Key Messages
Paul Jarvis’ Lessons For Entrepreneurs: Why It’s Okay To Be Imperfect, Why A Bold Manifesto Is Good For Business, And Why Theft Is Better Than Mimicry
Do you have ambitions and dreams that you want to pursue, but find yourself held back by fear? Paul Jarvis can help.
His book, Everything I Know, contains hard-earned wisdom from his 20+ years in business and many successful start-ups.
He believes that it’s time to push aside excuses and get down to the meaningful work that reflects who you are.
Jarvis provides valuable advice on how to be self-employed and satisfied without relying on rules or a hard playbook – just real lessons he’s learnt over the course of time.
Among other things, he talks about why it doesn’t hurt to be an imperfect yoga instructor; why a bold manifesto is good for entrepreneurship; and why theft is better than mimicry.
All of these tips will help make your dream career a reality, so pick up this important book today!
Choose Your Own Adventure: Why It Pays To Take The Road Less Traveled
As a young boy, Paul Jarvis loved Choose Your Own Adventure books and he’s chosen to continue that same path into adulthood.
Instead of taking the conventional route of going to college then working for someone else, Jarvis chose his own adventure and opened up a web design business in Toronto.
The big reward you get for going on your own personal adventure can be extremely rewarding, but it’s also scary.
It means doing something different from the rest – something no one else is doing yet.
You risk it all for this opportunity, for this chance at success through hard work and dedication.
Though an employer may provide some sense of security, it’s not as fulfilling in the end.
Rather than take the safe route while copying someone else’s lead, you go out and do what speaks to you as an individual instead!
And while corporations and schools might tell you to follow the pack instead of being unique, embracing your weirdness is key to unlocking your potential in life.
Be True To Yourself And Be Weird: The Key To Attracting People To Your Business
Jarvis is an advocate for embracing your weirdness and sticking to your values in business.
He thinks that far too many people try to fit themselves in a cookie-cutter business model and give up their unique selves in the process.
On the contrary, he believes embracing and flaunting your quirks will make you more inspiring and attractive to potential customers.
His advice is further reinforced by stories of people like Caren, a yoga instructor who is open about her experience with depression.
Despite expert advice implying it may be bad for business, Caren’s openness does not turn people off but instead attracts them since they appreciate her authenticity.
To Jarvis, true success lies not in riches or fame – which are ultimately out of his control anyway – but on fulfilling his values such as doing meaningful work and helping other people.
By embodying these values and consistently doing good work, Jarvis can rest easy and feel fulfilled regardless of whether or not he reaches high sales numbers.
At the end of the day, Jarvis emphasizes that it is important to truly embrace your uniqueness and abide by your values; otherwise you’ll risk sacrificing what makes you authentically special as an individual entrepreneur.
Learning By Doing Is The Best Way To Develop Your Craft
When it comes to learning and improving your craft, Jarvis recommends the best method is to learn by doing.
That’s because you can’t learn as much by simply listening to a lecture or reading a book – you need experience on the job.
He believes that he got valuable lessons working in a web design company than if he had stayed in college.
Still, when he first started out there were plenty of mistakes along the way, but they became valuable lessons for him to build upon and improve his work.
These mistakes were also opportunities to improve the overall quality of his output, which is one of Jarvis’s core values.
However, if things don’t go according to plan there shouldn’t be a point of stubbornly pushing on with business as usual.
It might be better to hit pause and evaluate things from a distance – this helped Jarvis drastically restructure his processes and procedures when his freelance web design business wasn’t doing too well.
To prevent yourself from reaching this stage of stagnation in the first place, Jarvis suggests being open-minded enough to try new things, experiment and stay current with what’s going on in your field.
Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Your Goals: How Thinking Differently And Focusing On What Matters Can Help You Achieve Your Dreams
Starting any project can be intimidating, especially when perfectionism and fear of criticism keeps us stuck.
It’s important to remember that absolute perfection isn’t required – no one expects you to make a perfect product right away!
This is why Jarvis has been able to move forward with all his work: he focuses on the values that his work is meant to represent, such as helping others and sharing knowledge.
It’s also important not to worry too much about what other people think or say.
Jarvis knows that there will be days when he gets negative feedback via tweets, emails or bad reviews and days when he gains more followers or five-star reviews.
He doesn’t let the bad comments get him down; he moves on and enjoys the positive ones instead.
Avoiding the worries of being perfect or listening to what other people have to say will help you get started on whatever project you have in mind.
Instead, focus on producing something that meets your values and aligns with what you believe in – this can be a great source of comfort and assurance!
Embrace Your Fears And Push Past Them With Small Steps To Achieve Success
It is common to feel fearful of putting your work out into the world, but it can be managed by continuous attention to values.
This is supported by the fact that some people view fear as an indicator of having something they cherish and don’t want to lose.
The courage to take risks speaks volumes about one’s character and it does not mean being fearless but rather confronting fear and seeking a solution despite that.
It will help in such situations if you start breaking down activities into smaller more achievable steps, with each leading to more successful ones.
This strategy can be seen in Jarvis, popular author and musician who struggles with crowd-shyness and has multiple fears, who took on performing in nurseries first then moved onto open mic nights at music venues followed by club bookings when he became more confident in his abilities.
He has even had feedback from fans following supposedly terrible performances calling them his best shows yet!
Understanding Your Own Values And Intentions Is The Key To Achieving Success Without Fear Of Failure
If you have a great passion for the work you do and are eager to share it with the world, having good intentions is key.
Ask yourself: Why am I doing this? What do I want to accomplish? How can my product or service add value to the world? With strong intentions and genuine motivation, it will be easier to push past fear and use your time and money wisely.
It also helps to have a tangible rallying flag that’ll grab people’s attention.
This could be a bold mission statement, manifesto, video or anything else that clearly expresses what your work stands for – let people know that they’ll be joining an exciting adventure with you if they decide to get behind your product.
By offering something unique that is filled with humor, passion and love, it will resonate more strongly with an audience than generic copy of someone else’s work can.
Find Your Intersection And Values To Truly Follow Your Passion
If you want to be successful and achieve your goals, it’s important to know where your passion intersects with your skills and how these skills can help other people.
For example, if you’re passionate about protecting the environment and skilled in web design, then by employing those skills in building websites for eco-friendly businesses not only lets you follow your passion but make money at the same time.
However, knowing this is only half the battle since the other half is getting excited and passionate audience interested in what you have to offer.
Once that part is taken care of, it’s just a matter of staying focused on the real work.
Distractions such as social media presence should be avoided as much as possible and all effort should be devoted solely to doing great work for clients to ensure a steady stream of referrals.
Finally, relying on values instead of goals when planning for success can prove beneficial in exploring new methods and taking risks that may result in greater rewards.
Jarvis himself goes by his values first – “do great work” and “help people” – so that he can have an open mind free from unachievable expectations imposed by strict pre-defined goals.
Stop Procrastinating And Start Creating: Letting Inspiration Guide You To Make Something Uniquely Your Own
When it comes to getting started on your own project, you can get a good amount of inspiration from the work and ideas of people around you.
However, there is a fine line between incorporating others’ ideas in your work and downright stealing other people’s ideas.
Jarvis has taken numerous design elements and details from visuals around him and added them to his own work.
This has been instrumental in developing his unique style that stands out from others.
However, depending solely on stealing others’ idea will not help you create something entirely your own.
In other words, copying needs to be done with care!
Likewise, while it can be helpful to observe different approaches and techniques used by other creators during your journey, don’t forget that mimicry is considered bad form as it involves passing off someone else’s idea as one’s own.
In other words, avoid taking someone else’s concept or style too literally.
Not only is plagiarism immoral but also unfair to yourself!
It Takes Patience And Flexibility To Succeed In A Big Adventure
If you want a successful adventure, one of the most important things to do is take the time to think about what you really want.
Knowing your intentions and motivations and being clear on your core values will help guide every decision you make along the way.
When it comes to big projects,there’s nothing wrong with breaking them down into small achievable steps.
This will help keep up momentum and prevent burnout or giving up altogether.
Furthermore, learning when to say no is an essential part of knowing where (and how) to direct your time and energy resources in order to create something meaningful–instead of struggling with difficult clients who don’t share your same values.
But if find yourself lacking in customers or struggling for attention, don’t be afraid to try something new!
Taking advantage of anonymity means that you can experiment safely, make some mistakes, learn from those mistakes and improve without any fear of judgment or ridicule from others.
It also lets you stay flexible throughout the process so that opinions can change as new insights reveal themselves.
Wrap Up
The final message from Everything I Know is that unique, innovative work comes from those who break free from traditional corporate thinking and follow their passions.
Fears about failure and criticism are natural, but if you can overcome them, you have the opportunity to create something truly amazing.
As well as this, it’s also important to know when to stop – that is, once you’ve made enough money to cover expenses and put some into savings, don’t force yourself to keep taking on clients if it’s not necessary.
Instead, use the other six months of the year for exploration and creativity – without having to worry about paying your bills.
Overall, Everything I Know provides a useful reminder of self-reliance and the importance of pursuing innovative ideas.
