A couple days ago, an Internet stranger wrote me to say he’s “pretty open” to having me do some free work for him.
He had seen a podcast I had done about ecommerce advertorials. He’s in the dropshipping space, is interested in advertorials, and would love to get on a call to “pick my brain for a few minutes.”
When I read this, I just raised my eyebrows. “Sounds like a great opportunity to do some free consulting,” I said to myself.
I replied to the guy to say I’m not taking on any client work at the moment, but if he is interested in hiring me, I can let him when I am taking on client work in the future.
And then I took a moment, and I lit up with satisfaction. Not because the guy was asking for something valuable for free, while offering nothing in exchange. I was just happy with the way I instinctively responded.
Here’s why this might matter to you:
Last autumn, I wrote an email where I said, never do anything for free. Especially give out advice.
The thing is, I have done things for free since. Including doling out free advice. Even in situations where I could have asked for money. Even though I knew what I was doing was not smart.
My point is this:
It takes time for a new dam to change the course of a river.
In my life, I’ve often found myself making personal development resolutions, working on them earnestly, not achieving much, or not a damn thing, and then getting exhausted and discouraged and quitting.
And then one day, once I had forgotten all about it, I found to my wonder and surprise that the change I wanted had happened somewhere along the way.
In time, I’ve grown to accept this slowness of change. I’ve stopped being frustrated about it. I’ve found it’s even something you can use to motivate yourself.
It was Bill Gates or Tony Robbins or Kermit the Frog who said something like, most people overestimate what they can achieve in one year, and underestimate what they can achieve in five.
Progress is not linear. It’s often not visible. Don’t let that stop you. At least that’s my free advice.
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