We deal with uncertainty, randomness, and luck every day.
Every project we undertake is, by its nature, an uncertain endeavor (because it hasn't been done before – if it had, it would be certain, and there’d be nothing to start).
Uncertainty means we can fail.
But it also means we can succeed – that there is the potential for success infused in every endeavor, right from the start.
If you’re looking to instigate anything, you’re dealing with uncertainty, and therefore with the possibility of failure or success.
If this is the case, what favors one course of action over another? Why do some projects fail and others succeed?
Well, first, they may just be lucky.
There is a very real possibility that good luck or favorable, random chance resulted in the success of an initiative that should have failed, and that bad luck or unfavorable, random chance destroyed a project that deserved success.
And if this is the case, it might follow that everything is random, so better to either never start anything, or start random things often (more dice rolls, better chance of random success).
But this isn't the full story, and this is precisely the type of attitude that leads to failed attempts at instigating.
When we deal with the uncertainty of a new project, yes, we do deal with luck and random chance.
But we can also, through the structure and direction of our work, open ourselves up to favorable, random chance, and avoid unfavorable, random chance.
In a matter of speaking, we can make ourselves lucky.
More importantly, we can instigate projects in a scientific manner that allows for sustainable, long term gains.
We do this through an asymmetry of gains – where the success of a project has large or infinite upside, and the failure of a project has minimal downside.
“By definition chance cannot lead to long term gains (it would no longer be chance); trial and error cannot be unconditionally effective: errors cause planes to crash, buildings to collapse, and knowledge to regress. The beneficial properties need to reside in the type of exposure, that is, the payoff function and not in the "luck" part: there needs to be a significant asymmetry between the gains (as they need to be large) and the errors (small or harmless), and it is from such asymmetry that luck and trial and error can produce results.” [Nassim Taleb]
Before we start our project, we want to set the stage for success by creating asymmetrically beneficial goals.
These are the types of goals we can start, finish, and ship, with little negative downside (i.e. publishing a kindle book; if it doesn’t take off, it only costs us our time), but with very large or infinite upside (i.e. once that kindle book is out there, it could take off and result in thousands of sales).
This allows us to test the waters without drowning if our first attempt isn't a complete success.
As long as we can test safely (and when I say test, I mean shipping a product or project and receiving feedback from the client or consumer), we can continue to test and tweak as necessary.
In essence, we live to fight another day, which allows us to eventually realize our goals.
Too often, people start with grandiose, unstructured plans that require a home run on the first try. And then, if it doesn’t work (and it often doesn't), they go back to the grind that life gives them.
Don’t sabotage your success by relying on random chance to get you through.
Instead, start small, set audacious (but asymmetrically beneficial) goals, work every day to bring them to life (even when it’s scary), and, whatever you do, keep fighting.
Eventually, you’ll break through.
Eventually, you'll get the payoff.
Eventually, you’ll create your life’s work.
But only if you instigate the right way (and instigate continually).
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Success isn't random.
Creating a successful project is no different.
A business (whether an individual writing novels, a corporation selling insurance, or a nonprofit doing charitable work) is nothing more than a series of projects.
A successful business, therefore, is nothing more than a series of successful projects.
Look at any successful company – Coke, Nike, Apple, Kickstarter, Amazon, Chic-fil-A, Lululemon, Rogue Brewery – do you think their success is simply luck?
Or is it more likely that these companies have a system for instigating successful projects?
Creating a successful project is not about luck or coincidence (although either may help or hurt your project).
On the contrary, there are historically proven steps you can take in order to be successful.
*note: Every single one of the companies I listed above follows some form of this model for upper and lower level management when taking on any new project or product launch.
The following are 3 proven steps to guarantee your success in any project you're about to instigate:
What’s the last goal you set? Did you reach it? If not, where is that goal right now? Above your computer? In your wallet? Taped to the visor in your car?
A goal is only as good as your focus.
There are great tips out there for creating compelling, powerful goals (the SMART method is excellent: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), but none of it matters if you don’t review your goal daily…
And then take action daily to achieve the goal.
Goals give purpose and direction to our actions, but we need to review and maintain the goal daily to make sure we don’t get sidetracked.
Tip: Set a goal, write it down, and review it every day. It seems so painfully obvious it almost hurts to write – but how often do we put this common sense to practice?
Another one that seems obvious, but how often do we actually commit AND follow through with our projects?
There are ways to measure the success and failure rate of start-ups There are ways to determine the revenue generated from a specific advertising campaign. There are ways to identify the conversion rate of your product's splash page.
There is no way to measure all the projects that failed before they started.
There’s no way to determine the success or failure of a project if we never make it through the brainstorming and thrashing stage.
If our great idea stays an idea, it fails.
If we set a goal but never follow through, we fail.
Tip: Once you've identified your goal, commit your time, energy and focus toward realizing it. Don’t stop until it’s finished. Follow through.
This is what separates successful companies from failed companies.
The pattern of all great companies (and all great instigators) is to create, ship, measure, refine, and ship again.
The beauty of this method: it plans for future failure.
When Pepsi released Crystal Pepsi in 1993, they pushed the marketing and advertising campaign hard. And, for a short (very short) period of time, it was successful.
Until it wasn’t.
Pepsi didn’t push the failing product; they pulled it from the market. They tweaked the formula and released a citrus variation called Crystal from Pepsi, which you probably never heard of, because that failed too. They pulled it from the market.
Pepsi didn’t try to release a new version; the clear-Pepsi thing simply wasn’t working. So Pepsi took the measured results and used them for future product and marketing campaigns (Sierra Mist).
Pepsi can get away with more large scale product failures than we can, but we can still mimic the fundamental pattern of how they create and introduce new products to market (a system that has more wins than losses).
Eventually, one of these products will be successful. That’s the nature of measuring, refining, and shipping; you will eventually create something successful (i.e. something people want and will pay money for).
It’s not guess work; the creation of a successful product is very much a scientific process of measuring results and modifying inputs.
Tip: As long as we learn from our mistakes and use that information to shape future projects and products, we will inevitably create a successful offering. Always measure, always refine, always ship.
The success of a project has nothing to do with luck.
Serendipity and providence can help us, sure, but if we rely on either to propel us toward success, we’re destined to fail.
Serendipity and providence only help those who don’t seek them.
And while we don’t have control over our lucky breaks, we do have control over something more powerful: our actions.
"Life is pretty simple: you do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works." - Leonardo da Vinci
On July 1st, 1916, in the early morning dusk, the whistle blew.
Thousands of men emerged from the trench line and charged into No Man’s Land.
The largest army the British had ever fielded began advancing across a poppy field in the hope of pushing the Germans out of their entrenched position and routing the German lines.
As the British advanced, German machine gun fire tore down wave after wave of British soldiers. At the end of the first day, the British had advanced only dozens of yards, and their casualties reached close to 60,000 men.
"there came a whistling and a crying. The men of the first wave climbed up the parapets, in tumult, darkness, and the presence of death, and having done with all pleasant things, advanced across No Man’s Land to begin the Battle of the Somme." [The Old Front Line]
So began the Battle of the Somme, a four and a half month battle of attrition, where each day, the whistle blew, and men went over the top.
Every day, when we tap into the creative part of our brain, we enter No Man’s Land.
The Enemy (that ruthless group of bad habits and negative self-talk propaganda) doesn't want us to make it across. The Enemy wants to cut us down before we reach our objective.
We fight for every inch of progress; every filled page, every shipped product, every filmed scene.
It’s not pretty moving through No Man’s Land. There will be casualties. Sometimes your work won’t make it. Sometimes the thing you poured your heart and soul into gets turned down by publishers, rejected by producers, or shot down by critics.
Sometimes, the end user – the person you made it for – hates it, or worse, dismisses it.
At times like these, it’s easy to give up. To forget why you started and simply quit. To say enough is enough and walk away.
It’s much harder, when that whistle blows, to go over the top one more time.
Fighting your own creative battle? Let us know in the comments below.
p.s. if you're fighting alone, don't. Join the Resistance instead:
You’ve made the decision; you’ve stepped into the arena.
You’re fully aware of what this means – there will be pain, setback, and failure.
But running blindly into battle isn’t the point. Any ‘go-getter’ can take an idea and run with it straight into oncoming traffic.
No, the skilled fighter understands that while he will take a beating, that’s not his job – his job is to give a beating.
The point of accepting future failure isn’t to justify recklessness; it’s to prepare accordingly to ensure success.
Before conducting any form of operation, military leaders do something called Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield, or IPB for short.
The purpose of IPB is to identify failure points.
IPB is a process where military leaders define the battlefield environment, describe what effects the battlefield will have on friendly and enemy forces alike, evaluate the enemy threat in the area, and determine possible enemy courses of action.
Its purpose is to let us know where we are weak and where we are strong, but most importantly, to let us know where we are most likely to fail.
Here’s how you can apply IPB to your project so you can:
The following are 4 simple steps to identify and overcome failure before it happens:
Before we dive straight into writing our epic 1,000 page novel, it behooves us to take a step back and consider the environment where we do battle.
If you’re writing a 1,000 page novel, you’re not in the comic book arena. Nothing a comic book writer says should affect your writing.
If you’re building a new monthly subscription / web-based software platform, you’re not in the digital download arena. Your content is web-based on purpose; people pay to use it monthly and expect all the benefits of cloud based service. Nothing a digital download developer says should affect what you create.
If you’re the CEO of a small startup that sells rubber kettlebells, you’re not in the treadmill arena. You’re also not in the free weight arena. Your product is very specific and serves a very specific audience.
Key Takeaway: Identify your area of operation and your left and right limits. Make sure you know your objective, what you’re doing, and how you plan to get there. Avoid distractions. If you don’t, you might find yourself wildly off course and months behind deadline because you wandered into someone elses battle space (i.e. started drawing pictures instead of writing).
“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” [Napoleon Bonaparte]
Once you understand where you’re doing battle, you can begin to analyze how the battlefield will affect you and the Enemy.
If you’re writing a novel, the journey is long, lonely, and has virtually no intermediate reward. The payoff, if any, will be at the end. This can break even the strongest spirit.
On the contrary, writing a novel is a solo project and requires virtually no capital. You don’t need a team, just yourself. The downside risk is limited, the upside potential unlimited.
The Enemy benefits from the long journey (more chances to stop you, break you, and make you quit), but because there are less moving parts, the Enemies efforts to disrupt your progress will be limited.
The small business owner has a team to support him, but more moving parts mean more possible failure points.
The Enemy can’t use the same psychological warfare on the person with a small team that he can use on the solo writer, but he can create even more diversions by making the owner focus too much on one aspect of the problem, or get him to sidetrack the entire project to work on a tertiary aspect of the business.
Key Takeaway: Get to know the environment you’re working in so you can better prepare yourself for the (inevitable) Enemy attacks. Understand that every battlefield environment can benefit you in some way and hinder you in some way. Never forget the same goes for the Enemy.
This one is a given.
You’ve entered the arena. This is where fights take place.
Only a fool would enter the arena not expecting another gladiator to emerge.
Key Takeaway: Analyze and study the Enemy. Know you will encounter the Enemy. Find ways to break the Enemy faster than he can break you.
“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.” [Sun Tzu]
By using historical examples from your own experience and others who have gone before you, you can predict with relative certainty how the Enemy will try to thwart your plans.
For the writer, the Enemy will use psychological operations to destroy morale. The Enemy will taunt the writer telling him he can’t make it, his work isn’t’ good enough, he doesn’t know anyone in the business, and who is he to even try. The Enemy loves using status quo propaganda against the writer, and will constantly work to stop the writer from doing what he must do: write.
For the entrepreneur, the Enemy will use disruptive bad habits to destroy the project. The Enemy will focus on developing poor time management skills in the entrepreneur. The Enemy will create disruptions and diversions by drawing attention to tasks that don’t need to be completed (to actually ship the product), or superficial time wasters that have no impact on the success of the venture. The Enemy will keep the entrepreneur from doing the one thing every entrepreneur must do: sell the product.
Key Takeaway: Predict possible Enemy attacks so you are better prepared to deal with them. Knowing how the Enemy will attack allows you to counter the attack and finish your project on time.
Have you identified your failure points?
If not, you’re betting on luck to get you through to the end.
Take the time to identify your failure points and prepare yourself ahead of time.
Your success depends on it.
If you haven't had a chance yet, make sure you sign up for the Resistance Broadcast. It's a free weekly newsletter with exclusive tips and tricks to help you start, finish and ship your product.
Never fight alone. Join the Resistance:
Whether you recognize it or not, you’re at war.
This is not a conventional war:
The battle lines change every day. The warzone is rarely defined.
Sometimes the enemy is very clearly in front of you, pummeling you with everything they've got; other times, the enemy is lurking in the shadows right beside you, waiting for a moment of weakness before they attack.
And your allies aren't who you would expect – but they’re more powerful than you realize.
The warzone is not your physical environment – although the physical environment can help (or hinder) your campaign.
The enemy is not a person – in fact, the enemy is nothing external at all.
And your allies are not your friends or family, nor are they the people in the cubicle next to you at work.
This is a war fought in the neural trenches of your brain.
The enemy is the army of bad habits you've accumulated over the year – building and expanding its empire one brain-map territory at a time.
Your allies, if you choose to call upon them, are the virtuous and productive thoughts you put into your mind; they will support you when you are weak, and help you expand your territory when you are strong.
And you are the insurgent because you seek change, you desire improvement, and you want to build something of value.
You are outnumbered and outgunned.
The enemy controls nearly all brain map territory.
Your allies can help, but they can't fight the battle themselves; they need you to lead.
Will you choose to fight? Will you lead? Will you instigate?
You're at war whether you recognize it or not.
How often do you start your day backwards? You know, by checking email, or phone messages, or reading the news?
Do any of those things directly impact the project you’re working on, or the brand you’re creating, or the book you’re writing?
Do any of them impact the rest of your day at all?
My guess is that if you didn't check email or read the news, you'd be just fine. Life would go on without a hiccup.
These things don't impact your day because they are easy, trivial activities.
And that's precisely why we start our days with them.
It’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent - like thinking – and it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do, than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about. - John Cleese
The problem isn't that we check email, or send text messages, or read the news, it’s that we don’t use our time the way we ought to (if you care about drawing your own map, that is).
This lack of action compounds over time.
The minutes we spend checking email, sending texts, and reading the news eventually adds up to a day...and then a week...and then a year...
And in ten years, we still haven't written that novel, or built that business, or bought that investment property.
Right now a still, small voice is piping up, telling you as it has ten thousand times before, the calling that is yours and yours alone. You know it. No one has to tell you. And unless I’m crazy, you’re no closer to taking action on it than you were yesterday or you will be tomorrow. You think Resistance isn't real? Resistance will bury you. - Steven Pressfield
When we waste the beginning of our day on something impactless (yes, I made that word up), we are giving up precious hours we could devote to something important.
Instead of using daily action to propel us toward the realization of our goals, we slowly kill off any chance of doing something remarkable.
Cutting out time during the day to do the work is the first step.
Figure out what time you can carve out, what time you can steal, and stick to your routine. Do the work every day, no matter what. No holidays, no sick days. Don’t stop. - Austin Kleon
The next step – the one that requires us to take an even harder look at ourselves – is to determine if what we’re actually creating is any GOOD.
Life’s not about getting stuff done, it’s about getting the right stuff done. It doesn't matter how productive you are if the ideas you’re building on don’t represent the best you have to offer. And the best you have to offer rarely ever comes when you’re filling every nook and cranny of mind-space, every waking moment of every day. - Jonathan Fields
Once you’re able to form a habit around doing important, GOOD work every day, you’re on the path to creating something remarkable, and therefore being remarkable.
Whatever you do, don’t stop.
Do the work (the important work) and do it every day.
The most miserable and tortured people in the world are those who are continually straining and striving to convince themselves and others that they are something other than what they basically are. And there is no relief and satisfaction like that that comes when one finally gives up the shams and pretenses and is willing to be himself. Success, which comes from self-expression, often eludes those who strive and strain to "be somebody," and often comes, almost of its own accord, when a person becomes willing to RELAX and "Be Himself."
- Dr. Maxwell Maltz (Psycho-Cybernetics)
Everyone has a tendency to conform to their gang (group, club, tribe, whatever), usually without even recognizing it.
It’s been well established that we mimic those around us.
In 1999, Chartrand and Bargh – professors of Psychology at New York Univesity – discovered that people have a natural tendency to mimic the physical movements and speech inflections of those with whom they interact.
This behavior has been dubbed the Chameleon Effect.
Sasha Ondobaka of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour elaborates: “when you’re having a conversation with somebody and you don’t care where your hands are, and the other person scratches their head, you scratch your head.”
However, the use of mimicry extends beyond individual interactions and affects the way people interact with (and thus associate with) groups. Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics, explains that people naturally conform to groups, but this type of conformity only leads to “the most miserable and tortured people…”
He goes on to explain that our actions aren’t dictated so much by what we think we should do, as they are dictated by what we think others LIKE US would do.
In this case, it would be the gang we conform to (a self-perpetuating system of failure and misery follows).
This applies to any group identity: if I'm a devout Christian and I'm confronted with a choice to stay out and drink all night or come home early so I can make it to church in the morning, I don't ask myself what I think I should do - I ask myself (subconsciously) what an ideal Christian would do.
This doesn't only affect those who are religious - if I'm an atheist, and I'm confronted with a choice to support a particular political party, I don't ask which party is right for me - I ask which party would a person like me choose.
If I'm on the Paleo diet, I don't wonder if I should eat that pizza - I ask what would someone on the Paleo Diet eat?
Answer: not that...
It's almost as if we have a concept of an ideal self within us that controls our actions more than WE do.
What does all this mean?
Well, it means we face a lot of internal struggle – a lot of push and pull – and we feel it whether or not we can actually identify what causes it.
It’s important to note that there is another element at work here: the concept of acting like the person we think we should act like. Deep down, the reason we do this, at least according to Dr. Maltz, is because of our natural inclination to become our best self.
It’s an internal struggle to become the person we ought to be (versus the person we THINK we are right now).
Which is why Maxwell Maltz's quote above is so important.
If we can just learn to relax, we can be successful with less pain and less struggle (come on, I can’t say without any struggle at all…I’m not a self help guru. There will still be struggles. Deal with it.).
So relax a little. Things will come more naturally. You'll forgive easier. You'll make friends easier. You'll be happier. Your true wants will be easier to determine and act on.
After all, if you’re not sure what to act on, you sure can’t instigate.
p.s. if you dig this article, you'll dig this book: The Art of Instigating.
It takes guts to create something from scratch.
It takes guts because you’re in uncharted territory.
If you’re inventing, designing and building something from the ground up – from idea to physical, tangible product – there is no template to follow.
It takes guts because your project might fail.
Your product (or service, or initiative, or speech) might not live up to your expectations, or receive the type of praise you hoped for. The marketing campaign might not drive sales like you planned. Your startup - regardless of the time spent planning and preparing - may lose money from day one and never turn around.
(*This is a graph of the statistics from Small Business Trends. The graph includes self-employed persons, so actual startup company failure, as most entrepreneurs understand the concept, may be more severe)
It takes guts because you’re exposed.
As soon as you put pen to paper, you’re opening yourself to others. When you finally push the publish button – on your first self-published novel, or that terrifying first blog post – anyone in the entire world can see it. When you push the publish button, you can't hide behind anything anymore; that's scary.
But most of all, it takes guts because making something and taking ownership of it opens you up to criticism.
It is fear of criticism – from peers, or family, or “others” – that we fear the most; that keeps us from doing our meaningful work.
Sadly, since birth, we’ve been programmed to avoid criticism at all costs (is it any wonder the most common fear is speaking in front of an audience?). To avoid criticism, all you have to do is make nothing and take ownership of nothing. To avoid criticism: hide.
And that is exactly what most people do.
Instead of starting something new, they stay with the pack and uphold the status quo.
Instead of trying something bold, they ignore the impulse and quietly go back to work.
Instead of speaking up, they stay quiet.
And months and years later, these same people will complain about the same inequalities, and hardships, and daily tribulations that they’ve always complained about (but more bitter).
They had the chance to instigate.
They chose not to.
And then there are the few who do start something new, or try something bold, or speak up when the rest are silent. These people are the movers and shakers – the people we remember and the companies, products, and services we talk about.
Drew Houston, CEO and founder of Dropbox, designed the digital storage platform because he wanted to solve a problem that others hadn’t yet been able to solve. He built Dropbox into one of the fastest growing companies in Silicon Valley and turned down a multi-million dollar acquisition offer from Apple.
Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, spent years building the company to the (ridiculously enormous) size it is today, all without an exit plan. He has no plans to sell out to another company. Or, as he puts it, there is no exit plan for your life’s work. Incredible.
Jonathan Fields (author of Uncertainty) created a whole new platform to bring entrepreneurs, instigators, artists, and change makers to the rest of the world. The content is brilliant.
Scott Dinsmore created Live Your Legend (referencing the transformative book The Alchemist) to inspire others to live a life of purpose ON purpose. His writing inspired me – it might just inspire you.
These people all have one thing in common – they all draw their own map.
They didn’t wait for permission from someone else – they developed their own ideas into successful, tangible products and services. They each created their own reality around the things they care about. Whether it’s solving the problem of digital storage or figuring out a way to inspire people to find and live their passion, each person here has done something important, bold, and unique.
So the question is this: how do you plan to draw your own map? What is holding you back? In what ways can you instigate change in your own life (or work or play)? Share your thoughts below.
When the choice is to lose an hour of sleep or finish that proposal for a new client, what do you choose?
We all understand crunch time - refocusing and re-energizing our work to meet a deadline.
But let's say there is no deadline - that the only deadline is your life expectancy. Could be tomorrow, could be 70 years from now. When will you start on what matters most?
"You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself."
Napolean Hill
Can you sacrifice an extra hour of sleep in the morning to wake up early to create?
Can you wake up before a full day of work at the robot factory and spend 5 minutes on your most important task of the day? What about 60 minutes?
I've heard one idea repeated over and over by renowned businessmen and women, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, leaders, and all around instigators. The idea is so simple it’s almost underwhelming, but, when implemented, it has the power to build empires.
The idea is this: wake up early and focus on your most important work first.
Earl Nightingale encouraged waking up early to reflect - it's the only time of the day to achieve true quiet.
Brian Tracy explains that all successful people wake up just a little bit earlier than other people to start the important work for the day.
Seth Godin, before he does anything else, writes (and has thousands of blog posts and 13+ award winning books to show for it).
Ford woke up early and invented the model-T.
Edison woke up early and invented the light bulb.
Steven Pressfield wrote three books on the topic of doing the work, day in and day out, no matter what.
The list of examples could go on for pages.
So how much is that extra hour of sleep worth to you? You're tired, so why not sleep to the last possible minute before you MUST get up and go to work...
After all, we've trained ourselves to procrastinate, haven't we? To not act until right before the deadline?
Here's the thing: the deadline you’re waiting for before you take action – it will never come.
Nobody will ever tell you when your important work is due. Nobody will set a deadline for you.
So when you eventually reach your final deadline, will you be left with something to show for it, or will you be one of those people who always wanted to travel around the world, or always wanted to write that novel, or always wanted to start that project that would change everything?
Life is short. You don't know how short. Don’t be an always wanted to person. Act as if the deadline is tonight.
Instigate before it’s too late.
Too many options...
That's the problem we have now.
Too many options.
20+ years ago, that wasn't the problem. There was a bottleneck of information, production, and distribution. That bottleneck created scarcity. Those who controlled the land, factories, or people decided what would be created and what shipped.
Not now.
You don't have to wait for the producer to give you the go-ahead.
You don't need to get the publisher's approval.
For virtually no cost, you can create your own ebook and sell it online. If you want to create a hardcover copy, you can do that too - again, for no up-front fee (Amazon's affiliate Createspace does just that). Want someone to fabricate a product for you, produce it in bulk, and ship it to a warehouse where another group of people can manage the fulfillment and distribution? A completely hands-off, automated business is completely possible with the click of a mouse (and some hard work, of course).
All this leads to more access. Not only access BY the consumer, but access TO the consumer.
We now have access to become the producer. All of us, at least potentially, are producers in this new economy.
This is unprecedented.
Our problem now isn’t distance, or cost, or other seemingly insurmountable issues of the past.
Our problem now is one of choice.
It's not who will let me, it's who can stop me?
This is the new economy (covered at length in Chris Anderson's incredible book The Long Tail). The choice is in our hands to produce what we want. We can't complain any longer about something not being right or not being good enough. The burden is on the end user - because the end user is now the producer.
If you don't like it, fix it. If it's not good enough, create something better.
Want to reach your clients from across the country? Build a website and post daily workouts for them virtually. Wish your cutting board had a place to hold your knife or a way to channel the food into the bowl? Why not invent and produce an entire product line from scratch? The options are infinite.
This doesn't apply to neurosurgery, but the truth is it applies to a lot more than you might imagine.
We have the responsibility to be producers (now more than ever).
What will you create?