Dear Younger Me,

You’re going to have some tough years ahead of you.  Right now, as a child, you believe you can conquer the world, and for starters, you're doing great so far!  You get good grades in school, you've stayed extremely athletic and fit thanks to mom's obsession with the gym.  You eat anything and everything and (ahem, just a heads up) those eating habits are most definitely NOT going to change. 

But the coolest thing about you, young K, is that you’re 10 years old and you believe you can do ANYTHING!  You don't look sideways for approval, you just do it!  You believe you can be anything you want to be.  You took those teachings all throughout your elementary years to heart.  You had a dream, maybe too many at times, and next thing you know, Mom and Dad are looking behind them like, holy smokes did she just do that??

But it ain't always going to be that easy.  Right now you have total confidence in yourself because it’s 1994 and your life consists of you, your family, and your circle of friends.  You know, the people you see and converse with every day. 

But in a decade or two we're going to go through a tech boom and suddenly the entire world will be at your fingertips. 

Sounds cool, right?  It is. 

But it's also going to test the waters of your life.  Because you'll have access to everyone else's lives at the same time.  In fact, everyone will be able to see everyone always!  Isn’t that nuts??  

But you must be careful.  Because you'll start looking at other people's lives a little too much, finding yourself oooohing and ahhhing at how pretty their pictures are, how successful they seem to be. 

You might find yourself scratching your head in confusion, looking at them and wondering, how?  Given how hard you work, why aren’t you seeing rapid success?  And sadly after some time goes by, little K, you might start to think less of yourself. 

You know you’re entrepreneurial now.  You’re 10 years old and you already have tons of great ideas spinning in your head.  You even took first place in the school science fair!  You KNOW the strength and dedication it takes to achieve what you’ve achieved even as just a kid.  Two pats on your back kiddo.

So do you think it’ll get easier as an adult?  Logically no, right?  How would that even be possible? 

Yet you’re going to see in pictures and videos that so many people seem to get so successful overnight so easily!  Do you think acting on an idea or building a business means you either get successful overnight, or it’s a bust? 

Ha!  You’re giggling little K.  That’s silly talk, isn’t it?  Well get ready.  Brace yourself.  Because in a decade or two that’s how oh so many people will choose to see things.  And when they exert a little effort and don’t find instant gratification, money, fame, or fortune overnight, they will literally beat the living sh—out of themselves and call themselves a failure.  

Isn’t that crazy??

Yes, it will be just that ridiculous! 

You will also get bombarded with email subscriptions on how to gain massive followings, money, and fame in as little as 30 days!  Step by step plans on how to build your business and 10x your revenue!  Your mouth will be drooling because you’ll think to yourself AHA! THAT is the missing piece!  The answers to my problems! 

You’ll spend the money, you’ll learn a ton, you’ll take notes, and then you’ll lose them.  You’ll gain momentum and then get sidetracked and feel like you’ve failed.  If you’re “lucky”, you’ll gain a loyal following who loves you for you.  And that part is awesome.  But you’ll also lose consistency, and potentially your following, if you allow your mind to get sidetracked in a million directions. 

It will be tough for you because you have the mind of a creator.  You can’t sit still.  You never have.  Complacent is the adjective that you shun.  But one day you will come across a genius concept called, “The One Thing.”  Where the greatest lesson you’ll learn is that you cannot catch a single rabbit by chasing after two at the same time. 

You’ll have to force yourself to focus on achieving one thing at a time.  There is NOTHING wrong with that.  You want to see success, right?  You’re just a kid and you already know how to achieve that.

You turn your head away from the distractions.  You write your goal in massive letters and hang it in front of your face at all times.  And when your creative mind thinks up many more amazing ideas, you will add them to a notebook and stow it away, only to be taken out once you’ve completed and achieved your previous goal. 

You will dedicate all your time and effort into achieving that one thing.  You know the time and commitment it takes.  You’ve already done this as a kid.  And you’ll need to remember that the exact same thing holds true, even 20 years from now when you see pictures of people achieving “instant success.”

So Younger Me, don’t be a silly-minded adult. 

Don’t be like the million other people will be in 2020, beating themselves up for not living as glamorously as the stranger on their Instafeed.

Don’t be an unrealistic fool.

Turn it off.  Ignore it all.  Listen to yourself.  The feelings and thoughts that jolt you awake in the middle of the night, THOSE are the ones you must listen to.  Those are coming straight from your divine creator, reminding you of your purpose. 

You must take those thoughts, those ideas, and get up the next morning and figure out a game plan to make them your reality.

Social media will most definitely NOT get you a game plan.  We already went over what social media WLIL do for you.  Goal setting and execution plans are not part of social media feeds’ agendas.

YOU think through your game plan.  And if you need help, you go knock on the door of the old gentleman or lady down the street from you.  The one who built their business from scratch in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and you ask them how they did it.  How they stayed focused, how they believed in themselves, how they maintained their grit, stamina, beliefs, and confidence, and you do EXACTLY what they advise you to do. 

After you’ve done that, THEN you go onto social media and you find someone who will handle the marketing for you.  Because you must understand, social media WILL become the greatest advertising mechanism of all time.  It’s insanely efficient, you can target with precision, and it barely costs a dime.  It’s one of the greatest things that will hit our time. 

But you must know its place in your life.  Use it appropriately. 

It’s 1994 kid.  You already know TV commercials are staged with a purpose.  Remember this always.

-Adult Me