memenode
New Contributor
I'd like to share some of my recent thinking about the process of success, mostly because I'm interested in what others think about it and because some of my current conclusions might go against some advice I've gotten here.
First of all, how does one define "fastlane"? I think it is different for each person. For some it could be something as modest as making a living doing what he loves and having enough money for all of the pleasures he usually wants to enjoy. He may not drive a lambo, have a big house etc., but he doesn't really want one. If he has everything he REALLY wants, then he is a success and if he accomplished that by his middle ages, who is to say he's not on the fastlane either?
That said, I do have very big dreams, but at the same time at this point I realize that I simply do not know how to create enough value to make even $5K a month, let alone $100K or something huge like that. So what use is it to dream of a step 10 steps away when I still didn't learn how to make the first or second one.
And that's where I come to the doing what I love vs doing what others need dilemma, combined with the dilemma of focusing on a single thing vs. experimenting with multiple. Advice I heard here is that solely doing what I love and experimenting with multiple things at once isn't a good idea, yet from what I understand most of the successful people here went through exactly that stage! I suppose they in retrospect see something that was a key part in the development of their success as a mistake that others should learn not to make.
But what if everyone DOES need to make a similar kind of mistake because it is what they learn upon making such a mistake that is crucial to advancing them forward? In that sense then there really are no mistakes just as there are no failures. There is just a path. And you can either go forward (viewing everything that happens as useful information that helps you move forward) or backward (viewing everything as proof that you're worth nothing and incapable of success).
So I will DARE to do what I love even when I'm not *entirely* sure that the product will be what people truly need. And I will even DARE to adjust my focus management to include side projects where I experiment with other ideas just to gain experience and perhaps find something that could in the future displace the current primary project. I have a gut feeling that the project I'm about to embark on, a project I've been postponing for a whole year because I thought it's not gonna have enough demand or isn't "fastlane enough", is actually something that my whole being lives for.
So if I'm to be disappointed after doing it, so be it, at least I would've had no doubts about it anymore. Either it's gonna be a success or failure, and both is great.
Just do it, I guess that's the REALLY important thing. Everything else is secondary. If you want to do something, just freaking do it. No better way to know. Even if everybody in the world tells you it's gonna be a failure, if you aren't sure about that in your gut, and you'd really love to try, nobody's opinion should stop you.
Ain't that right?
First of all, how does one define "fastlane"? I think it is different for each person. For some it could be something as modest as making a living doing what he loves and having enough money for all of the pleasures he usually wants to enjoy. He may not drive a lambo, have a big house etc., but he doesn't really want one. If he has everything he REALLY wants, then he is a success and if he accomplished that by his middle ages, who is to say he's not on the fastlane either?
That said, I do have very big dreams, but at the same time at this point I realize that I simply do not know how to create enough value to make even $5K a month, let alone $100K or something huge like that. So what use is it to dream of a step 10 steps away when I still didn't learn how to make the first or second one.
And that's where I come to the doing what I love vs doing what others need dilemma, combined with the dilemma of focusing on a single thing vs. experimenting with multiple. Advice I heard here is that solely doing what I love and experimenting with multiple things at once isn't a good idea, yet from what I understand most of the successful people here went through exactly that stage! I suppose they in retrospect see something that was a key part in the development of their success as a mistake that others should learn not to make.
But what if everyone DOES need to make a similar kind of mistake because it is what they learn upon making such a mistake that is crucial to advancing them forward? In that sense then there really are no mistakes just as there are no failures. There is just a path. And you can either go forward (viewing everything that happens as useful information that helps you move forward) or backward (viewing everything as proof that you're worth nothing and incapable of success).
So I will DARE to do what I love even when I'm not *entirely* sure that the product will be what people truly need. And I will even DARE to adjust my focus management to include side projects where I experiment with other ideas just to gain experience and perhaps find something that could in the future displace the current primary project. I have a gut feeling that the project I'm about to embark on, a project I've been postponing for a whole year because I thought it's not gonna have enough demand or isn't "fastlane enough", is actually something that my whole being lives for.
So if I'm to be disappointed after doing it, so be it, at least I would've had no doubts about it anymore. Either it's gonna be a success or failure, and both is great.
Just do it, I guess that's the REALLY important thing. Everything else is secondary. If you want to do something, just freaking do it. No better way to know. Even if everybody in the world tells you it's gonna be a failure, if you aren't sure about that in your gut, and you'd really love to try, nobody's opinion should stop you.
Ain't that right?
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