I, ______________________, agree to the following statements:
It’s okay not to know my five-year plan. In fact, it’s better not to have one, or at least not have one that is set in stone because in many ways we don’t know much about what will happen five years from now, except that we’ll be five years older.
I have all the knowledge and expertise I need right inside me. There’s a temptation to learn more, go back to school, get some credentials, some external validation that you can position yourself as an expert. But you don’t need it. You have everything you need to be successful right inside you.
Becoming an expert is a matter of positioning. Since you have all the knowledge and expertise inside you, the missing piece is how to position yourself so you’re trading your time for more money. There’s a vast difference between the amount of money you could make hosting a half-day workshop and the amount of money you could make writing a well-researched blog post.
Commercial success is not passive. There’s not a magic combination of expertise and positioning that will make the money come without marketing. You have to take full responsibility for your commercial success.
Success isn’t just for other people, it’s for me too. We’re going to talk a lot about positioning, expertise, and building a marketing engine. But to be successful, you must believe (and not just believe, work toward!) that success is possible for you. Some people are making money using the same knowledge that you have. None of them are somehow more special than you are. Nothing good comes from falling into the comparison trap. The only difference between you and your visions of success is some combination of positioning and marketing.
By signing this, I am committing to keeping an open mind while I read the rest of this book, and I know that if I do the work, my success is inevitable.
Signed,
Your signature here