Weekly Spark #185: Build What YOU Want
In the last Weekly Spark, we talked about building your life as a company. We talked about how you are the CEO and you establish the culture, brand, team members, goals, visions, missions, core values, and processes for your company. You hold the keys. You are in the driver’s seat. You have the ultimate authority and responsibility for the successes AND failures of that company. It’s liberating, but scary. At the end of the day, you can build what you want. Let’s talk about what that means.
That means you have full autonomy- you can self govern the company however you see fit. That also means you have full responsibility- the wins and losses all lead back to you. Interestingly enough, we live in a world where people want that autonomy, but don’t want the responsibility. They want the opportunity to self-govern, decide how they want to live, and feel like they’re in control, but don’t want the wins and losses all to lead back to them. Why? It feels a lot better to say “yep I was the guy or girl responsible for making that happen” when things go well than it does to say “yep I was the guy or girl responsible for making that happen” when things don’t go well. It’s a blow to the ego. That leads people not to put everything they have into building whatever they are building. That also leads them to outsource building their company to others. It’s a hedge; when things go south, they can pin blame on other circumstances or people, and preserve their ego. In this context, the companies with the most significant returns come from people who have made all-in investments, big bets on themselves, without hedges, and accept where the road leads. You are in control and can build what YOU want.
You build what you want. Not what your parents want. Not what your friends want. Not what your partners want. Sure, it makes sense for them to have some sense of influence, but at the end of the day, every decision comes back to you. You are solely responsible, regardless of outside influence, for pressing the button, pulling the lever, and making the decisions. I see a lot of people who will build something because their parents wanted them to or because they thought that’s what society wanted to do or because that’s what they felt that their partners or their friends wanted them to do. Only problem is that it wasn’t in line with what their heart wanted them to build, and they became predictably unhappy. Sad. These are the types of people that will continue to blame circumstances and just be continuously unhappy, and likely not do anything about it. Blaming circumstances without action is a classic ego-preserving thing to do, but really makes no sense when you think about how YOU are in control.
How can you appropriately consider the ideas and inspirations of others while ensuring that you are building the company that YOU are meant to build? I call it the mutual fund of knowledge. Think about the concept of a mutual fund- a diversified investment across a broad base of securities. Not 1 or 2, but in some cases, hundreds or thousands. How can you create your own mutual fund of knowledge? You consider the perspectives and teachings of your parents, siblings, partners, friends, coworkers, and other important people, but they’re appropriately weighted. You have to know the people who deserve ZERO influence into your mutual fund of knowledge and have the poise to recognize who does deserve influence, and how much. For example, my mom and dad will have a higher weight on how I live my life than any of my coworkers (with all due respect to the legends I work with), but even they don’t have 100% authority for how I build my life. I’ve built (what I consider to be) a very tactful mutual fund of knowledge, considering a wide range of perspectives, that I synthesize and go out and use in the world. This approach has been very helpful for me and I’m certain for you. Think about all of the wonderful people and perspectives that you’ve been met with in your life. How can you craft your own mutual fund of knowledge and use that to build a bigger, better, and more fulfilled life/company?
Let’s look at another example. Let’s say Johnny has been working hard but he consistently complains about financial pressures. He doesn’t feel that he has enough money to live the life that he wants. Yet he goes out and blows money on trivial things, or things that add little value. Ok so he couldn’t make his rent payment but he could blow money on a watch or luxury clothes? Either he really wasn’t all that concerned about money in the first place, or money wasn’t the issue that he made it out to be. We see this in a lot of arenas- finances, fitness, social circles, etc. People’s actions are a vote for the type of person they want to become. If people were to evaluate the type of person that you want to become based on YOUR actions, what would they say? Believe what people do, not what they say.
Build what you want. Establish the forest and then decide on the trees. Get the right people on the bus. Establish the culture, brand, team members, goals, visions, missions, core values, and processes in alignment with what YOU want. Enjoy.
Mental Diet
Quote of the Week:
“Change. But start slowly, because direction is more important than speed.” - Paulo Coelho
I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Until next time… Take care of yourself and take care of each other. 🙏
Nathan