Most people live a life of desperation. History verifies this story, many years ago people were desperate for food and medication. But for most people the desperation has changed its focus. In our modern world most people are no longer desperate for food, but desperate to be seen, heard and respected by others.
I have a whole rant about tattoos and how they’re a cry for attention, but I’ll stop myself from saying it.
Our tech startup scene is full of people frantically searching for this fabled spotlight of notoriety. If they’re lucky, they’ll feel the make-believe spotlight of 1000+ Twitter followers. For a few hours they’ll get attention in Hacker News, Fast Company Magazine, Inc. Magazine, TechCrunch and Reddit. Ohhhh that bright light and all its glory will feel …sooo good. Now the desperation shifts its gaze from getting attention to keeping the attention.
It’s ego that makes us desire the spotlight. But we tell ourselves that “we’re different”—we want to be heard because it’s about making a living. In reality, our egos fuel most of our decisions but we won’t admit it.
Egos are easy to inflame because it feels good. I’ve made decisions with an inflated view of myself. We’ve hired, taken projects and said things that make us feel good. Decisions guided with ego have never turned out well in the end.
Ensuring my actions are confident but not arrogant is an on-going battle against myself.
If you wanted it to build a product you’d find a way to get time to work on it. If you really wanted to start that new hobby you’d sacrifice something to find the time and money to do it.
I'll define a "Wannabe Entrepreneur" as someone who has never made money from their businesses. Here are the different types of wannabes.
In the past few years I've built go-carts, built a 200+ sq ft workshop, written several eBooks. How do I create a life where I have time to work on side projects?
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