Business Finds

How can you succeed in a competitive, creative field like art, music, writing, or acting? Is success just a matter of working hard and waiting for your lucky break? Or is there a way to get ahead without relying so much on luck and chance?

This was a problem I faced when I began working in the field of personal development in 2004. I had written some motivational articles before then, but I was basically starting from the bottom in terms of established credibility. I had no real credentials to speak of — no books, no products, no Ph.D, no coaching clients, and no serious contacts in the field. My income from this field was zero.

When I tried contacting some of the major players in the field, my emails went unanswered and my phone calls unreturned. Although I had a decent reputation in the indie gaming industry, it didn’t mean anything once I switched careers. In the self-help field, I was an outsider — a non-entity. Nobody knew who I was. And nobody cared.

Fast forward four years, and it’s like night and day. Now I have a strong, well-established presence in this field, due in large part to the success of StevePavlina.com. I get new media inquiries every week, and I’ve been quoted in major media outlets like the New York Times, USA Today, and U.S. News and World Report. I get paid thousands of dollars to speak. My first book is being published next month by the #1 self-help publisher in the world. I get so many business offers that I have to turn most of them down. It’s pretty easy for me to connect with other people in this field now; the roadblocks are gone. I used to be an outsider, but somewhere along the way, I became an insider.

I’m not sharing this from a place of ego, pride, or vanity. This is the simple truth of how my results changed over time. What you may not realize though is that this was something I did very deliberately. It’s the result of a goal I set when I first started. You see… I realized that if I wanted to have a positive impact on people’s lives, I wasn’t going to get very far if I remained an isolated outsider.

To be completely honest, there are some aspects of this progression that are more annoying than enjoyable. Even a small degree of celebrity comes with side effects, such as an overloaded email inbox and the loss of some privacy. Obviously I don’t have the same kind of celebrity as an A-list movie star, but the current level is already enough to bring some challenges. I figure this is a necessary evil to be able to communicate effectively with large numbers of people — a means to an end but not a primary goal I’d otherwise desire. I can deal with the negative consequences because the benefits outweigh them.

Despite the drawbacks, there are some obvious advantages to holding a well-known, established position within your field. When your name opens doors and people want to work with you, it’s easy to generate new business. When your reputation provides you with long-term stability, you can focus on growth instead of survival. You can pick and choose what projects you want to work on. More importantly, you can leverage your position to do a lot of good for other people — people you’d otherwise never be able to interact with.

Now this is all well and good, but how do you reach this point in the first place?

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