The more examples we have of this being possible--not even just 6 figures, but 6 figures sustainably, humanely, joyfully, kindly--the more the collective mental model shifts.
People will be dicks sometimes. It’ll maybe be one comment every couple weeks, but it’ll come. That’s about them, not you. Can you imagine having the audacity to say something shitty/belittle/talk down to a MARSHMALLOW vendor on a Saturday morning at an idyllic farmers market? Those who don’t lift us up are not our people. As they walk away, let their words leave with them. This is a skill, it takes time to cultivate. But I promise it’s cultivatable.
Am I a high achiever? Sure. Do I have big goals and bigger dreams? Totes. But outer success is not worth sacrificing my inner peace. For me, they MUST coexist. I refuse for these to be in opposition. And in my experience, the latter feeds the former in ways I never could’ve imagined.
Entrepreneurship is forever accepting the season we’re in and remembering no season last forever. An endless any-season would get tired after a while, anyway. It’s realizing that if we were “doing our best” 100% of the time, it wouldn’t be our best, it would be our norm. Allow 70-80% most days to be a big win, and allow 0% days to be honored as a springboard back up. Keep that magical macro of it all in sight when the micro feels frustrating. Allow frustration to become a compass towards smoother seas.
If you’re not a small business owner, the best way I can describe this time of year is: the moment you turn out a 1000 piece puzzle onto the table. You know there’s a beautiful image in there somewhere, but my gosh right now it sure resembles CHAOS. some pieces are up, some are down, some are stuck together even though they shouldn’t be, oh baby what have I done?
Let’s talk about stories. The ones we tell ourselves, about ourselves. Starting a business forces you to dispel a lot of them, quickly. Thriving in your passion and living in illusions can’t exist in tandem.
Before making any decision, all potentialities feel equally as “right” as they do “wrong.” Living in imagined futures is paralyzing and so often we end up floating somewhere in between, in non-committed commitments. But once you CHOOSE, and do so wholeheartedly, from a place of love, and alignment, and Your Baby-Oh-So-Unique Truth, life rearranges around your resolve, revealing a new future you didn’t even know possible.
Two people could be making the exact same cookie, and you’re going to experience that cookie very differently based on the person talking to you about it. YOU are your strategic edge.
People will be dicks sometimes. That’s about them, not you. Can you imagine having the audacity and lack of compassion to say something shitty to a small business owner at a farmers market? They don’t understand the level of courage and creativity it takes to get even as far as you have. Those who don’t lift you up are not your people. As they walk away, let their words leave with them. This is a skill, it’ll take time.
But a revelatory moment for me was the day I realized that deeply uncomfortable things existed inside my comfort zone. That the bed I was free-falling into wasn't actually all that soft. Pain was in there, struggle was in there, swallowing words I knew to be true, allowing my experiences to be minimized - a cacophony of circumstances that felt like shit, were all right there inside my comfort zone. I felt safest in discomfort.
