Let’s cut to the chase. Unemployed & Optimistic has gone from a blog to a newsletter to a podcast, and has now been released on Apple Podcasts. I’m working on getting it on Spotify and Overcast next. Damn. I’ve made it, and I can retire. Mic drop.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS
One year ago, I wrote an essay the night before my birthday. Three people read it and told me I was a good writer. So I wrote another one. I sat there one night and poked around on the Substack app and figured out how to build the website. Then I wrote some ideas down on my phone, and started writing one every week. Pretty soon I was writing twice a week and sending it out as a newsletter. I got feedback. I watched the stats. Six months after that, I noticed the Podcast tab and thought… huh. I read one of my posts outloud into my phone. Not the best quality or the most perfect thing I ever made, but eh. Post. Then I started doing that every week. And six months after that, I uploaded my first 27 episodes onto Apple Podcasts.
I hear a lot of people talking about consistency being the thing that makes you successful, which is true to some extent. There’s a small percentage of your success that’s pure talent and skill, a larger percentage that’s sheer will and motivation to do it, and another chunk that’s just being consistent and sticking to it, even when it’s hard. Let it suck. Do it again. Do it again the next week. People say to me, wow I can’t believe you’ve done all these projects, but to me it’s just because I keep doing it. Even when I kind of hate it or I have a bad client or I’m too tired or I screwed up. I let it rest, and then I get up the next week and do the job again.
But I think it’s also worth noting that part of the reason why I’m in a position where I can depend on freelance work to pay my bills, is because I have let the work teach me. Sitting alone in your room watching YouTube videos about how to use software, thinking about what you want, reading books, and making lists, will only get you so far. You HAVE to do the thing you want to do and let your experiences and your mistakes teach you the rest. You will never ever learn how to work with clients from a video. I don’t care who it is, you won’t learn until you’re knee deep into a project, you make a mistake, and you tell yourself… Oh s**t. Right. Next time, I’ll do it better. It takes being willing to be vulnerable, make mistakes infront of people, and then taking what you learned from it and bringing it to the next gig. That’s how you learn. That’s what I’ve done for 14 years. That’s how you build any career up and forward and become successful. FAILURE.
Don’t wait until you think you’re ready. Just start. And stick to it. And let the work teach you.
Thank youuuu so much for reading and listening to Unemployed & Optimistic. This is my present to you (and to myself):
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS
Get full access to Unemployed & Optimistic at chelseaparrish.substack.com/subscribe
