Ever Better Today:
Season 2 Episode 99

So Good They Can't Ignore You

Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I’m Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let’s jump in!

Notes from this episode are below.

This episode is inspired by two books, So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
and Born Standing Up by Steve Martin.

If you’re ready to achieve wild success in anything you do, you need to become great at it.
This takes time, dedication and a willingness to be uncomfortable.
Overnight success rarely happens. And when it does, it’s not sustainable.

 
“ “I did standup comedy for 18 years. 10 of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four were spent in wild success. Bottom line, it takes years to become an overnight success.” ”
— Steve Martin

Here’s how Steve Martin became so good…

  1. He honed his magic and entertainment skills in a variety of “unglamorous” jobs. 

  2. He started performing for very small audiences and learned from negative feedback.

  3. He refused to give up and continued to hone his skills as a stand-up comedian.

  4. He went on tour at colleges and universities which led him to perform on much bigger stages, stadiums, and venues. 

  5. He recognized that performing in very large venues left him empty and unsatisfied because his passion was to connect with his audience.  

  6. As a comedian, he created transferrable skills that he applied to acting, producing, and music.  

  7. When he reached financial success he became a philanthropist and an art collector.

Steve Martin’s advice, “be so good they can’t ignore you” was the inspiration for Cal Newport’s book. Listen to the next few episodes of Ever Better Today to learn more!

Steve Martin gives the advice "be so good they can't ignore you" in conversation with Charlie Rose.

 
 

So those are some thoughts about Steve Martin, “Born Standing Up,” and a little bit of an intro into “So Good They Can't Ignore You,” by Cal Newport.

Episodes 99, 100, 101, 102, and 103 describe just some of the takeaways from So Good They Can't Ignore You and Born Standing Up.

There are many other lessons in these books so I encourage you to read or listen to them. yourself! You can find them here.

 

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