seriously, and acted on it. And I’ve stopped searching for the magic bullet that was going to catapult me to the top, the elevator that just dropped you off on cloud nine. Nothing gets you to where you’re headed other than putting in the steps. You might catch some breaks otw, but you have to do the work. You can’t just daydream about ‘what if’, and rationalize ‘here’s why I didn’t’, because you’ll stall out. If you want to do something worthwhile, you do the work, and you take the time, and luck isn’t in your toolkit.
If I’m being vague, I don’t mean to – I’m not selling Furbish for 2347909million dollars tomorrow, or hosting Love Island next season, but I am doing good work, with smart people, and that makes me feel excited, and challenged and creative. I’m learning and listening and it’s workin!. 10 years in and I think I’ve finally found the path and the gear to get me wherever I decide to go – whatever my peak looks like.
My horse is on the heels of my cart, and it’s a really nice feeling. By nature, I’ll always think big, and wide, but by doing the actual work, I can focus my energy on setting goals and achieving them.
If you want to do something, now’s the time. You’ve got to do it yourself, from start to finish. And it’s going to take 10 years maybe, but trust that the age-old perfect recipe of time + practice will never let you down.
Namaste, guys. Barf.
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