The last few weeks, I’ve been riffing off of Rudyard Kipling’s monumental poem, “If,” both in the context of pushing through tough times, and in the context of it being a roadmap for success. Last week I used it to explain why a speed bump in the road to success doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things.
That was because a joint venture/affiliate marketing program I got into fell through. It was a really exciting prospect, and it sucks that it fell through, but it was just a prospect, a dream.
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
Rudyard Kipling, from “If”
The dream of income from this particular affiliate program was in no way my master. It was just one more iron in the fire of building up more income streams to make my life a little more anti-fragile.
Which brings us to this past week, and another JV/affiliate program I’ve spent the last few days plugging. This one was a little different, it was for one off revenue, not monthly revenue. It is also for a very different sort of product, one that does not fit the spot I’m in with my business right now.
Long story short, I don’t really have high expectations for the outcome of this past week, where I had high expectations over the long haul from the other program.
But.
But just because I didn’t have high expectations, that doesn’t mean I didn’t give it my best shot. Even if I get precisely zero dollars of revenue from the marketing I did this past week, the time and efforts weren’t wasted.
Why?
Because I’ve learned a great deal about affiliate marketing. I’ve also learned a great deal about email sequences. I also pushed myself out of my comfort zone to learn these new things.
I suppose it all circles around to skill stacks. I’ve been expanding mine, and this is another skill that I think will be useful, eventually.
So do something. It doesn’t have to be in your core. I certainly doesn’t have to be in your comfort zone. It doesn’t even have to be useful. What it needs to be is different.
And, as to the headline, keep on trying new things. No matter how useless they might seem now, they’ll train your brain. And who knows, sooner or later, one of them just may turn out useful.
