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Tom Petty said that waiting is the hardest part.

That everyday, we see one more card, take it on faith and
take it to the heart. And even though it doesn’t feel like heaven right now, we
can’t let it get to us, and we can’t let it kill us.

Good point.

But what happens when waiting feels like the only part? What
happens when every day fells like another goddamn sentence in entrepreneurial
purgatory?

Because when you hire yourself, you spend a lot of time
waiting.

Sometimes for the mechanical
things:

Waiting for the phone to ring. Waiting for the client to decide.
Waiting for the check to arrive. Waiting for the board to vote. Waiting for the
proposal to be accepted. Waiting for the go ahead email. Waiting for the
paperwork to go through. Waiting for the invoice to clear. Waiting for the beta
launch. Waiting for the site to go live. Waiting for the results to come in.

And sometimes we wait for the intangible things:

Waiting for the smell of blood. Waiting for the perfect
moment. Waiting for the ideal client. Waiting for the stars to align. Waiting
for the lightning to strike. Waiting for the little breaks to finally accumulate.
Waiting for the free work to finally pay off. Waiting for the next big idea. Waiting
for the incubation of the current idea. Waiting for the economy to bounce back. Waiting
for the revolution to begin. Waiting for the movement to catch on.

This has been my life for a decade.

And every day, when the waves of anxiety come flooding in, when
I’m five seconds away from ripping my hair out in a fit of freelance rage, I remind
myself that waiting isn’t just part of the job – waiting is the job.

So I hustle while I wait.

I practice fertile idleness and juggle multiple threads of
work simultaneously, always up to something, always diversifying my interests,
always making myself useful. And I never feel fractured, that I’m spreading
myself too thin. I even manage the process with a simple snapshot of every
project, every pursuit, every endeavor and every idea I’m working on at any
given moment. That way, it’s all under the same umbrella.

Now, no one thing can knock me off course. It’s a diverse
portfolio of productivity. And by spinning a lot of plates, I don’t sit there
every morning and wonder if the deal is closed. I just live my life.

And when it happens, it happens

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What are you waiting for?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Do you need an expert who tells you what to do, or a mentor who lets you tell yourself what to do?

“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” —-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

Turn on the television for five minutes, and you’ll observe the barrage of
celebrity divorces, canceled programming, corporate failures, broken systems, massive
layoffs, abandoned projects, public resignations and product recalls.

Why?

Because our society worships
incompleteness.

First, because we’re not finishers. That’s too much pressure. We’d rather
have ideas than actually execute them. We’d rather talk a big game than
actually play one. Otherwise we might actually have to take personal
responsibility for our work.

Second, because we’re terrified of our
potential. That’s too much power. We’d
rather fail because it’s familiar. We’d rather dream from a distance because
it’s safer. Otherwise we might actually get what we want.

Third, because we’re allergic to
commitment. That’s too much work. We’d
rather kneel at the altar of choice than actually make a decision. We’d rather
stay as loyal as our options. Otherwise we might actually have to stick with
something.

Fourth, because we’re delighted by the
misfortune of others. That’s too much
fun. We’d rather watch you go down in flames than light a match of our own.
We’d rather distract ourselves with your misery than confront our reality.
Otherwise we might actually have to change.

Fifth, because we’re seeking permission
to quit. That’s too much proof. We’d
rather use your failures as water for our fire, not wood. We’d rather use your
story as a reason to stop, not a spur to begin. Otherwise we might actually have
to persist.

Sixth, because we’re scared of being evaluated.
That’s too much judgment. We’d rather
keep things in beta form, always ready to be fixed. We’d rather not submit our
work to the world. Otherwise we open ourselves to the risk of being rejected.

Seventh, because we’re anxious about inaction. That’s too much stillness. We’d rather delay the loss that comes with completion than confront the prospect of starting something new. Otherwise we might take a whiff of meaninglessness in the space between.

Eighth, because we’re manic about standby. That’s too much waiting. We’d rather keep working on a project than hand it in. We’d rather stay busy than sit in limbo, waiting for the dice to roll. Otherwise we might find that the marketplace doesn’t care.

The exciting part is, in a society that worships
incompleteness, the people who do commit, the people who do carry their work to
execution, are the ones that inspire us forever.

To be one of those people, all we have to do is finish.

Not perfect, just finish.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What do you badly need to make complete?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “7 Ways to Out Experience the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Yes, I do more than just wear a nametag all day.

My enterprise is actually quite robust. I add value to my clients in several cool ways.

Explore the myriad ways you, your people and your organization can leverage my talents.

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Welcome to Entrepreneurial Purgatory

The Worship of Incompleteness