It’s fascinating to work in a particular niche where most people don’t understand what I do. People who have full-time employment, who aren’t looking to build anything besides a resume and a retirement account are the ones who don’t understand my work more than anyone.
I have a friend that I used to work with in the photography world. He got a full-time job in the field long ago when I went freelance. Eventually, we created Total Life Freedom. Occasionally, when he is in town or I am near him, we’ll meet up for dinner or to get our families together. We’ve known each other for decades, so we have old stories to tell and a lot of catching up with our lives.
Following up with him is easy. I know his job. I know what he does. And I’m always curious about the latest happenings. There are people that I know that still work with him, so we’ll chat about them as well.
What’s interesting is that we hardly ever talk about what I do. I’m not the type of person that will bring it up if they don’t. I’m more interested in asking questions than doing a monologue about my work when someone isn’t really curious about it. I’ve found that often with my employee friends- it’s easy to discuss their work because the description is wrapped up nicely. For me, as an entrepreneur and business owner, it’s not as easy to describe to someone who isn’t in that world.
It was never more obvious than one afternoon when he and I met for lunch. We sat down and he mentioned that a few of the guys were asking about me. They knew I wasn’t shooting any longer and they wanted to know what I was doing. I was incredibly curious to hear how he answered it, because I would love to know what he was thinking.
“What did you tell them?” I asked.
There was a long pause.
“I told them that, well, you’re…. Hmmm. You do something with other business people. That you help them in some way,” he stammered.
That was it.
I smiled.
I know that helping others create online recurring income to gain their version of Total Life Freedom sounds like a different language to people that have no experience- or interest- in this world. Years ago, I would have been a little bit offended. How could you not know what I am doing? I would think that, for sure. But if someone doesn’t understand, and they aren’t curious enough to ask questions, there is no way they will understand.
It’s a different language.
If you are like me, you risk looking silly to people that you know and love because they don’t understand what you are looking to do. They don’t understand what you are trying to say. My friend never gives me a hard time or makes fun of me- he just doesn’t get it. There are people– especially family- that will make fun. They will poke holes. They will laugh at you because they don’t understand what you are saying.
But is that your problem?
I was at the gym a few weeks ago and there was a girl working out on one of the machines. Her eyes were closed. She had her Airpods on. And she was obviously listening to music. I glanced over at her because she was tapping her hands to a beat to the music in her ears. Her feet went along with it as well. While she was doing that, she was mouthing the words to the song.
What was funny was that there was music playing over the loudspeakers in the gym, and it was not that song. It was not that beat. It was not those lyrics.
What I was hearing with my ears was not in sync or in tune with what she was outwardly expressing. It would have been so easy to chuckle because she looked so out of place. To anyone else, she could have looked pretty silly. Nobody in the room understood what she was doing or listening to. We all heard something different than she was hearing. But guess what?
She wasn’t confused at all. Nor was she embarrassed. She was listening to something that made total sense to her, and she was going along with it, no matter how it looked to anyone else.
She heard something that we did not hear. And the rhythm, timing and sound fit perfectly into her life. Even though nobody else got it.
If you can relate to this, don’t let the person who can’t hear your music stop you. If you have a vision for your life, a business to create- that you are called to sing along to and tap your feet and fingers to- sing that song. You know it sounds good. You know it’s the path you want to be on.
This is the way of the entrepreneur. The small business owner. The one who is told to get a real job, to be realistic or to stop chasing some silly dream. The truth is, we hear something that they don’t. And too often, we are afraid of judgment and ridicule and we allow the idea that we might look silly to someone else to stop us from following the music- or the dream- that only we can hear and see.
Have an AMAZING day!
Vincent
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