But really, I don’t have enough money to make this album, to write this book, to shoot this film. Maybe I could have bought that excuse 50 years ago (if I were alive), but even then it would have been a claim to a lack of resources. And a lack of resources is never a good enough answer for why you did not do something.
Claims to a Lack of Resources
- Don’t have enough Money
- Don’t have enough Time
- Don’t have enough Connections
- Don’t have enough Experience
- Don’t have the right Technology
What you are really lacking is resourcefulness. If you are resourceful enough you can always find a way to fund your project and to support yourself while you’re doing it. You can always move things around and make sacrifices to find the time. Resourcefulness is where your real power resides.
Resourcefulness is that emotional state of being confident, playful, passionate and certain that you will find a way no matter what. (Check out Anthony Robbins’ TED Talk for a more eloquent description.)
Steve Jobs was Resourceful
Steve Jobs started Apple with Steve Wozniak from the ground up. When he was booted by his own board he didn’t quit. Steve got resourceful and started NeXT and Pixar. Pixar grew into the number one animation studio in the industry. When NeXT was acquired by Apple in 1996, Steve worked himself back into the position of C.E.O. He then headed the creation of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, which have completely changed the way we interact with technology and our world.
At each step of the way Steve Jobs could have given up and claimed that he lacked the resources to go forward. At the start of it all, he could have cited that he didn’t have the finances or experience to create a personal computer company. When he was booted from Apple, he could have given up in embarrassment. When he was faced with cancer and the knowledge of his limited time left on this earth, he could have left Apple to spend his days in solitude with his family.
But Steve was a driven man. It appears that his lack of resources were a driving force instead of a stifling one. He used limitations as a way to challenge his sense of resourcefulness and as a chance to grow.
My Current Attempt at Resourcefulness
As you may know from my last post, I’m planning on finishing a documentary on the history of my home town of Yankee Lake in the next four months, traveling the country while working on the road come March, and moving to California in August. All of these are going to require a fair amount of time and money to accomplish. A lack of time and money both appear to be great reasons to give up on these dreams. But if I can pull off some resourcefulness, I know I can make them all happen.
My biggest concern right now is finances. Here is a list of some ways that I’m going to flex my resourcefulness muscle.
- Sell most of what I own on eBay, Craigslist and Amazon (not going to need this stuff when I’m on the road.)
- Hold an online Fundraiser for the documentary (You can check it out here.)
- Have a Fundraiser Buffet for the documentary
- Take on a few side projects for pay while editing the movie
- Cut back on all expenses and spending the bare minimum to work and live (Bye bye Netflix…)
- Attempt to sell the Mud Trucks & Beer DVD that I made last year to Netflix and PBS.
I think that the key to being resourceful is to be flexible and to adapt. It’s also having that drive and passion for what you do, enough of it that you can push through those times of doubt. You need to want it bad enough, so that you can get yourself into that state of resourcefulness.
Don’t let a claim to a lack of resources stop you from living out your passions. Let us know what you are going to do to be more resourceful. How can you leverage or create the resources that you need to make your dreams happen? (How can I talk about this stuff without sounding so cheesy?)
