Good To Great
Summary
It’s very easy in the 21st century to get sucked into a belief that we can all have both a high-flying corporate career and an amazing side hustle to an extremely high level. I share how I believe this isn’t the case. Doing something ‘great’ means doing just one thing. If you do two, they will be ‘good.’ Here’s what you can do to go on that journey, from good to great:
Choose what the real priority is
Make a strong plan
Develop a great relationship with ‘no’
Know what hobbies are
Enter no man’s land
Keep Reading
We had a wonderful community event in Shoreditch a couple of weeks ago. Everyone arrived mid-heatwave and greeted each other with sweaty hugs.
Someone from the community - I won’t say their name, but they’re awesome - asked me, “so, Jack, are you going back to Italy tomorrow to do your job?”
“Er, what do you mean? I do my job everyday.”
“To your normal job?” They looked confused.
“This is my normal job!” I was even more confused.
“No, your corporate job!”
Now I understood what they meant. My mind was blown. I was thinking how the hell am I supposed to run Wildest Dream whilst doing a corporate job!?
“Ahh, I see what you mean! No, no. I left that ages ago. I need to dedicate myself full time to this - it’s such a big job!” I replied.
The question came up during the workshop we were running titled: From Passion to Full-Time Profession. I loved the question and it got me thinking about (1) hustle culture; and (2) that we didn’t paint a full enough picture at the event.
Don’t listen to the influencers
If the Instagram algorithm discovers that you have an idea to start an after hours art club, a mental health podcast, a charity supper club, a coaching business, or a pet grooming salon - it will start showing you videos of good looking 30 year olds who are already doing it whilst holding down a corporate job.
Not only are they doing both, but they’re making serious amounts of money, drinking champagne, all whilst from Zoom on the beach.
But this isn’t normal and it never has been. To me, it’s kind of obvious, but that’s because I went to business school, I’ve read 100 autobiographies from start up founders, CEOs and investors, and I listen to podcasts on the topic. I’ve learnt that any successful business leader had to dedicate serious amounts of time to just one thing.
The one thing I wish I’d said
Which brings me onto the omission we unwittingly made at our last event. This is what I wished we said:
“Look, there is nothing wrong with starting a side-hustle, a passion project, or a thing on the side whilst you’re working a full time job. You know what, you might even make a bit of good money on the side!
But, if your dream is to build something lasting, something great, something that people will look at and say, ‘wow, how the hell did you do that?’ Then you can’t do it whilst doing a full time job.”
The best things in our lives never came from us putting half our effort in - which is exactly what Jimmy said.
Listen to Jimmy
Take Jimmy Carr on a podcast - he was talking about his position at the top of the comedy game:
“It's often very simple: what's the thing you’re meant to be doing? Just do that. I'm not sure I approve of portfolio work - the idea of having lots of different things that you do. Because really you’re going to do comedy part-time? You're going to do half comedy and half novel writing?
Oh, so you're going to compete when I'm doing it 100% of the time? And you think you can compete 50% of the time? All the best, let's see how you do.”*
*Shortened for emphasis - full video in links below.
To Jimmy the good is the enemy of the great. He knows countless comedians who have entered into book writing and movie acting - the result? Worse stand up comedy. By spreading themselves too thinly they never reached their potential.
I’m not saying it’s easy, I’ve got it wrong more times than I can count. Whilst running Wildest Dream I have constantly battled with writing a book. I have an amazing idea, I believe I have the ability, but as much as I’ve tried to write a book, I have never succeeded. Why? I believe I’m human and I don’t have the ability to do a great job of two massive things.
Actions
It might all sound a bit binary, but I believe it’s a destination we should all aim for: to do less, better.
So, if you’re the kind of person who wants to be great (not just good!) check out the tips below
(1) Develop a stronger relationship with saying no
We live in a world of bountiful opportunities, with so many career options, holidays and hobbies open to us that never existed before. This is great, but it is also very distracting. If you’re going to pour real energy into that focus, you’re going to have to push away a lot of welcome advances.
(2) Make a strong plan to make that the real priority
If the book is the priority, then please build a strong plan. Last time I checked (trust me), start-up founders don’t make money! You’re going to need real safety nets, so do make sure you have them. Maybe skip the Thursday night beers and the ski trip to save for a rainy day.
(3) Choose what the real priority is
It’s simple, but do you want to build your corporate career or write the world class book? Really, if you want to do a great job, it can’t be both. Our brains only have so many hours in the day in which they can be creative - if you spend three hours dreaming up a marketing strategy, you won’t be able to switch to writing the perfect chapter 1.
If it’s the well paid job, that’s fine! No judgement here. Maybe in the future it will be the book and then you can switch your focus to that.
(4) Understand that there is a place for hobbies
In our Italian lesson yesterday, we discussed our hobbies. I said mine are playing the piano, cooking, writing and occasionally Lego. We have hobbies for a reason, it’s so we can do stuff that we wished we were amazing at. There is no world in which I’m going to be a professional piano player. I haven’t given up on the dream of being a writer though… but until I am ready, until I have time to dedicate to it, it will remain just that - a hobby.
Sooner or later you’ll have to enter no man’s land
It’s true for everything in life - at some point you have to take off the arm bands and dive into this new world. To leave a normal life for something that doesn’t make money you have to really be sure that you can commit to it in the long run.
Once you’ve made that brave dive, I guarantee that you will enter no man’s land. That area between a comfortable job and a successful start-up. Where you will realise you just don’t have everything you need to make it successful, yet. But that’s okay - that’s how it’s meant to be. Hour by hour you will get there, if only you commit to it.
Deepen Your Curiosity
Jimmy Carr on DOAC: listen from 51 minutes for the excerpt above.
Die Without Regrets: I wrote about fear a couple of weeks ago and how we shouldn’t use it as a guide.
Good to Great: a ‘great’ business school classic on how to go after ‘greatness.’ Written by management expert Jim Collins.
P.S. If you’ve read this far maybe you want to go from good to great - let me know what you thought of the tips by DM’ing me on Instagram @wildestdreamofficial_
