I was glancing through some writing prompts the other day. And one that stood out was…
“What would you say to your five-year-old self?”
Hmm 🤔
I think what I’d say comes from one experience in particular.
You see…
Five-year-old me had just started at school. And on one of my first days there we had a pet day.
So everyone bought their cats, and rabbits, and dogs along.
And if anyone didn’t have one to bring, the teacher helped them make their own “pets.” Using potatoes, toothpicks, and some creative placement of raisins.
The sun was beaming down on our ruddy little faces. And the air was filled with excited voices… AND with the yapping and snuffling of all sorts of interesting critters .
That day, I brought along Rosette.
She was our family’s first guinea pig. A short-haired, red-furred beauty.
Now, if you know anything about guinea pigs, they’re little food-munching machines.
Munch munch munch on carrots and cabbage and grass.
Those guinea-pig delicacies, of course, having a high water content.
(See where this is going?)
So I was carrying her in a small wooden box my Dad made for her.
It swung open on top and had bars across. And there was plenty of fresh air. With no chance she could make a break for it.
I’d been called up to collect a prize. Standing there in line for my turn. Rocking my stylish dark brown 70s hand-me-down matching sweater and pants.
But…
Huh? What?
I feel a slow warmth growing against my stomach.
Looking down at the “watery” trail down my sweater… now dripping onto the concrete…
I discovered that a certain box. That a certain guinea pig was riding in. And a certain small boy was hugging tightly to his chest… wasn’t quite watertight.
Rosette looked up. Munching away happily on yet another carrot.
Thankful, I’m sure, that her temporary residence has excellent drainage.
Well, the day wasn’t all ruined (like I hoped my sweater was!)…
Because I collected the prize for “The Rosiest Guinea Pig, Rosette.”
And still have the certificate and photo to prove it. 📷
But something I’d say to my 5-year-old self after that day…
Don’t hug boxes with animals in them quite so close to your chest!
I’ve also got plenty more advice to offer my three-years-back younger self (40 years on from school pet day!) …
Particularly when it comes to starting my business and getting going with freelancing.
One word that sums up the bulk of my advice?
FOCUS
Focus… focus… focus.
I’d tell my younger freelancing self to…
Focus on one skill at a time.
Focus on one avenue for getting clients at a time when starting out.
Focus on leveraging every small step (every testimonial, every success, every dollar).
Some of these things I learned (eventually).
The one I find hardest now is focusing on one skill at a time. (Maybe it’s a bit unrealistic for me? I dunno.)
I’m talking about learning skills like blog writing. Or sales page writing. Or email copywriting.
I think doing deep learning on one of these at a time can help make faster progress overall.
Because the friction of context-switching is taken out of the mix.
You know? Having that mental load of having to remeber where you were up to? And not having distracting thoughts from those 100 other things you’re learning?
Plus, you can see progress faster in one area. And wins more often.
Just my thoughts on it. But am still doing a bit of mad context-switching at times. 🤨
But I’ll keep focusing on building up my focus muscle. 😁
Just as well I’m not unfocused any more when it comes to building my website. I’ve got one platform I use, have learned practical skills for, and can build new pages super-fast with.
It’s called systeme.io. Check it out here if you’re looking for something like that.
Have a focused week!
Ready to build your email list? Go here…
EmailForTheWin.com
Chris Milham