Education doesn’t stop when you become successful.
Constant improvement is an attitude.
Education is a process, not a destination.
A lot of people hope that once they become successful, they can stop working so hard. That from there, you can just coast because the world has finally realized your genius.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, and some of the smartest folks I know realize this. One of the most pleasant surprises of teaching my Build Your Author Platform course for writers has been having bestselling authors join the class, and take the work as seriously as if they were an up & coming writer who was working on their first book.
Time and time again, I find that I will have an author in the class who has published multiple books with big publishers, and here they are working diligently every week to find new ways to grow as a writer, and to connect their work with the right audience.
These people have a professional credo. (something Steven Pressfield talks about in his book Going Pro.) Their attitude is one of improvement, not entitlement. Of establishing good habits, not protecting their ego. They are always growing, always learning.
There is this incorrect assumption among a lot of folks I speak to, that think courses are only applicable to the inexperienced. So if I mention my course to them, the immediately suggest an “older” writer who needs helping figuring out social media; or a new author with no platform whatsoever. And while I work with LOTS of those folks and love doing so, its important to point out that some of the best students are those who are not going from level 1 to level 2, but from level 99 to level 100.
These people are opening themselves up to learn more, to rethink, to become better, to have a deeper effect on others.
They are building skills.
They are connecting art to strategy.
They are focused on PRESERVING their muse, not selling it out.
A professional invests in knowledge. In resources. In cultivating relationships. They are not waiting for an imaginary day when success means that the world will make things easier for you.
Success is hard to achieve, but what people don’t realize is that it’s hard to maintain too.
If you want to be successful, start building the right habits now.
Thanks!
-Dan