When I was 35, Just Maguire gave me an unforgettable piece of advice.
I had just left my well-paid corporate job and had been running myself ragged trying to work out what to do next. But, like most first-time solopreneurs, I was making a lot of mistakes:
- Chasing a gig that would provide the same level of financial security I had with my corporate job
- Chasing a gig that would make me look good in other people's eyes
- Chasing a gig that worked to my conventional strengths
Until that day, when Justin said to me:
"It's better to be the teaboy in the industry you want to be in, than the CEO in an industry you don't"
That day, my whole life changed.
I had three flashes of insight:
- I needed to find an industry I respected and was passionate about, because passion keeps you in the game longer, and the longer you are in the game the greater your odds of achieving mastery.
- I would have to start at the bottom and work my way up
- I would have to learn to live on very little again.
This advice was instrumental in keeping me chasing my dreams and not succumbing to the safety of a full-time job.
It took six hard years of hustle to get back to where I was earning the kind of money I was when I left corporate, but it was making inroads in an industry I was passionate about and the life experiences over that time were priceless.
