I wrote “You are already a millionaire, all you have to do is show up”. How many successful people have you heard saying: Did I always know that I would succeed? It’s called zen business.
Maybe this is the ultimate certainty, or maybe they realized that they were sent to earth for something and executed on it, but my article came to one important conclusion – if you know that you will succeed, then you will succeed. You just can’t quit. If you show up every day, do what it takes to be successful, then you will become one.
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Conclusion: stop worrying about it and enjoy the ride.
I’m guilty of trying to force myself to get where I want to go. You know the type – if you’re late, you’re in a hurry, if times are tough, you work longer and harder, and when things go wrong, you’re very hard on yourself…
Where are you rushing to?
Everyone says it’s about the journey, not the destination. Either this is nonsense or everyone just forgets to practice this little critical cliché. I look around (and inside myself) and see a hell of a lot of stressful people in our purposeful society… Wherever they go, they are in a hurry.
As I have learned for myself and am trying to convey to our readers at Under30CEO, enjoying the journey is extremely difficult when you are always looking at the prize. When you’re so focused on where you’re going, you forget to stay calm and present. If you truly believed that traveling was the fun part, you would stop worrying so much about the future.
If you’re like me, you’re in a hurry to fulfill your potential, live up to expectations, and “be all you can be” like we’ve watched too many US Army commercials. Well, my potential is not a destination. There is no dollar sign in front of my potential. And my potential, of course, does not depend on whether 500 thousand people read Under30CEO every month or a million people.
What I know for sure is that I want to inspire and lead people, to be creative, to create something that has an impact on the world and has a positive impact on the people I come into contact with. And I know damn well that I do it better when I’m relaxed, in the present moment, and not tense.
It’s about the process
This fourth of July I went to the beach with my co-founder @Jared OToole for a little rest, relaxation and “meetings on board” on the water. Luckily, Yvonne Chouinard’s “Let My People Go Surfing” ended up on the beach with us, where I quickly read the first 120 pages. The very answer I was looking for appeared – it’s all in the process.
Yvonne Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, talked about how he never tried to build a huge outdoor gear empire, instead, like in surfing or rock climbing, he focused on the process rather than the goal. In surfing, you don’t know how big a wave will be or where it will take you. Instead, you focus on the mechanics of boarding and the flexible technique of catching the next big wave that comes your way. For Yvonne, it wasn’t the size of the company, but the process of creating a quality product over and over again.
Hold on for the ride
By focusing on the process rather than the goal, you spend your time and energy solving significant problems instead of being overwhelmed, nervous, and worried about where you are going. You focus on the present and things that you can decide right now.
Like my friend @HisBeamEarth told me that when you’re in a tailspin like a fighter pilot, you just have to let go of the situation and stop fighting it. Just like in the stock market, you will figure out how to somehow get back in the right direction. An experienced trader would tell you that historically the market has always risen over time if you look at the big picture. If you apply this approach to your business and life, we can all learn to stop fighting it and enjoy this feeling in the back of our stomachs – that’s why we ride this roller coaster in one way or another.
Matt Wilson is the co-founder of Under30Media and an adventurer in residence at under 30 Experience.
Follow @MattWilsontv
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