Business – lukegajary.org

Learn from hard stuff

luke — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 01:55:48 +0000

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My dad used to say that life is about passing a series of tests, and God will let you keep retaking them until you pass. ⁣
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years ago, I was going through a really frustrating season at my job. There was some stuff going on that was really eating at me. There wasn’t really much I could do to change the situation other than quit, and I didn’t feel led to do that at that time. ⁣
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So, I started an Evernote file of things I was learning from and about the situation. What not to do, how not to treat people if I ever walked through it again, how to handle difficult people, and throngs that I felt in that season. ⁣
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It didn’t change the situation. But it helped me see the big picture and realize that there was a learning opportunity hidden within the hardship. ⁣
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It’s a practice I’ve stuck to over the years… keeping a ledger of learning from hard things. Anything I face that is frustrating and taxing (professionally, ministry, marriage, kids) gets a notebook file. ⁣
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It also reminds me that I’ve written about hard stuff before and always get though it. ⁣
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Be intentional with hard seasons and watch growth accelerate.

A Failed Project

luke — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 01:40:37 +0000

I sent out an email today to my Kickstarter backers unpacking the unsuccessful campaign I just ran. Since many of you have followed along for the ride, I thought I would share the email here as well.⁣
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This is a challenging email to write on one hand, because it represents a shortcoming in one of my recent product launches. ⁣
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On the other hand, I’m encouraged because each time we experience failure in something, it is an opportunity to lean in and learn. the road to success is paved with failure, and I’d like to unpack the failure of my Kickstarter campaign in this note.⁣
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What Happened?⁣
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I launched the Kickstarter for Bible Board Books about eight weeks ago, and the campaign only reached about 20% of the funding it needed to execute with excellence. Because of how Kickstarter works, if not ALL of the desired funding is raised, the project is closed and not funded whatsoever. I was frustrated. I actually had a dream a week before the campaign closed in which it got fully funded and some big orders were placed for the first volumes. Obviously that didn’t happen.⁣
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This was both disappointing and revealing. I do have a list of reasons of why I believe the campaign did not fully fund, but ultimately the reason I chose to do pre-orders through Kickstarter was to help prove the interest (or lack of) for such a product. I self-funded my first book years ago, and the route I chose to go left me with a lot of unsold inventory sitting in my garage. That’s why this time, I decided to have more of an experimental approach before moving forward. ⁣
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I was at a funeral today for the father of a member of our church, and one of the family members shared something their father always said while he was alive: “Never take advantage of yourself. Life is too short. You’ve got one chance at life, you’ve got to go for it at whatever you do.”⁣
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Ultimately, I had this idea that was bouncing around in my head, and every time I had a conversation about it, the idea would grow stronger and louder in my mind. I knew I had to get it out, or I would always kick myself for not giving it a shot. That was my whole approach – I was merely desiring to throw it out into the world and what people did with it, was on them.⁣
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What’s Next⁣
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Although I am frustrated it didn’t work out (like Nacho Libre, I WANNA WIN!), I am not the type of guy to sit and wallow in disappointment too long. There is a switch in the creative idea part of my brain that’s broken, it’s stuck in the ON position and it is impossible to shut it off. At any given time, I have 3-5 pots of ideas, resources, projects simmering that are just waiting for the time and energy to execute. SO for now, Bible Board books will go to the back burner and simmer until it’s ready to try again. Then I will begin to throw my energy into other projects and see what happens there! ⁣
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Thanks for your support, for backing the project, for sharing, and for just being super cool about this process. I’ll keep you updated about what’s next!⁣
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Luke Gajary

The Holiday Hustle (It’s Not What You Think)

luke — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:05:50 +0000

I️ guess one thing you do when you’re old is marvel / complain about how quickly time is going by. Since I recently turned 32 and am feeling like a full fledged adult now, I’ll take my opportunity to do that here.

December already? Wow, I️ can’t believe Christmas is nearly upon us, it feels like 2019 just flew past!

I️ want to take a moment and encourage everyone reading this that has a side hustle, or lives as an independent business owner full time. I️ believe one of two things can happen in the midst of this season, and the reality is…over the next two weeks, everyone is slowing their life and business down.

You can join the masses and begin the shutdown, and to a degree, I️ recommend that. Taking time with family, unplugging, and being fully present in this magical season is very important.

HOWEVER…

The majority of people will do nothing, then look up on December 31 and decide to turn their hustle back on for 2020.

Here’s an idea: don’t turn the hustle off. As you may know, I️ wrote and launched a book a couple years ago (if you don’t have a copy yet, get yours here: https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Well-Faith-Encourage-Others/dp/0990873870/).

Let’a take a look at numbers and the timeline so I can show you how I kept the HUSTLE engine running through this exact season two years ago.

Tell It Well is approximately 40,000 words long (the average Christian nonfiction is 50,000-80,000 words, so this book is a quicker read than most).

I wrote 25,000 words between September 2014 and June 2016. I was writing casually, and I kept setting the book on my back burner in my brain to work on other projects and ventures.

Then in October of 2016, I attended a publishing workshop and re-ignited the fire for the project. (More details on that whole story & process here: https://lukegajary.org/dreams-change/)

I wrote 15,000 + words in November and December of 2016 and finished the manuscript just after New Year’s Day 2017. I decided to buckle down and use the slowness of the season to finish my personal passion project. The rest of the world had slowed down and disconnected, so it made it even easier to focus and produce good words.

I hope you decide to use the time wisely. Find a rhythm and a balance, but use the slow months to get set up for success in 2020.

Start with The WHY

luke — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:03:16 +0000

Incredible talk about starting with your purpose.

From TED