X Chelsea

Even if most of us (myself excluded) never grace a stage in leather pants, we can still be really effin good at whatever it is we do. That’s worth getting out of bed in the morning!

I completely agree that we need to be producers, not couch potato consumers. I would just add that we also need to consume wisely and critically in order to be better producers. When I was editing an issue of Magma Poetry and looking at new submissions of poems I could instantly tell whether the poet had read any contemporary poetry or not. And if not, the poetry was invariably poor. Brian has a great post on this subject, How to Read: http://www.copyblogger.com/how-to-read/

There is a power in that that goes way beyond the obvious…and tapping into that power is the challenge for the up and comers. May we all rise to the occasion. May we all be producers.

Jeb

I am though a creative person, I have incredible hearing ability and I can play any song on the syntisyzer I hear…I am fascinated by music and invented some of my own rhythyms..

however I think that won’t get me money. I am into internet marketing and I’m into niches that actually interest me I wanna know about new stuff..but I also wanna get this.

What do you recommend? I know a lot of money can be get for this but again…I always make excuses to do something else before that

Suzanna – I’d love to go to Burning Man, I gather it’s the scene of some very Lateral Action!

Daniel – Great to hear you’re inspired by Mark Cuban’s example. Don’t forget that Daniel Kemp also has a unique contribution to make…

Susan – Great example. Really interesting to hear that you started off by solving a problem for yourself, then turned your solution into a product that helped many more people like you – and earned you a nice compensation in return.

Ryan – Not long winded at all, excellent points about the role of hard work and passion in becoming a star. We’ll be looking at this in more depth later in the series. Great running analogy.

I guess for me I yearn to be a rockstar, always have. One thing that I think goes largely unaccounted for though, is how hard those people worked to get to where they were. Certainly, there are people that have it inside them, but they still have to work their asses off to ensure other people can see it.

Rockstars come in all different professions. Seth Godin is a rockstar. Peyton Manning is a rockstar. My favorite rockstar was Steve Prefontaine.

Here was a guy that transformed long distance running in America because :

A.) He worked harder than EVERYONE.
B.) He was charismatic, brash, intense, and unbelievably passionate. He was different than all the other runners.

He once said that running a race was an art form. That he liked to create when he ran (and it’s why he built the ridiculous following he did – who else can run a long distance race like a prize fighter with something to prove, beat his body into submission, lead from lap one, and still win?)

I get great self-satisfaction when I complete a tough run, set a PR, etc. I get a similar satisfaction when I write a blog post that I’m passionate about, that resonates with people, that inspires conversation. I just have to keep learning (from guys like both of you) how to become a better writer, blogger, communicator, thinker, and marketer so that I can truly be a rockstar.

It’s why I read so many rockstars, it’s why I work so hard. I’m confident it will pay off eventually.

The skill I need to develop most might be the confidence that I have all the value inside me and I need to be more audacious about telling other people. There’s a lot of times someone asks me about something (i.e. should I blog) and I take a passive approach of explaining the good and bad, instead truly showcasing what I know and telling them the answer from my perspective. That’s what a rockstar would do.

I love Lateral Action! Keep up the good work! I apologize for the long-winded rant.