The Uncomfortable Truth No One Tells You About Your Dreams

This is why many fail.

In 2000 Netflix tried to sell their struggling startup to Blockbuster for 50 million. They were met with blank stares, then laughed out of the room. Blockbuster had 9,000 stores. They had the monopoly on the market. They weren’t going anywhere.

Or so they thought.

Fast forward to present day, Netflix is worth over 300 billion. They have obliterated even their own wildest imagination. And Blockbuster? I think you know where they are right now.

We love hearing stories like this. A struggling company or creative person against all odds doesn’t give up and becomes successful. The founder of Netflix himself said “I’m proudest of the fact that I didn’t listen when everyone—and I mean everyone—told me ‘That Will Never Work.’”

So many people site stories like this. They find a 1 in a 500 million who defied the odds and rose above the rest. Then they use that to inspire people. “See? Never give up and you’ll achieve your dreams.”

I read posts like that all the time.

There’s just one problem.

You are not Netflix

We need to get something very clear here. Chances are you are not the next Netflix startup, Amazon, or Facebook. Sorry, your AI website summarizing tool isn’t gonna cut it.

Usually, we are Blockbuster. Sitting back, arms folded, thinking we have it all figured out.

Until we don’t.

The moment I realized this was when I got an email saying our business was shut down for a copyright strike and we weren’t ever going to see our money again. There was literally nothing I could do. Months of work, thousands of dollars, gone. In one email.

I worked hard.

I didn’t give up.

But it didn’t matter.

I realized the world will eat your dreams for breakfast without thinking twice. They do not play by the same rules.

It’s awesome and terrifying and exciting all at once.

Get grounded

I know what you are thinking, “Austin you’ve been laying it on a little thick recently.” Yeah, I have.

The reason is I’m terrified that I’m a head-in-the-clouds, delusional, entitled Gen Z who thinks his ideas are the best thing since cheese pizza.

This is how I keep myself in check. Know who you are and who you are not. I used to look to all these role models for inspiration and assurance that my dreams would become a reality. Every day I’d fill my brain with success stories of people who pulled through just in the nick of time.

I don’t do that anymore.

Instead, I remember the people who failed.

I remember the Elon Musks around the world that no one knows about. Who failed and lost their families and health in the process. They have no one to tell their story. No one wants to hear their story. No one wants to be them. I watched a video of someone who had made over 1,000 daily videos, convinced that eventually someone would notice him. He had less than 300 subscribers.

We cannot afford to deceive ourselves. Belief is not enough, because it can be misguided.

It’s heavy, this stuff. It’s not fun to think about. But it keeps me grounded. We have to get out of the clouds and into the weeds from time to time. Elon is notorious for this. He’s a dreamer, yes, but he’s also in the trenches, staying grounded.

It also keeps me grateful because somehow, despite my clumsy feeble attempts I find myself making progress. I find myself in a place of influence and I will not misguide and spread superficial truths. This is the hard reality. It’s brutal and awesome.

Some of you need to wake up.

Some need to dream more.

Some need to finally take action.

I don’t know where you fall, but you do. At least, you do if you took action on the last newsletter I sent.

The saddest thing for me to see is creative people chasing their dreams, with no accountability, no structure, and no idea how to turn them into an income. They just know they want to do (x) and make money with it. It takes so much more than that.

A book that I read recently said “Consistently ask yourself what is most likely to go wrong.” Always acknowledge the potential failure opportunities. Zoom out.

Maybe I’m thinking about this because I’m taking a writing class with Tim Denning. He’s been making some high claims. So I decided to check on some of his students from his previous class in September. Most of the X.com accounts I checked still had less than 300 followers. About one or two out of a few hundred hit big and those are usually the ones we hear about. Granted, the point isn’t to go viral, it’s to build consistency.

So I’m trying to set my expectations where they need to be. This whole writing thing will probably take me a few years. And that’s ok. Slow is good. It means you have a foundation. Then you can go fast. Tim Denning isn’t going to skip me over the boring part of this growth process. I’m the only one who can pay the boring tax. I’m going to pay every cent. Then we will see what happens.

That’s all.

Stay grounded.

Don’t get lost in your head.

P.S. I know this wasn’t inspiring. You might be a little depressed after this. What you do in the lows defines you more than what you do in the highs.

P.P.S. If you got this email a few weeks ago, my apologies. There was a glitch that sent it at the wrong time.