Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters

You don't need to go back in time to be awesome; you just have to start right now. Regretting that you didn't start earlier is a great distraction from moving on your dream today, and the reality is that today is earlier than tomorrow.

Regardless of what you want to do or who you are, fear will always see you as wholly unqualified for anything you ever dream or attempt.

People are mistaken when they think chasing your dream is a selfish thing to do. As if perhaps being average is an act of humility. As if perhaps wasting the talents you were given is proof that you're a considerate individual. It's not.

Fear would have told the Wright brothers not to fly. Fear would have told Rosa Parks to change seats. Fear would have told Steve Jobs that people hate touchscreens.

Joy is an incredible alarm clock. It will wake you up and keep you up and pick you up and gently pull you through a thousand rejections along the way.

In order to survive, I came up with a five-step secret to getting it all done. If you're busy too, feel free to use it: 1. Admit that you can't possibly get it all done.

I’m not a fan of “finding your purpose.” I’m a fan of “living with purpose.

Age is no longer the primary factor that determines where you are on the map. Life is now less about how old you are and more about when you decide to live.

Awesome writes great books even if no one is going to read them.

Don't climb a single rung up the entitlement ladder. Demanding something you haven't truly earned is a great way to get stuck in the land of Learning for decades, even an entire lifetime. Kick those ladders over and keep on walking.

You used to believe like that too. You used to turn sticks into swords or dirty flip-flops into glass slippers. You climbed trees and made forts and thought being a doctor wasn’t out of reach. Nothing was out of reach. Then, somewhere along the way, you lost it.

Regardless of your age or station in life, it all comes down to one simple truth: you just have to start.

Not because of my words—those are cheap and untrustworthy. But because of my actions, which are expensive and trustworthy.

What do you do when all the excuses you used to not chase your dream are gone? What do you do then?

People are mistaken when they think chasing your dream is a selfish thing to do. As if perhaps being average is an act of humility. As if perhaps wasting the talents you were given is proof that you’re a considerate individual.

You’re just going to be a Starter. The starting line is the only line you completely control.

As if perhaps joy is acceptable for rare moments on the weekend or surprising glimpses of sunsets while on vacation, but it has no real purpose in the real world.

I learned a simple lesson about being awesome: always play to the size of your heart, not to the size of your audience. Awesome doesn’t let the crowd determine the size of the performance. Awesome gets up for two people or 200. Awesome writes great books even if no one is going to read them. Awesome sweeps the parts of store floors that no foot will ever touch. Awesome can’t help itself. Awesome has a huge heart. And that’s what it always plays to. The size of the crowd doesn’t matter. The applause of the audience doesn’t matter.

(The truth is that real life-change and the joy of being who you are designed to be always results in selflessness, not selfishness.)

don’t build a park bench if you secretly love Frisbee.

Want to know how to be awesome at just about everything else too? It’s simple. Don’t be a jerk.

You’ve got today, and today is all you need to start.

Average is so popular because average is familiar.

In that moment, I learned a simple lesson about being awesome: always play to the size of your heart, not to the size of your audience. Awesome

You will work harder at something you love than at something you like. You will work harder than you have ever worked when you start chasing a dream. You will hustle and grind and sweat and push and pull. You will get up earlier and go to bed later. But that’s okay.

No one pursuing a life of average was ever made fun of by other average people. But if you decide to travel the road to awesome, you will be.

If you want help for your dream, start by helping someone else with their dream. If you want support for your hope, start by giving support to someone else’s hope. If you want encouragement as you work on your calling, start by encouraging other people. Giving support is often the best way to get it.

Learning from those before you is a dying art that can catapult you ahead in the land of Mastering.

Someone is going to hate what you do. That’s not a maybe. That’s a definite. And I don’t mean dislike. I mean hate. With energy and vitriol and a passion that surprises you.