I was consulting with a client about a series of projects that she’s working on, including a solo show, a possible TED Talk, and other things. At one point, she asked what her long term goal should be.
“What is my target?” she asked. “My endpoint?”
I suggested that she avoid that thought like the plague.
I’m a believer in casting wide nets into the unknown. Make stuff. Then make some more stuff. Then make some more stuff.
See where it takes you.
More than a decade ago, when I first started driving to New York to perform and compete in Moth StorySLAMs, friends would ask me about my ultimate goal.
“Why drive three hours to New York to maybe perform on stage for five minutes? For free?”
“They’re selling tickets to these shows, but they’re not paying you to perform? What is wrong with you?”
“Couldn’t you be using your time better?”
Back then, I told them that I was telling stories because it was something I loved. Each time I found, crafted, and performed a story onstage, I had made something new and refined my craft just a little bit more.
Did I think anything would ever come of my storytelling?
Had you asked me that question ten years ago, my honest answer would’ve been, “Maybe?”
The only thing I really knew was that I was doing good work. Getting better every day. Winning. Getting noticed. Becoming known.
But did I know that two years after telling my first story, Elysha and I would launch our own company? Did I know that we would ultimately produce shows for hundreds of people at a time? Launch a podcast? Work with nonprofits to help them tell their stories?
Of course not.
Did I know that magazine and comic book editors would watch me perform in New York and offer me jobs writing for their publications?
Did I know that I would one day I would write a book on storytelling? Teach storytelling? Consult on communication and strategy? Work with Fortune 500 companies, advertising agencies. universities, hospitals, and Santa Clauses on storytelling?
Did I know that one day, I would travel to Canada to teach storytelling on a Mohawk reservation north of Toronto? Sit around a campfire with a dozen rabbis, drinking whiskey and teaching them to tell stories? Preach sermons for ministers on vacation?
Did I know that storytelling would lead me to speak to prosecutors in Indiana, engineers in Brazil, politicians in Florida, librarians in Iowa, and performers in Seattle?
Of course not.
None of these things were imaginable to me when I took my first stage and told my first story.
What I knew was this:
I was making stuff. Learning to make better and better stuff. I was performing for hundreds of people every night on well known, respected stages in New York City and later Boston and gaining invaluable experience every time.
Maybe something would happen.
Eventually, it did. Again and again.
Cast a wide net, I say. Make good stuff and see what happens. Don’t limit yourself to a single vision. Don’t map out a single road. There’s nothing wrong with having a direction and a dream, but don’t narrow your focus to just one endpoint. Don’t define success as a single goal.
I’ve taken the same approach to many of the things I’ve done in my life.
I started writing a blog back in April of 2003, and since then, I have not missed a day. Did I have a goal when I began? Did I know that I would still be writing that blog 18 years and 6,530 posts later?
Nope. But I knew that I was writing. Honing my skill. Putting words into the world. Finding an audience. Becoming a better writer with each passing day.
The multitude of strange, amazing, and unexpected things that have happened as a result of writing my blog could never have been predicted. The multitude of strange, amazing, and unexpected things still waiting to happen also can’t be predicted.
Was there a perceived endpoint when I started writing musicals with my friend? Learning the piano? Playing poker? Podcasting with a friend and later Elysha? Investing in the stock market?
No. In each case, I was making stuff. Studying the craft. Getting better.
There’s no telling what the future might bring if I remain open to its possibilities.
There’s nothing wrong with a dream. Nothing wrong with a direction. But don’t define your success by a single endpoint
Make good stuff. See what happens. Be open to any possibility.
