Jessie J and Evan Carmichael discuss why the process matters more than the outcome. Jessie advises creatives to perform at open mics, give away gigs, and document everything. Carmichael sold his first business at 22 and felt empty after, realizing that hitting milestones means nothing if you don't enjoy the work along the way.
Good morning, Believe Nation! Today's message is Focus on the Journey. Over to you, Jessie J.
I don't ever disregard the fact that however hard you work, you know, it doesn't always guarantee it's gonna happen. And that's the thing that you have to just believe. If you don't believe in you, no one else will even bother to look at you. And I shoved myself around any open mics, any gigs, anything. The amount of stuff I've probably done, even up to now, 80-90% of all my gigs for free. Surround yourself with people that you can trust. Surround yourself with people that let you be you. Don't ever compromise, but don't ever, you know, lose what makes you you. Write from the heart. Stay happy and always remember there's always someone worse off than you. And there's always someone that's working harder than you as well. When you're asleep, there's someone grafting, and that's what you have to remember as well, that for every 10 CDs you send off, there's someone sending off 100. Just get yourself out there as much as you can and film everything. It's one thing I've learned. I'm glad that I did footage from years ago that when people say to me, "Oh, you've copied so-and-so, you've done this, you've done that," I'm like, "Go on YouTube, and 5 years ago I was singing the same songs with the same haircut." It's just you've got to have fun as well. Write it down. Make sure you write it down. Take pictures and Make sure it's a journey, and the journey is way more important than where you end up. And that's what you have to remember.
One of the most popular questions I get asked is, how will I know when I've reached 1 billion entrepreneurs? My big goal, my big vision, mission, what I want to do, I want to reach a billion entrepreneurs. I want to know that I'm having that kind of impact and put out content and create amazing things for a ton of entrepreneurs. And I get people asking, well, how will you know when you hit a billion entrepreneurs? Or, I don't think there's even a billion entrepreneurs in the world. And you're missing the point. I don't actually have a way to track if I'm hitting a billion entrepreneurs, and I don't care about it because I'm not focused on the goal, I'm focused on the journey. What it does is make sure that it aligns me to think about big projects. And so anything that I'm spending significant time on, I want to make sure has the ability to to reach a lot of people. So I'm making YouTube videos because it can spread and reach a lot of people. When I started to write my book, I wanted to do it with a big publisher, not just self-publish. Even though self-publishing can make me a lot more money, I went with a big publisher because I wanted to try to get more reach. It's the reason why I don't do business coaching and one-on-one consulting. Although it could be really meaningful and great to have the one-on-one connection, I want to do things on a bigger scale. And so what that big goal allows me to do is focus my efforts on the right projects. But I don't actually care about hitting a billion entrepreneurs. Just like if I say my next goal on the YouTube channel is I want to hit a million subscribers. It's amazing, it's great, you know, you get a play button, we might have, you know, another celebration. But as soon as I hit a goal, I don't really celebrate. I feel like I need to celebrate more because my team It's a good thing to do kind of for team building. But as soon as I hit a goal, I'm on to the next thing. I don't take time to celebrate because the work is the celebration for me. I want to work more. I want to get better. I want to continue to improve. Hitting a goal and then saying that's it is death for me. And for a lot of people, when you hit a goal, it actually is depressing. You know, when I sold my first business, I was 22 years old. It was a great high. Great, I sold the company. But then the next day I had nothing to do. Like, oh, what do I— what am I supposed to do? I'd have nothing to go to in the morning. And that's a great problem to have, and not something I'm complaining about, but still a problem. Like, when you hit a goal and you don't know what you're gonna do next, it's depressing. You don't know what to do every day. And when you don't have a plan for what to do every day, it can really drag you down. And so I think in doing all these profiles of different famous entrepreneurs, people who've had massive success, Yes, it can be great to have a big goal. It can be great to win an award or hit a revenue target or land that big customer or whatever it is. Go IPO, sell your company, have some big goal. But if the goal is the only thing that's driving you, it's going to be really hard to make it. With the most successful people, the journey is the reward. The journey of creating something and marketing it and you getting better at it and seeing the impact. That is the work, that is the goal, that is the joy, that is the excitement, that is where you derive your most pleasure from. Not just about hitting some target. And so I'd really challenge you to look at your life, your business, think about what your goals are. I love setting goals because when you set a goal, for me, the most important part of it is that it starts to align your actions to achieve that goal. And it's not just about hitting the goal, it's about those actions. Those actions are what's going to serve me to be the best version of me, to allow me to have the big impact that I want to have. And so look at your schedule, look at what you're doing every day, look at your day in, day out in your business and in your life. Do you enjoy the journey? For me, getting married as an example, I didn't really care about the wedding day. Nina may not be too happy about that, but she knows. I didn't really care about the wedding, it's just another day. Like for me, the excitement, the energy, the joy is in the marriage. It's the everyday, it's the journey, not just one day, right? When you have a kid, it's not just about the kid being born and having the goal to have a kid. Great, amazing. You know, I have Hayden, almost 8 years old. That was an amazing day, but it's the journey, it's the day-to-day, it's the Parenting, it's everyday connecting. That's where you grow, and that's what you need to enjoy. If all you're waiting for as a parent is for your kid to move out, go to college, get a job, if all you're waiting for in your marriage is to hit that 10-year anniversary or 25-year anniversary or 2-year anniversary or whatever, it's like you're missing out. The goal is not as important as the process to get there. The goal helps you align yourself so your actions help you be the best version of you. I'm not the guy who says no goals. Goals are important. I love having goals. I set goals for myself all the time. But much more important than the goal is the journey. So the question of the day, I love your input. What do you guys think? Is the goal more important? Is the journey more important? Share your thoughts, give some more context. I'd love to hear what's on your mind. Share it down in the comments below and we'll join in the conversation. I also want to give a quick shout out to Gord Isman. Gord, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word. It really, really, really, really means a lot to me, and I hope you're enjoying it. Thank you guys so much for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is, and I'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso. I wake up every morning, espresso keep me going.
