Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: One of many options
— From Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers
You’ve met Derek Sivers before (here, here, here and here), as I love his brief but oh-so-insightful book Anything You Want. What you may not know about him is that he was a musician, and his story of becoming an entrepreneur (founding, growing and selling CD Baby) stemmed from his desire to sell his music online.
As a musician, Sivers recalls the story of the many exercises one of his voice teachers had him do:
“For each lesson, I’d bring in one song I was trying to improve. First, I’d sing it for him as written.
Then he’d say, ‘OK, now do it up and octave.’
‘Uh… up an octave? But I can’t sing that high!’
‘I don’t care! Do it anyway! Go! One, two, three, four.’
I’d sing the whole song again, in screeching, squeaking falsetto, sounding like an undead cartoon mouse. But by the second half of the song, it was almost charming.
Then he’d say, ‘OK, now do it down an octave.’
‘Down an octave? But I don’t think I can!’
‘Doesn’t matter! Go! One, two, three, four.’
I sounded like a garbage disposal or lawn mower, but he made me sing the whole song that way.
Then he’d made me sing it twice as fast. Then twice as slow. Then like Bob Dylan. Then like Tom Waits. Then he’d tell me to sing it like it’s 4 a.m. and a friend woke me up. And then he’d give me many other scenarios.
After all of this, he’d say, ‘Now, how did that song go again?’
It was the clearest proof that what I thought was ‘the’ way the song went was really just one of an infinite number of options.”
When we are stuck, or when we think there’s only one way, it’s helpful to keep this exercise in mind as it will help offer many options. Sivers goes on to illustrate how he was taking an entrepreneurship class and the group was analyzing a business plan—that proposed just one idea. He felt like saying things his teacher would have said:
- “OK, make a plan that requires only $1,000. Go!”
- “Now make a plan for ten times as many customers. Go!”
- “Now do it without a website. Go!”
- “Now make all your initial assumptions wrong, and have it work anyway. Go!”
- “Now show how you would franchise it. Go!”
Sivers says, “You can’t pretend there’s only one way to do it. Your first idea is just one of many options. No business goes as planned, so make ten radically different plans.”
ACTION
TODAY: Is there a place in your professional or personal life where you are feeling stuck? Are you clinging to just that one option because you think it’s the best possible, or you’re afraid of exploring what’s out there, or you think it’s your last chance or (insert your thoughts here)? Take a moment to go through this exercise creating options for yourself. Some options will be funny, others crazy, a few may be awful… but you will certainly experience a shift inside that will make you truly realize there are other options. And while you’re at it, you may discover some options that are just great for you. OK, Go! One, two, three, four!
FUTURE: As you consider projects or plans for the future, keep this great exercise in mind. It will open up your eyes to the myriad possibilities that are out there, and provide you with flexibility to make your plans happen. There are many routes to get to your goals, so don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled or take a detour now and then. I especially like this option and suggest you keep it in mind: “Now make all your initial assumptions wrong, and have it work anyway. Go!”
Know someone who would benefit from expanding his or her options? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you! OK, Go!