I know it's tough, I know you feel like you can't go another day, but - and trust me on this - it will get better.
It may feel like the world is collapsing around you, and it may actually be collapsing around you, but just hang in there. One more step.
We live in a world that is unpredictable, unfair and relentlessly brutal. A world that sucks in so many ways. And this year feels like it's hands-down the absolute worst.
But it's also a world full of hope, wonder and a dazzling beauty that will blow your mind each day.
The sun still rises with the promise of a new blessing, and the moon ethereally glows with the promise of a guiding light in the midst of the darkness.
Let this thought guide you, always, towards hope. Let this certainty renew you each long day and each longer night.
You're here, now. Against all odds. Despite - and in spite of - everything stacked against you, you're here.
Holding on.
You have done so much, you have walked for so long and for so many years, and you have struggled so very much.
And, you're here.
Against all odds.
So, when everything fails, when you feel like you're at the end, just hang on.
Find the small things that give you joy, and the places that renew your soul and hang on to those.
Find people that lift you up, cheer you on, and run with you and spend (more) time with them.
Remember, always, the good things, and learn from the bad ones. The lessons have been tough, but they've made you stronger and wiser.
Celebrate life, in whatever small way you can and cherish the moments of peace you can find, like the laughter of friends or a gentle breeze.
Make time for you - as much as you can - and jealously guard that time. Be selfish with your peace, and generous with your love and kindness.
But above all, celebrate life, every single day.
And hang in there. One more step.
I'm rooting for you.
We all are.
:-)
King
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2017 was the peak of my professional anxiety. I had to shutter/close two of my companies because of insurmountable financial challenges. Fundi Bots was struggling and I was neck-deep in debt.
I fell into a deep depression.
I walked away from every single business I was a part of and decided to focus exclusively on Fundi Bots.
I gave away everything that had value so that I could settle some of the outstanding debt and wrote post-dated cheques to debtors to avoid litigation (+ possible jailtime).
I heard so many hilariously painful rumours about all the interesting things I had done with people's money (staff, clients and debtors).
I lost so many great friends, many of whom I had employed or known for years.
It still remains my darkest business year to date.
Jetlag + Insomnia have me in a vice. I'm currently on a fundraising trip and wanted to share the work behind the scenes.
This is a long thread on fundraising as a social entrepreneur.
Grab a coffee or tea and let's dive in.
A thread🧵
You already know this, but social entrepreneurship is hard. Entrepreneurship of any sort is hard. For most of us, we're navigating a dream that won't let us rest until we see a problem solved. And this dream keeps us awake, night after night, month after month, year after year.
Not only must we convince ourselves to walk this journey, but we have to convince people to walk with us, starting with our friends and family who join when we have nothing to give back, but support us regardless, because they believe in us and/or they believe in the dream.
Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind. We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our “opinions” based on superficial impressions or borrowed ideas of others.
Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone. As Paul Graham observed, “prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like.”
Be generous. Be generous with your time and your resources and with giving credit and, especially, with your words. It’s so much easier to be a critic than a celebrator. Always remember there is a human being on the other end of every exchange.
The person who tells the most compelling story wins. Not the best idea. Just the story that catches people’s attention and gets them to nod their heads.
Something can be factually true but contextually nonsense. Bad ideas often have at least some seed of truth that gives their followers confidence.
Behavior is hard to fix. When people say they’ve learned their lesson they underestimate how much of their previous mistake was caused by emotions that will return when faced with the same circumstances.
If there's anything that "Grit" is teaching me, it's that my practice has been sub-par and unsatisfactory both in intensity and deliberateness.
It echoes a concern I recently mentioned to @joelanthony23: I believe I'm severely underperforming and not truly committed to learning.
What's increasingly standing out for me is that my goals are not as wild as I initially assumed, but pretty achievable in the grand scheme (and timeline) of things.
So what I'm lacking is the intentionality of deliberate practice, alongside a dedicated learning plan.
This summary from "Grit" lays it out clearly.
The basic requirements of deliberate practice:
1. A clearly defined stretch goal. 2. Full concentration and effort. 3. Immediate and informative feedback. 4. Repetition with reflection and refinement.
Even among the most ambitious individuals, learning plans are rare. Most people are reactive. They don’t plan. Like surfers in a violent ocean, they surrender to their environment.
They direct their attention towards the never-ending shouts of email newsletters, friend recommendations, and social media feeds.
We can do better.
What Should You Do?
Learn in three-month sprints and commit to a new learning project every quarter.
Even the longest projects are simply a collection of short term tasks. Knowing that, you should break down the project into daily increments, and create a series of daily and weekly goals to learn the skills required to complete the project on time.