You Will Never Succeed Without Others

I know. You’re stubborn. No one else will possibly be able to do this like you can. You’ve worked with others in the past and have been burned. You’re not sure if you can actually trust someone to get the job done.

I have tiny bomb to drop on you:

You will NEVER succeed without the help of others.

This may be a tough pill to swallow, but it’s true. You may be able to get started. You may even make some progress, but in order to scale your idea and impact others, you will need the help of people who have strengths that you don’t. As hard as it can be, working with others is the only ticket to long term success.

There are plenty of generalists out there who know enough about a lot of different things to be “dangerous,” but they may only be able to take their idea from 0–1. Don’t get me wrong, this can be insanely valuable. But in order to get past that, they will have to trust others to do what they do best.

This is where self awareness comes into play. It’s important to play to your strengths, but it’s even more important to at least be aware of what you don’t know. In my opinion, this is where so many people fail.

In my case, I am a freelance designer. More specifically, I help validate (read: prove) ideas for my clients using design. It takes a certain type of personality to freelance. You are essentially saying that you feel you can do it better than current alternatives. In my case, I feel that I can be more empathetic and effective when creating design solutions for others. However, I am by no means the best designer ever.

In fact, I have plenty of friends who are also designers who are more technically or aesthetically talented. I’ve even admitted this to their faces.

I know what I bring to the table and I know where I need help. The sooner you are able to realize this, the sooner you can build or scale your idea and succeed.

What are you working towards? Who are you working with? I would love to hear in the comments below or on Twitter at @williamfrazr.

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