The Light Outside My Window on the Morning After Launch
Some past reflections and enduring lessons learned during the launch process:
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This morning I woke up at 7:20am, and it felt so late. There was a touch of light outside—what was that? Oh right, sunrise.
For the past few mornings I’ve been getting up at the entirely unreasonable hour of 5:30am or sometimes even earlier. My breakfast place opens at 6am and I’ve been at the front of the line shortly thereafter. The sun rose two hours after I’d been awake.
Two nights earlier, I went to bed with my laptop on the nightstand.
Yep—it was another product launch week.
As I made another cup of coffee on the morning after having slept “so late,” I thought back on the launches over the years.
How many have I done? I honestly don’t remember.
I’m thinking the number is close to 100. Probably not quite that many, but it’s in the neighborhood. I’ve launched books, guides, products, courses, websites, and events—and potentially a whole category of things I’ve forgotten.
I’ve had some big successes, some colossal failures, and plenty of experiences in-between. You learn as you go in these things, but you also don’t ever completely master them—or at least I don’t.
And I think that’s what keeps it fresh and fun. At the end of the day, you try to do two things:
1. Make something you’re proud of
2. Message it the best you can
You try to put heart and soul into something that matters. You know it will always be flawed and imperfect in some ways, but you try to reach that magic point of saying, yeah, well—this is actually pretty good.
And then you try to pitch it as best you can. It’s not just enough to have something you’re proud of; you also want other people to care. So you have to hustle. You don’t want to be a martyr.
But in the end, the outcome lies in others’ hands. That’s where things get interesting.
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Working from the Road: The Unconventional Guide to Full-Time Freedom, is now available.
Image: Tim
