The Art of Achieving Things That Are Ridiculous
“Let’s make our goal stupid. Let’s make our goal laughable. Let’s push ourselves like you are now. A smile comes on your face, new neurons explode in your brain, and you become a five-year-old. Right now you are like, whoa, let’s have some fun with this. And you become creative.” —Steve Sims
Steve Sims wrote his newest book out of pure aggravation. After he wrote his first book, he told me on an earlier podcast, Episode 19, that he didn’t ever plan on writing another book. But then the pandemic hit, and Steve suddenly didn’t have to travel every month. He had time to be with his family and to breathe and to think. But what he saw happening around the world angered him as people tore each other down instead of challenging and supporting one another.
In this episode of “Authors Who Lead,” I talk with Steve about his journey in writing his newest book, Go For Stupid: The Art of Achieving Ridiculous Goals, and how making big, stupid goals can impact our lives and our businesses.
Fear as a Motivator
I tell my authors to use fear as fuel to move forward in their book journey because if they give in to that fear and quit, they will accomplish nothing. Steve agrees with this mindset and tells us in this podcast that “You know, I can do two things. I can stop or I can keep going. And what would be really scary is for me to quit.”
This should motivate you to continue to grow and move forward and not become stagnant. The pandemic showed us that even when we all have the same amount of time during a pause in normal life, people are going to use that time differently.
The Opportunity Game
Mindset is a big part of being successful as an entrepreneur, an author, or even as a good human. Steve feels that not only do we need to ask better questions when we get into new situations, but we also need to be better communicators. He tells us that “successful people don’t laugh at each other. They support; they challenge.” Instead of making fun of others’ failures, we should be helping to solve problems and help one another.
“And that’s how you grow relationships. Relationships are not transactions. Relationships are constant, evolving growth between two people.” —Steve Sims
If we reframe our minds to see every opportunity as positive, then those are the kinds of events and situations that will find us. Going for big, stupid goals will get us further along than if we give in to fear and set small, realistic goals.
In this podcast, Steve also shares with us:
- That writing a book is like having therapy sessions with ourselves
- Learning to ask good questions is a good skill to have
- Why Elon Musk is the most successful unqualified man in the world and what you can learn from him
- That it’s important to be around impactful, successful people
- Stop planning for perfection
- The first time you try anything it will be crap—learn and grow forward
What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? How did you spend your time during the pandemic shutdown? What is keeping you from making big, stupid goals now? Share in the comments below!
That’s all for this week. If you have a message inside of you that needs to be written, today is the day to start. Don’t delay—take action.
Episode Resource:
Connect with Steve here:
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Get a copy of Steve’s books here:
Go For Stupid: The Art of Achieving Ridiculous Goals
Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen
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