Stepping Big Strides

"We don’t have to be smarter than the rest. We have to be more disciplined than the rest." – Warren Buffett”

If we are brave enough often enough, we will fall. And we will fall many times, so wisdom dictates that we fall forward, like a rugby front-rower, beyond the gain line. Progress is in those small movements forward. It is the allure of the sea, tempestuous or otherwise, that enables the sailor to touch new shores, new lands, make new conquests. Beyond the rough seas lies discovery of new treasures, but the coxswain must steer the vessel through the rough waters, take a few blows, endure much seasickness and homesickness; the blows help establish more in him than the calm seas do. There are no skilled mariners on little lakes and quiet seas.

What is the meaning of all this lyrical prose? Well, a former workmate has been grappling with the ache of leaving employment to go run his side-hustle on a full time basis. He is not sure of the proverbial right time, and drawing from my own experience I’ve tried to paint the picture of that nonexistent right time. I can tell from his hesitation that hand, heart and mind are not yet aligned. It’s not easy to fix something that’s not broken because you could end up breaking it. It’s also not easy to live daily with a gnawing void in your spirit of an existence that is below your potential.?

Employment is great because as Jack Ma once implied, you get to learn best practices and sharpen transferable skills while being paid.?Because you will need these skills and practices in plenty as an entrepreneur. Plus a healthy dose of stoicism and grit.

When we walked home from school in our childhood, we never threw stones at trees that had no fruit; there was nothing to dislodge, so no point in wasting the effort or the stone. So too with valuable pursuits that attract attention; brace yourself for the missiles and blows and treachery and sabotage and betrayal. It is because you are valuable, have value and are onto a great thing. Roll with the punches; stay the course.

And yet Social Media is inundated with endless survivorship-biased "live your dreams" posts.?Of course, these posts invariably assume everyone dreams of "quitting the rat race," and "working 100hrs a week for themselves so they don't have to work 40hrs a week for someone else." Et al. Sigh.

Likewise, there's typically a not-so-subtle insinuation that the only courageous people in careers are those who start their own businesses. Perhaps this emotional energy drink is exactly what 0.1% of the population needs to finally take that step.

And perhaps, the overwhelming majority of people don't actually dream of running their own gig at all. Who are we to judge the career choices of strangers?

Just remember, if you love what you do, there is nothing wrong with being an employee. There is nothing wrong with working your behind off - and getting well paid and enjoying your nights and weekends - to help someone build their company. Nothing wrong with not having to worry about making payroll for your subjects.

There is nothing wrong with finding personal fulfillment outside of your day job. There is nothing wrong with sacrificing maximum income for maximum quality time and quality life on an even keel. The question is, are you able to harness the fire required to be a successful employee?

Some of the most intense roles and careers require this internal blaze that burns your mediocrity daily. Surgeons, pilots, kick-ass investment managers, super star CEOs, and the usual success stories of life. No one ever counts the bodies. To get a true picture of what it takes, one has to adjust for sheer dumb luck just from life's randomness. Also, account for stories like “I used to be a charcoal dealer” (who was personal pals with the president) and so on. Survivorship bias skews many policies. One Nicholas Taleb Nassim talks about this in his Fooled by Randomness. While we cannot begrudge adoration to the successful on the battlefield, but shouldn’t we also keep count of the dead bodies and the broken chariots? There’s a good reason why one of life’s most brutal advisories is to ‘never meet your heroes’.

Look, many have switched from buying coffee every day to making it at home; they have fought this good fight for the last many years and are still not millionaires. The mountain has many paths to it. The key is to have a path, and to keep climbing.

We haven’t yet reached that point where all has been said and done, but at whatever point you are, you can’t afford to let anyone downplay the choices you've made in your career. If you love what you do, no matter what it is, hold your head high. I have had the honor of travelling on both sides of the tracks, as an employer and as an employee. This gives me some rights in pronouncing that both journeys are just perfect when you are driven by a purpose. From both, we can derive fantasies or memories. I find memories to be kinder on the soul. And both linear income and passive income have income at their end.

I have been privileged to be involved in the startup ego-system, and I tell you self-employment is not for everyone, and not all hustles are worth it. Spending a day or a week with someone who has left employment to run their own business is the best triage that any budding entrepreneur can ever visit; many times it cures the mild infection of wanting to be your own boss.

A pound of blessings to those who come through that initial shakedown renewed, recharged and reenergized to take on the world as entrepreneurs, innovators, founders, creators and employers; what burns in them is too fierce to be put down by any small or steep obstacle, challenge, doubt or insecurity. Yours is a labour of love and it must be satisfied. Welcome to the other side.

But what does this entrepreneurial triage look like? Your North Star is that thing you do, after your day job, in your free time, very early in the morning, very late at night. That thing you do when you're all alone and there's no one to impress, nothing to prove, no money to be made, simply a passion to pursue. That's it. That's your thing. That's the thing you must, must do.

It's hard to play when you’re outside the field. You must step onto the plate and be ready when your bolt of lightning happens. If you’re radiating the right internal energy, placing yourself in the right spaces and connecting into the right networks, the flash will happen. You had better be well-earthed.

Sometimes you have to remove your sandals for the bush ignite.

Our dreams are within reach, if we are willing to let go of what we think we know and open our eyes to combine our knowns - skills, experiences, talents, competencies - with the unknowns of hopes, dreams, thoughts, aspirations and potential.?If you are ready to try, that new life is possible and very obtainable, once you make that first leap. For those who aren’t ready yet, each day you find excuses about why you can’t do something today, or how hard your life is. Guard your dreams. But at the same time don’t belittle those who are making an effort to change their own lives, to walk away from the crowd. As AI and other technologies begin to threaten careers, you may soon be in their shoes. He who should jump is hesitant if pursuing perfection, yet he who is pushed has no option but to pursue survival. Learning to land on your feet is a life skill.

But isn’t this year on steroids? We keep stepping.

Long-range goals keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures ~ James Cash Penney.