In a recent blog post, best-selling author and marketing expert made this statement:”No one is going to pick you. Pick yourself.”
He was talking about the fact that authors and musicians are making millions without so-called “gatekeepers.” They aren’t waiting any longer for publishers and record companies–the “pickers”– to offer contracts. They are picking themselves and producing books and CDs on their own.
Godin stressed that most of us want to get picked; it’s inherent to our human nature. He added that once you reject the impulse to be picked “and realize that no one is going to select you–that Prince Charming has chosen another house–then you can actually get to work.”
He goes on to say, “Once you understand there are problems just waiting to be solved, once you realize that you have all the tools and all the permission you need, then opportunities to contribute abound.”
I don’t know about you, but for me these word really hit home. I can see how I’ve been waiting around for someone to give me permission to move forward, in particular with my books.
I’ve self-published short books and kept them on my website only. Yet, these are short versions of what were to be full-length books. I wrote them instead of the full-length versions while I was waiting to be picked so I could sell them at the back of the room when I went to speak and build platform–to help me get picked. I was waiting for permission from the pickers to write the full-length versions.
I approach my blogs differently, though, writing about my topics with passion and total self-permission. And there, I’ve already been picked. I have readers–you. Hopefully, you would read my books, too, if only I’d give myself permission to write them and self-publish them. If only I’d stop waiting for permission from a picker.
With my blogs, daily and weekly I solve problems, I use the tools I have, I don’t ask or wait for permission, and I contribute.
Are you ready to get to work? What problems would you like to solve? What tools do you have to offer? Are you waiting for permission to move forward, to take action, to do what you want to do or to fulfill your purpose, achieve your dreams, create change, or contribute in some way?
Just a few days prior to reading Godin’s blog post I came across some notes I’d jotted down during a session with a coach about a year and a half ago. She’d told me I needed to work with the affirmation ” I am in charge of the delivery of my life.” Between Godin’s message and this affirmation I could see the need to take control of my own destiny.
What about you? Are you ready to be in charge of the delivery of your life, of how your life unfolds day by day, or are you going to wait for others to give you permission to do what you want to do, to create what you want to create?
Are you going to wait for someone to pick you–a boss, an agent, a man, a woman, a friend, a publisher–or are you going to do the picking? Do you believe in yourself enough to do so?
Don’t wait to be picked. Pick yourself.
