You’ve become the one other people wonder about
It’s not a fluke
You can let them come to you
You get more credit than you deserve
It’s easy to get complacent
Everyone says they knew it all along
It’s fun
There’s more interesting opportunities
You think it just might last forever
It feels like justice
Winning, like not winning, is simply a different set of problems to embrace and navigate.
When you show up to your gate at the airport you find bunch of other people wanting to get to the same place as you do. No one called each other to coordinate…everyone just showed up because they heard this plane goes there.
If no one else was there, there wouldn’t be a flight. But everyone is there, so there’s a flight AND everyone shares the cost.
In music this sort of thing has happened…Nashville, New York, LA. No one told musicians to move there but because they did (and continue to) it’s ultimately easier to get to the desired destination.
Being around people who want to get to a similar place as you will make the journey more likely, more fun, more efficient…even with all the turbulence along the way.
When you have the opportunity to see some of your dreams become reality…the dreams aren’t quite so dreamy.
Let me clarify…
They can be just as rich and monumental and meaningful, but you find out the gritty, boring, long term work that has to happen…which isn’t quite as fun as that late night conversation pouring out the dreams of your heart.
It’s great to dream. But whichever dream you decide to put action behind, you’re choosing to take out some of the romanticism in favor of building it into a reality.
I met the guy who makes the buns for Zaxbys Nibblerz.
He doesn’t own a restaurant. He doesn’t manage one. He doesn’t come up with the menu items, or train the cashiers.
He makes one part of one menu item for a chicken place. And has a wildly successful business.
If you’ve been trying to open a restaurant for a while and it’s just not working…consider a career making the buns.
We love a good step by step process. We identify where we are, where we need to go next and what victory looks like when we complete the last step.
i.e. Here are the steps, now go as fast as you can.
But some processes aren’t meant to speed through…
Making a friend
Writing a song
Building a culture
Grieving a loss
There are books and outlines and podcasts and courses on topics like these, and while they’re helpful, it’s easy to think that if you’re not completing the final step that you must be behind in the game.
The goal isn’t to get to the end. Speed isn’t a key ingredient. Rather, the goal is to experience the sturdiness that comes from each step.
In business we spend a lot of time convincing the other people that they need what we’re offering.
It’s impossible to know what the group of people needs but we make an assertion, put action behind it, and see how it plays out.
In business this is great.
But in relationships it’s better to just ask what the other person needs rather than spending time guessing and putting energy into filling a need that isn’t needed.