Marie Forleo Didn’t Have “Puppy Webcam” In Her Vision Statement (And Her Career Still Took Off)

Marie Forleo was having a hard time getting traction writing her blog posts in the early 2000s. Not only was it hard to just sit and write, but she’d made it harder by getting a puppy – and who has the time for all of this stuff anyway?

She turned on a webcam to give herself accountability while she wrote. She figured she’d share a little bit of the crazy that was going on around her as she tried figuring things out. Plus, the pressure of an audience would hopefully help her keep focus too.

Spoiler: The puppy and the webcam WASN’T part of her vision statement. It WAS part of the unique mess that made her… her. And when she leaned into it, people got interested. The webcam feed of her writing and the blog posts that came out of it took off. Look at her now.

I love this story because it’s an important reminder: We don’t have to forecast everything in front of us. We don’t have to have a perfect vision for how things are going to go. We do have to tinker with ideas that have the potential to move us forward. Especially in the early days.

The more evidence of traction we have in front of us the more we can lean into specifics in our forecasts or vision.

The less evidence of traction we have, the more play, tinkering, and listening for feedback is important.

Check out Marie Forleo’s most recent interview on the Amy Portferfield podcast for this story and more.