You know that feeling you get when you feel like you’ve finally figured something out? When you find the last puzzle piece, make the last turn of the Rubik's cube, you’re overcome with a sense of accomplishment and finality. It’s like you can sit back, breathe deeply, and look at your project, knowing there’s nothing left to be done.
Good feeling, right?
Well, to put it lightly, the road to entrepreneurship is the exact opposite of that.
I hate the road to entrepreneurship because once you start walking, opportunities become absolutely and completely endless. New ideas, possibilities and relationships come to you like flies to summer picnics. They are unavoidable, persistent, and sometimes can be quite a pest. My brain never turns off—even my dreams are filled with a contagious trail of questions and solutions. I’m constantly thinking about what can be better, what the world needs that I can provide, what can be created that will change and shape and help society. My dreams get bigger and bigger the more I surround myself with this world, with people on the same road I’m on. Sometimes it’s like we’re on our own little planet, and on this planet, we reach for the unreachable. We dare each other to fail. We know there’s only one way out—only one option—and that is to succeed. I will never stop feeling like I can do more, push harder, dream bigger—and that’s why I refuse to stop walking this road.
I hate the road to entrepreneurship, because honestly, people kind of hate me for it. It’s a common trend that people tend to think I’m a little crazy, stupid, irresponsible, a shoo-in for ultimate financial disaster, ect. The people on this road are truthfully pretty weird—we have big dreams and crazy ideas. We talk about what could be instead of complain about what is. We are the exception. We saw a life we wanted and instead of wishing for it, we took the leap and did something about it. We invest in dreams and ideas by investing in ourselves, which most see as selfish and unimportant. We tend to be anxious with our time, constantly feeling like we need to be doing something. Each of us carries our own little trail of haters following and watching our every move, waiting for us to fail. Since I began trekking this road, I have about eight people in my life that fully understand "hamster wheel brain," and I have about four people in my life that can carry on a conversation with me for more than an hour without wanting to pull their hair out. Lonely is the wrong word to define it. I would call it more limited. But really, I’d rather be limited to a few ride-or-dies than be misunderstood in a sea of conformists.
“5 percent of the people think; 10 percent of the people think they think; and the other 85 percent would rather die than think.” – Thomas Edison
I hate the road to entrepreneurship because I know I will never become the best version of myself. I will always be shaping, always be changing, always be growing—there will always be possibility for more. I will always be looking for my next best move. I will always be looking for better ways to live the life I’ve been given, to take advantage of my endless opportunities, to set up a life I want to squeeze the juice out of every day. There will always be another book to read, podcast to listen to, mentor to follow, life coach to hire. I’ll never catch up. I’ll never arrive to that, “Ah! I figured it out!” moment. And that’s exactly why I love it. It’s a lot sometimes, to have a mind that never rests, hardly ever settles, and absolutely refuses to accept second best. But it pushes me toward better—not best, but better. In my experience, it’s the absolute best way to live.
“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
