It is very easy to be pessimistic and right.
Most ideas are bad. Most markets are too early, too small, too crowded, too hard. You can build an entire worldview around seeing the flaw first, and be rewarded for it over and over again
But the strange thing about startups is that the only outcomes that matter come from the places where someone was optimistic and right
I used to underestimate how much this matters. But there is a whole world of difference between reacting to the world as it is, and having enough understanding of the world as it is to still stay open to what it could become
Long optimism
Use your unfair advantage.
“You're supposed to use every unfair advantage you have.
Looks, genetics, connections, dad's money, whatever.
There's nothing noble about choosing the hardest path just to feel like an underdog.” — @PathOfMen_
Darkness is preparation for light.
Sadness is preparation for joy.
Failure is preparation for success.
But only if you keep going and remain open to what comes next.
Nobody decides to live a mediocre life. It happens one reasonable choice at a time. The safer job over the alive one or the bigger paycheck over the better days. Each trade makes sense in isolation. It's only when you zoom out that you see you've spent your one wild life optimizing a number on a screen.
1/ Today, we’re sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Schumer signed by 160 former national security, intelligence, and law enforcement professionals in support of the Clarity Act.
https://t.co/1lSQkoaaXI
Do not build a life around avoiding one honest moment and always choose the pain that leaves you cleaner. The truth may cut for an hour, but the lie will make a home in your body.
Purpose has seasons. What drove you through your 20s will exhaust you in your 40s. Growth means letting your previous selves die without calling it failure.
What’s the harshest truth every young man must eventually learn?
“Everyone is always rooting for you.
Your parents want you to be a great son.
Your wife wants you to be a great husband.
Your boss wants you to be a slam dunk hire.
Every first date you’ve ever been on they’ve been rooting for you to get laid.
Every time you started to tell a joke people hoped it would have a hilarious punch line.
Your proximity to anyone is a reflection of themselves, meaning the deck is never stacked against you, and your failures are completely your own.” — @AdemLuz