If you've been a reader for the last year then you are probably aware that I set out to accomplish two things in 2018; write a book and start my own 501(c)3 organization. The book is still a work in progress (I'm at 15,000 words) but One Less for One More is now a reality. Looking back on it, I won't say that I can't believe it; I was quite determined to do this. What I will say is that I can't believe how much being lifelong learner played in the process and will continue to moving forward.
You see, I don't have a business/organization-building background. I didn't study it in college, I've never started a business before and until about a year ago, I didn't know the first thing about being "entrepreneurial." In fact, most people would have said a year ago that I just "didn't have the skills." That's where they would be wrong. You see, I have the greatest skill someone in the 21st century can have, I can foster my own learning, growth, and development. I didn't just learn a lot about building an organization. Indeed, my organization at its current state is still small. I'm still learning about building it. What I learned, as follows, was about learning itself: 1. Passion May Be The Most Powerful Learning Tool I'm doing what I'm doing because I'm passionate about it. Please don't confuse this with like it, intrigued by it or even enjoy it. I'm passionate about it. That's one of the first things I learned; passionate people can do something they know nothing about just because of their passion. You can't ever underestimate the power of a person passionate about a cause. They'll learn whatever they need to in order to bring that cause to life. 2. I Didn't Need Anyone to Guide Me, Just Cheer Me On Nobody told me what to do, how to do it or when it was "due." In fact, it's never going to be due because it's always going to be growing, evolving and becoming better than it was before. I didn't need someone telling me the way they'd do it or asking me to choose from a few options on how to do it. I didn't even need someone to assign it to me. I was going to do it. What I needed was people that believed in me, people that could act as a sounding board for when I needed to talk things out. People that new that because of my passion, I was capable of doing it, even on the days when I didn't feel like I could. 3. There's No Wrong Way to Learn Something I didn't follow a learning process. There was no pedagogy of how to do this the right way. I did it the way it worked for me. I researched (without a card catalog I might add), I read, I talked to people and I took risks. Somedays I did each of those things each day, others, maybe one or two. I also didn't repeat a whole lot. I might have read or researched some of the same things a few times but the takeaways were different each time I did so. I also didn't make Monday a research day, Tuesday a reading day etc. I did what I need to when I needed to and how I needed to. I've learned a lot from this experience and I know much more is to come. Being a 1-man 501(c)3 is not the easiest job I've ever had. I work late nights and on the weekends, the Christmas Party is pretty lame and the view from my office looks a whole lot like a kids playroom. So why do I push on? Because I'm passionate, I've got some great cheerleaders and I'm conquering this mountain in way that I have full ownership of, not at the behest of someone else.
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January 2020
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