I have been fascinated with things that this dude Grant Cardone says. But I think I like the idea that making money is a game and you just have to learn how to play the game. I don’t think any of us are really taught how to play that game.
I played the lets build a tech startup game. I didn’t like that game too much. I don’t really want to play that game again anytime soon. But what’s really interesting is the micro and small business game. Maybe it’s interesting to me because it’s new. I will have to relearn everything I thought I knew because I think in this game the rules are all different. But it’s fun to start from scratch. The good thing is that I have nothing to lose, and lots to gain. I want to create a crash course for myself in micro and small business (building them). I think that would be fun. The other caveat is that I have to start with little or no money. That’s also an interesting constraint.
But I think it’s possible. Actually I know it’s possible because I’m reading about so many people already doing it. Which is inspiring. It’s not rocket science. We’ve all probably done harder things in life. I think it’s just committing to it and trying a bunch of things that probably won’t work, until something clicks. And that’s called the reality of the world.
I feel like I’ve heard so many people talk about this in slightly different ways, and even in different contexts. Some people call it asking $3 questions vs. $3M questions (business people). I the more spiritual world, I’ve heard people refer to it as asking “more empowering questions” to the Universe. Either way, there’s a lot of smart people saying something similar, which means that there’s probably something to this concept.
I’ve been trying to practice that around me too. Instead of asking “why don’t I have enough for *insert some goal or desire here ” I want to ask “What would it take for me to *insert big idea here*”. Even in the business context, when I went through Y Combinator, I think mentors played a critical role in asking the right questions. For example, a classic question was always, “What would it take to accomplish your 10 year plan in 3 years”? It’s less about actually doing it, but more about realising what are the limiting factors to success, and focusing on those. Or sometimes it’s about just asking for the right resources to accomplish your 10 year plan in 3 years- I mean why not if it’s possible?
I think asking better questions helps us see more possibilities in the world. It helps us think beyond ourselves and imagine something bigger.
Because I believe that if you can dream it you can do it.
I think a lot of time the problem is really dreaming big enough, and figuring out what resources you need to make that happen.
It’s been a long long long long long time. Did I mention it’s been a long time? It’s been a long time. But when your company blows up in your face I imagine it takes some time. But also, I think the upside to the company blowing up in your face is you realize that your life is more than your company.
I was telling my friend who is going through a hard time right now that usually the most painful things in your life tend to actually be the windows to something way better. Obviously not in the moment or anything (because lets face it you just want to punch people in the face and hide in the closet the whole day- usually oscillating between both of those things) but lots of time afterwards, it’s usually something that you can see the positive change that it produced in your life.
For me, the whole company blowing up opened my eyes to a whole new world really. Where not everything has to be about work (GASP). I’m a Type A person so this is especially hard for me, but sometimes when you don’t have anything else to do, all you really can do is…relax. Appreciate all the other stuff life has to offer. Take up a job that you can actually do pretty well at. You know, with goals and deliverables that aren’t like…MAKE SURE THE COMPANY DOESN”T DIE.
And I’m not going to lie, it’s been really nice to actually do well at something for once (at least in my own head) where I think that I’m doing all right. I have no idea what my boss thinks, but all things considered I think I did all right. And even if she says otherwise well…I disagree. So there. I’ve also realized that you being happy with your own work (regardless of what other people think) Is actually the most important thing. Way more important than how successful other people think you are, or how well other people think you’re doing.
I also started listening to podcasts again (which I highly recommend) and I was listening to this podcast by with Lewis Howes and Grant Cardone. There’s a lot of people who this will probably rub the wrong way, but I realized sometimes you just have to be in the right mindspace for it to hit. It was hard for me to listen to this, but one thing that struck me (and there were many many things that struck me but this is the most relevant right now) is that Grant Cardone only took off when he was 50 years old.
Let me say that again- HE TOOK OFF AT 50. Which to me was really inspiring. Our society really likes to talk about young people making it big, but the reality is probably more like…as people get older they get smarter and they are in a better position to succeed. Being young has its advantages, but damn, so does being older! And I must say I think I’m still pretty young. I feel pretty young. I feel like I have so much more to offer the world. I feel like I’m just getting started.
It’s time to start thinking about what that looks like and how I can contribute more to the world around me. What problems am I passionate about solving now at the age of 34?
So I Quit My Job and Moved to India 