8 years.
It took me more than 8 years (!) to publish this article.
I’ve always felt like I’m not articulate enough. So I holed up in the world of observation. I was merely a vivid observer. So I consumed other people’s thoughts. So I kept collecting images and intriguing quotes saving them all as article drafts with complex sounding titles*, with hope, that soon I will glue them together with my finally-shaped brilliance. Pushing it to audience here – namely, 500+ bots signed to my newsletter (but still listed as pending since they are not smart enough to confirm the opt-in).
But then slowly, the fear of the poison of the social conformism and mediocrity started interpolating in my reasoning, so I decided to finally act and do the “coming out” with this blog, as a starter.
But talking without a solid foundations for your lessons learned (even if it’s only your failures) is merely talking. I love people, I get energy from them and I equally love inspiring them. And I believe that the easiest way to do so is to be part of something much bigger and standing for something meaningful – either by building it or joining a movement.
My fear of being judged from sounding silly and other things haven’t changed much over the last 8 years, though. Like the constant feeling of being on a real roller-coaster during my entrepreneurial journey; from feeling totally euphoric about small successes, through overcoming fear, to total despair.
In the last week I experienced another ride in those roller coasters – in one day I was hit with a sad news- an employee I loved working with and imagined as taking over my role one day has given her resignation letter. That same day was mixed with some uplifting and promising client conversations about upcoming projects.
This constant cocktail of instability and uncertainty is something most people stay away from. But we entrepreneurs can’t resist that. It’s our healthy addiction as it helps us grow. Almost as if we played a computer game jumping on higher and higher levels. We thrive on uncertainty and each hit or spot on is our hint to refining our ikigai.
If you’re not living life on the edge you’re taking up too much space”
Jim Whittaker
People rarely look forward to anxiety and tension, but if you look at any success story, they are filled with these mixed emotions-inducing events. They are often what leads to the most intense and longest-lasting positive experiences. It seems that when we take part in uncertain activities, we find more meaning in our lives by trial and error, as opposite to people who rely on the familiar. What would be the point of living Truman Show? We are made to create and make connections, and these inevitably involve uncertainty and uneasy feelings; fear of rejection, being ridiculed or misunderstood. Making ourselves uncomfortable is what gives us ability to continue to grow. We feel irritated with a pace that’s too slow. Life is too short to avoid tough conversations and situations.
A bittersweet recipe for a happy life
When you identify your goals and priorities, you must courageously and relentlessly pursue them – regardless of how difficult they may be to achieve. Greatness doesn’t take days off. It lies in your ability to remain relentless in the face of fear and to be intentional in your actions every single day to grow your company and leave your legacy. You’ll find yourself leading a more fulfilling career and meaningful life if you challenge yourself to let your purpose overtake your pain. So learn to like that discomfort, be courageous and intend to succeed every day.
We treat our time on earth as if it were unlimited
Killing time, postponing, no matter if it’s because of the Instant Gratification Monkey or other reasons like e.g. low life aspirations or life hacking in form of getting married to a rich partner… this is all an effect of fearing uncertainty. That’s why we are stuck in an unhappy marriage or a job we hate. We feel like the known is still better than the unknown, potentially more challenging and uncomfortable future one.
And we commit the biggest crime over and over again – we disrespect our time. Nobody seems to memento mori. Our beginning defines the end to our existence, where the game over can happen at any time and any place.
What most of us still have to figure out is that life is a product of our thoughts, and what we think we often become. However, posters glorifying seizing the day so willingly and thoughtlessly shared on Instagram / Facebook don’t mean a thing. We don’t act upon their messages, because in fact we don’t believe in change. We are scared of it.
Wake up.
Objects in the mirror of the future appear larger than they really are.” — Steve Chandler
*Now I’m not even sure why I called this article that way those 8 years ago – I don’t even like champagne. I guess it was a hint to the known, but the boring one – trapping yourself with unfit marriage, getting a mortgage (harder to break than the marriage itself) and drinking your sorrows. Now, I don’t think that known / stability is a bad thing. Quite the contrary. What I’m saying is that you should put yourself in many uncomfortable positions, try many different things, meet with many people in order to understand what you don’t want and what makes you happy.
