Believing in the Destination

Recently, my wife and I drove from Austin, Texas to Nantucket, Massachusetts. That’s 2,000 miles for those of you who are counting. For us, it was about 30 hours in the car over 3 days. I knew it would be a grind as I geared up for long stretches of interstate monotony combined with gas station coffee and fast food.

We knew what waited for us, though. So we knew it would be worth early morning and late afternoon sun glares, bad drivers, and frequent gas station stops. We were headed to a beautiful beach with cooler waters, and restful time with family.

Knowing where we were headed – the payoff – got us there. 

It rained for the better part of 3 days on our trip. So take everything above – Love’s truck stops + burnt coffee + arguments over what to listen to and multiply it by, well, sheets of rain and low visibility.

Who knew it could rain constantly over such a large distance? State after state after state?

There’s nothing like sitting in a torrential downpour on an interstate outside Texarkana while struggling to see. And at 40mph. Wondering, “Are we ever going to get through this?”

That journey reminds me of how we’re building Dare and Northwood. Any entrepreneur who is building or has built their business will get this. 

There’s a deep, abiding faith that what’s waiting at the other end is a sunny beach.

It’s a metaphor for where we’re going, but there’s a vision of the destination, especially during the slow, laborious drive, hoping the windshield wipers can give us some visibility.

It’s a grind right now. Long days. A lot of time on the phone with potential customers. Constant trial and error. Failure. Learning. Close calls that feel oh so close. Constantly wondering, “What else could we be doing right now? Am I doing enough?”

Entrepreneurs and business owners understand this. It’s what makes their work so heroic. It’s a slog. Because they don’t always have a memory of the beach they’re driving toward. They don’t have absolute, rock hard certainty that it’s going to work out. It’s just faith that it’s going to be worth it. And very often, they don’t have a defined distance to go. They don’t know. They just keep grinding, with faith and hope pushing them forward.

Many days feel like I’m going 40mph struggling to see in the rain outside Texarkana. I know that I just need to keep pushing forward. It’s all I can do if I really want to get there.

Where are you in your business journey? Is your company fighting through? Have you pulled over to reconsider this trip? Wondering if you should head back to Texas in August?

Don’t worry: Texarkana isn’t that bad in August. Especially if you’re just passing through.