Why obsessing over "the one thing" is holding you back.

Welcome to The Real Work, weekly insights for high-performers and entrepreneurs who've outgrown their current success and are ready to rebuild from their authentic foundation.

In early December, I got an inbound lead for one of the largest speaking deals of my career.

Multi-city tour. Big budget. The kind of opportunity that makes you sit up in your chair and think, "This could change everything."

Things started moving quickly. Then they didn't.

Over the holiday break, I turned into that guy. Checking my phone every two seconds. Refreshing my inbox at Christmas dinner. Hearing back from the organizers here and there, but mostly just... waiting.

If you've ever had something big dangling in front of you, you know the feeling. You can't enjoy what's happening right now because you're too busy calculating what might happen next.

After a few weeks of this, I got sick of myself.

So I did the only thing that made sense. I started pitching other deals. Not as a backup plan. Just to give myself something else to work toward, something I could actually make progress on instead of staring at my phone like it owed me money.

Fast forward two months. That big deal? Fell through.

The Deal I Forgot I Lost

Back in December, before the multi-city tour even showed up, I had lost a different deal. At the time, it stung. But once the bigger opportunity came along, I completely forgot about it.

I mean that literally. It left my brain.

Then, first week of February, my phone buzzes. That old deal? Back on. Signed. Sealed. Ready to go.

Turns out I was their first choice all along, but they had some internal obligation that forced them to go a different direction. Once that cleared up, they came right back.

Great news, right?

Sure. But to be honest, it wasn't anywhere near as big as the multi-city tour. Not even close.

So no, this isn't that type of story. This isn't the part where I tell you the universe had something better in store and everything worked out perfectly. Relax.

But here's what is worth paying attention to. I only found out because they reached out to me. And if I had been sitting around for two months mourning the loss of that deal, I would have been miserable for no reason. Instead, I was too busy working on other things to even remember it happened.

Here's What I Did Instead

We do this all the time. We identify one opportunity, one deal, one promotion, one client, and we convince ourselves that THIS is the thing that will finally change our trajectory.

But think about it. You've already had "the one thing" happen before. Maybe more than once. And while it was great, your life didn't permanently shift the way you thought it would. You adjusted, you recalibrated, and eventually you started looking for the next one.

That cycle doesn't stop. So why not use it to your advantage?

Instead of broken focus on one big thing, start focusing on the next big things. Plural.

I pitched a new corporate client. I followed up on a partnership I had been sitting on. I reached out to three event organizers I'd been meaning to contact.

None of it was a backup plan. It was just good business. And it kept me from going crazy.

One of the other moves I made during that period was building something I'd been thinking about for a while. Over the holidays, instead of refreshing my inbox for the hundredth time, I sat down and built a no-code lead capture tool for my own business.

The idea was simple. I was tired of posting content that got likes and comments but didn't actually bring anyone closer to working with me. So I built a tool that captures those people and turns engagement into actual leads.

It worked well enough that I brought it up during a Q&A call last week. Someone on the call asked me to build one for them right there. So I did. Hired on the spot. Then this week, I built one for my friend Dorie Clark, who's one of the top business thinkers in the world. Same session, same result.

I turned it into a system you can book here.

Make Your Moves While You're Waiting

So if you're waiting on something big right now, do yourself a favor. Stop staring at your phone. Go make three other moves this week. Pitch something that feels slightly out of reach. Follow up on the thing you've been sitting on. Build something new.

Imagine having ten big things out there at once. If one or two go through, you're in a great spot. But more might. And your definition of "big" starts to shift. What used to feel like a stretch becomes your baseline.

Keep this in mind...

The opportunity you're obsessing over probably isn't the one that will change your life. The one you forgot about might be.

Stay bold,

Terry

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By the end of the call, you walk away with a working tool, 10 social media posts to promote it, and a system to keep it running without me. No technical skills needed. I built mine over the holidays. Then I built one for a client after a Q&A call. Then I built one for Dorie Clark. Every single time, the same thing happens. Content stops disappearing into the feed and starts actually doing something. Book your session here.​

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