The Storyline of Success

When I first started freelancing, I worked alongside a few successful young creatives like Jeremiah Davis, Paul Weaver, Taylor Offer and Justin Caruso.

This led to a strong sense that I was falling behind. These guys, who were my age or just a few years older (in Justin’s case, younger), were far more successful than I was. 

So I studied their actions, their communication, their thought processes. I tried new angles I learned from them. But a few months would go by and I still wouldn’t find success.

After a while, I really began to doubt my place in the market. Did I have what it took to bring value and make money? Standing next to these guys, I wasn’t so sure. 

So I applied for traditional jobs. Luckily, no one hired me, so I had to keep grinding it out. And somewhere along the way of the grind, I made an important realization. I never considered these guys’ pasts. I only compared myself to their present reality. 

Jeremiah had been making and releasing videos consistently for three years before his career started to gain traction. Taylor has been slinging side hustles since high school before he came up with Feat Socks. And basically everyone else I knew who was finding success had a past of consistent work and productive failure. 

When I tried these guys’ tactics, they didn’t work for me. And that was because I didn’t have the history they did. There wasn’t any context to bring meaning to the tactics I attempted.

Now, a few years later, I have found a small amount of personal success. Just enough to help me see the storyline connecting where I was, where I am, and where I want to go. 

My advice? Keep going. You need to make your own mistakes and learn your own tactics for a few years before things start to make sense.