Building a legend happens without you knowing it
Zeppelin. The Doors. Tool.
Legends we’ll never forget. That our kids will hear about and not understand. Legends, nonetheless.
But these people didn’t know they were building their legends.
They just knew they were doing what they loved. And they couldn’t stop doing it.
So when the struggle came, sure, they wanted to give up. They wanted to quit at one point or another. Everybody does.
But Legends don’t.
They sit down and figure out the whys behind their fights and they come up with solutions. Then they work those solutions until they need new ones.
But they don’t stop.
Yesterday, my son asked me why I have a bracelet that says #Legend on it (thank you, Eyenie!). I mean, I don’t make music (although, I do, in my own way). I don’t have 9M followers (nor do I want that many because I like to know my peoples).
What I do have? Is an unfuckingrelenting determination that gets me up at 3:30 - even when I’m tired. That pushes me to create for other people’s businesses every single day. That allows me to keep going even when I can’t fucking see the road.
And many times. We’re all like that.
We set our goals. We set our maps to those goals into motion. And then BAM!! Motherfucking doubt comes and shits on us. Or fear fucks with us. Or LIFE decides, “NOPE! I have other fucking plans.”
And if you’re a Legend, you find your way around it. Or fucking THROUGH it.
Because you see? Legends are built in phases.
The Phases of Legend-Building
The WTF Am I Doing Phase
You really have no idea what you’re doing. You just know you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Something that calls to you. Even if you SUCK at it at first. Because every artist sucks in the beginning.
But you keep going. You don’t know why. You just know it FEELS right.
When I started online, I was just writing because people told me I was good and I could make money at it. And I thought, “Hey! I might survive being a SAHM if I can do this!”
And shit was tight. There was no money for a website or for ads or anything. I did it all myself. Even though I had no clue how. I wanted even to learn how to code so I could build my own shit. That didn’t last long.
I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I had to do it.
The HOLY SHIT! Something’s Happening Phase
This is akin to LZ releasing Led Zeppelin III. They kinda had a feeling that this wasn’t going away at that point.
They just knew they needed to bring it because I & II lit people up...now they needed to carry the torch. Otherwise, they’d fizzle out like most wannabe legends.
Same for biz. Once you’ve gotten into your groove and you’ve proven that you can do some killer shit and understand it wasn’t a fluke, then you’re in the next phase of your legend-building.
This is the point where a ton of businesses drop off. Because they see they that this shit ain’t easy and they don’t have time for hard. Or because they don’t believe in themselves or their past success, so they say “fuck it”. Or because they can’t see a next step.
The HOLY SHIT! Something’s Happening Phase is not easy compared to The WTF Am I Doing Phase because you kind of threw some spaghetti at the wall and whatever stuck, stuck. And you could feel your way through it. Phase two is like, shit I really need to prove myself. But at what?
Usually this is also the phase where the pivots happen. The story gets tightened and toned so that you’re really working in your zone of genius because you’ve actually FOUND a zone of genius.
So then the FLOW begins.
The FLOW Phase
This is where you really bump your shit up. You’re solid. You have a growing client base and things are undeniably awesome. Sure, you have some bombs, but you’re good and moving through them.
Now you have signature programs or iconic products and people are beginning to know who the fuck you are.
You have a solid team in place and everyone is working for the common good of your biz. Ads are a constant and working well because you’ve found your THANG.
This is easy! And scary...because it can all go away at any minute. So this is no time to rest on your thingies (cackles??). You need another growth spurt. You need to expand. Get bigger!
You’ve outgrown the fish pond you were in...now it’s time to become the shark you’re born to be.
The JAWS Phase
This is where you become relentless in your pursuit of greatness. Without a doubt, peoples’ lives are changing because of you. I don’t care if you’re Uber or Target or Tony Robbins.
There are powerful things shifting that you have to continue to power. This phase gets hard again. Notice how the hard shit always follows the easy shit?
Your legend-building continues on this path.
And as long as you continue to grow and bring value? You’ll have those 9 platinum records under your belt that you never expected when you started.
But you have to be able to work through the phases. By the way? The JAWS Phase isn’t the last. There’s no telling what the last phase actually is because it’s different for everybody. But if you can make it through the JAWS Phase, you’ll likely make it through any phase thereafter because you’ve proven that you can get hit and keep moving forward.
So.
If you’re in this game because you HAVE to be in this game? Because you love it SOOOOO much, because you can’t NOT be in this game?