This is not audiobook related – I just needed a sounding board for my thoughts.
For most of my life, I thought I wanted the spotlight. What high schooler doesn’t dream of fame? What adult doesn’t then feel intense gratitude that that didn’t happen so that they can live in peace?
I still sit somewhere in between. I don’t want the paparazzi type of fame, but I want my name to mean something to a niche of people. I want to be a guru of sorts, but I haven’t decided in what.
I love audiobooks, and maybe someday I can be a guru in that, but I want to be wider reaching; like a Tim Ferris, a Dave Ramsey, or a Brandon Turner. The problem is, I love ALL of the things that these people blog and podcast and write about: personal improvement, financial independence, passive income streams and early retirement. What special perspective can I bring to these?
Also, though I know everyone says it’s not a race (whether a symptom of human nature, current culture, or whatever) I can’t help it. These people made the mistakes in their 20s to become gurus in the next decade. Have I been playing it too safe? I am extremely happy with my life and that is part of my hesitation. I don’t want to risk the happiness of the people I love by playing it fast and loose with the life (and financial resources) that we all share.
Perhaps it’s just a narcissistic goal? Do I just want people to listen to the things I have to say because I like to hear myself saying them? Do I actually have something material to contribute to those conversations or that could help someone?
I know that the solution is to do something remarkable first. Not earth-shattering, but remarkable….but what is that thing?!
I have been at the upper end of that status quo all my life and I feel like entrepreneurs are the boundary breakers. My life in a nutshell: good grades, local state college, steady job out of college, tried switching jobs, but it wasn’t what I thought, went back to previous company with a raise and a promotion. I’m a school system’s wet dream so they can say “the prescribed path works! Look at this perfect example of the American Dream….and when she tried to stray from it, she came back like a good little robot!”
Although the exercise of writing that out just now did get me thinking…maybe my expertise is in the details. Because as I went through those prescribed steps, I co-founded and entrepreneurship club at my college and tried (but failed) to start 3 businesses on campus (I would say it failed because the school wouldn’t allow it, but that’s only part of the story. I know that if we had pushed harder and dedicated all our time to it, one of them would have worked, but we all had a full course load and other commitments that we weren’t willing to sacrifice). My husband and I tried (and failed) to start a rental company for hunting equipment. For that one, we actually got a customer. I started narrating audiobooks (and now have over a dozen titles to my name), my coworkers and I started (and stopped) creating a P2P rental website. That one barely got off the ground. I passed the Series 7, Series 66 , Life and Health Insurance exams, and successfully ran a financial practice for over a year until She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (SWMNBN) happened.
Perhaps my contribution to success stories is: success during an 8-5 and with a family?
Well THAT makes me feel a hell of a lot better. Because from that perspective, I DID get started in my 20s and am already well into the learning process. Perhaps guru-hood IS in my future after all.
And you, dear reader, thank you for being my sounding board as I worked this out. Because this is literally an unedited blog post. I was figuring these things out as I typed. You rock! <3
