Are you getting a little too comfortable in your bubble? Time for a breath of fresh air. It’s not all about where you are right now. You still have a long way to go.
Is this real? Do people truly think I’m successful? Is this what it feels like? Am I really doing so well, hitting success that good, that fast? Damn, I must be great…or am I?
Sometimes, I feel good about myself. I hate those times—maybe because I think they’re fake, temporary moments of joy and self-satisfaction, knowing that I’m only 0.0001% of where I want to be…or maybe because I just despise the feeling of being on top of my world, as it puts me right back into my comfort zone. I don’t like thinking that I’m doing great, because I know that this is where I could stop growing—or at least slow down imperceptibly. I don’t want to do that. Why would I ever do that?
As long as I have oxygen going through my nostrils and processed by my lungs, pumping warm blood through my heart and giving my brain energy to think, then I sure as hell should use it. My time is limited. It’s not thinking about life as a rat race.
IT’S NOT ME TRYING TO SPEED UP SO I CAN CATCH UP WITH OTHERS. IT’S ABOUT ME REACHING MY MAXIMUM POTENTIAL: ACHIEVING THINGS THAT ELEVATE HUMANITY TO PLACES WE NEVER THOUGHT EXISTED, TO DO THINGS WE NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE. IT’S NOT GREED. IT’S AMBITION.
I wrote this letter to my future self, to read whenever things seem to be too great. I want this to be a slap in the face for when I think I’m too good—when I get interviewed for a newspaper, magazine, or a TV channel for my “achievements,” when I’m asked to speak at a conference to tell the world my bullshit “success story” and get told how “inspiring” I am. While I might be to some, and that makes me happy, I don’t want it to be the only thought in my head every day.
Dear Self,
You live in a place where it is not that difficult to reach the top, mainly because of low competition in a small place. It’s easy to be Number One, so don’t fool yourself. People tend to glorify efforts at a very immature stage. A lot of entrepreneurs around you will fall victim to this seductive, temporary feeling of success at such moments of fame. It gives you a shallow sense of achievement. It might cloud your vision to think that the finish line is so close—if not behind you already.
This idea has always frightened you…and it should. Because damn it, nothing in this world is more powerful than your source, and nothing is more growth-destructive than comfort. Be very scared that you might fall into this trap, even for a day. You don’t want to feed your ego, because you know that it could grow big enough to eat you. And if this can be a gentle (or harsh) wake-up call to you, then I’m happy to know it helped.
Remind yourself of your gigantic goals constantly: what you have set for yourself to achieve in your lifetime. If you feel that you are truly close to achieving them, then they weren’t that big in the first place. Reassess, set greater ones, and get back into the game.
You need to keep pushing yourself beyond your limits. Understand that this means you keep working after you hit your goals. Never stay satisfied. Never settle. People around you might call you greedy, robotic, and blinded by money, success, or fame. Ignore them. Who are you hurting if you keep working toward amazing new goals that benefit you and other people? No one. Who are you helping if you stop doing that? Also no one. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should work 24/7, 365 days a year. You have to take some time off to think and reflect on what you’re doing every now and then…but that’s another story.
Things will be amazing, you will feel greatness, and you will sense your achievement at the end of the tunnel. But if you go through that every day, you will not move forward an inch.
Regards,
Your Younger Self
