What have you dreamed about lately? Too often we see people around us waiting to be tapped on the shoulder and validated. Patiently waiting for a producer to pick up their script; A venture capitalist to notice their company; A publisher to give them an advance on their book.
But the truth is very different. You don’t need to wait. You shouldn’t.
You started your hustle because you believed you could take it to the next level and be successful. There was something about you that gave you the swag to say “screw it… I’m going to try and create something dope out of nothing.”
Check out a few people who stopped waiting:
Jonathan wrote and published a book to help millennials do more with less. No backers? No problem.
Tasha quit her corporate job and started giving financial advice to people she knew. She was tired of seeing her friends and loved ones go broke, so she made it her mission to change it. No one gave her a cosign. No one gave her capital to start her venture. She has clients all over the world now. There are thousands of financial planners, but only one Tasha.
Stop waiting for someone to give you permission to take your hustle to the next level.
I don’t want to wait, and I don’t want you to either
I started Blavity because I noticed a void in the worldwide social community–there were no platforms that spoke to us ( black people) and truly capture the beautiful, unfiltered creative ability of our community. It was time for us to establish our own platform to discover and promote the black creative class. I visualize a world where good things can shine and get attention, not just where mainstream stories get regurgitated and negative stereotypes are perpetuated. No one should write our history but us. We set the standard. We push culture.
People might believe that now is not the time and place to pursue ventures like this. Could I be more experienced with a few more years in corporate America? Sure! Could I have pursued a fancy graduate degree? Probably. But I didn’t want to wait, and I don’t want all of the creators, hustlers, grinders and visionaries to wait either. We cannot afford to wait.
Reject the desire to wait for someone to tell you it’s okay to follow your dream. If you know you got it, go get it. I am, and it’s changing my life.
Stop waiting for permission. Kick the door down. Be the author of your own history.
Follow me on Twitter @MorganDeBaun
*Beautiful picture by NY Through The Lens
