the cost.... of overnight success

success means different things to different people
for some, the notion of success may be grounded in vanity. for others, it may be grounded in something inside of them, that speaks to them. but in a manner that genuinely does not take away from any lifeform (within reason)
however one looks at success, there is no such thing as overnight success
and so and as Jim Rohn would say:

'Set a goal to become a millionaire, not for the money, but for what it will make of you to achieve it.'

the thing is, when you do this, your previous (status quo) self. if you allow them, the previous comfort driven patterns are constantly trying to lure you back. one more cookie, sleeping in isn't that bad (this has been a problem for me), and the fifth family get-together every second week - where the conversations are going to revolve around sports and politics

and so you had a series of setbacks, but you are dreaming of the stars
first of all, by all means and within reason, keep dreaming
but, you also need to have a vision, you need to feed that vision and you need to cultivate chunks of your vision and turn them into concrete plans
it's hard to say if someone can actually predict the future. that being said, since 'science is the engine of prosperity', developing an interest in the sciences can help you begin to understand what is coming next

but seeing that we are largely in a reality where there is a fair bit of dogma and superstition in the world link
see the majority of your time would have been spent on listening to scientists, mathematicians and technologists
but those around you are doing the same old, same old and this same old same old afflicts individuals from all backgrounds, regardless of
lack of vision
no imagination
maybe gaps in basic knowledge across subjects
the list goes on
so as a dreamer who is becoming a do'er and contingent upon where you are from. depending upon a variety of factors, you have to be pre-emptive in your approach that you saying and sharing what you have been learning could be met with discordant pushback
and this discordant pushback is received for a variety of factors
individuals simply don't understand where you are coming from. provided that the reality you are coming from is grounded in an adequate amount of reason
they may not have the mental models that you have developed. for example, I don't really have much of an idea when someone is talking about Calculus. I mean, I can barely begin to map this in my map, rate of change with respect to
and so there is going to be pushback and you will have to learn to deal with it
but you must deal with it in a manner whereby you don't get stuck
and the more you will dream, the more resistance you might face. and I don't really see this being discussed in circles of entrepreneurship

shifting gears, the kind of pushup you will receive may include, but is not limited to:

why don't you get a job. get a real job. think about your child.

wait. this is not grounded in empathy. let's think about it, if you could get a job, you'd get a job tonight
if someone is not asking questions in order to better their understanding, then you cannot build a normal and healthy relationship with that person. that's how they were raised. if that cannot happen or is not happening, then don't take feedback like this personally. make a plan. document your dreams. make a plan (again) and revert back to those plans when the opportunity or opportunities present themselves

never compromise your values. your values should be grounded in reason
I see some people making the mistake of thinking that they are resolute...dare I say...they even claim themselves to be pious. but then I see the person and I am the last person in a capacity to judge anyone. if you ask them, they will tell you, their worldview and then you can make your choices

next, the social network is contagious. here I am not referring to the social media. but rather, the primate brain. thoughts, emotions, feelings, mannerism and even things like choice in music grows upon you. and so, it is really crucial to discern.

you are the product of the 5 people that you will spend most of your time with. - the late Jim Rohn

if you don't have good role models around you, then surround yourself with the books, authors and podcasts. there is possibly an infinite set of wisdom that has been left behind and humans have been thinking deep thoughts for thousands of years
cut the noise and focus on the signals
discipline yourself
think critically of what you do all day and why
think critically of what you think most of the time. and remember, it is crucial to be kind to yourself

back to the cost of success. this is a decade long journey or more. in the situation of Colonel Sanders, it was 65 years in the making! this fellow was cooking for his siblings since he was a child himself and he never gave up. this, is the power of consistency and persistence

man, sometimes people are going to be mean
I remember this one mentor and I paid to take this course and while he was helpful at first, there was something not right with this person
one evening, during the happy hour and under the influence of alcohol, he told me how he really thought about my idea.

it's nothing more than a fish tank

by this time, I had faced a fair bit of rejection in my life. I cannot remember the details, but it wasn't the tough curriculum. it just felt like the time was to leave. listen, if I am paying you money, then the least you can do is share some ideas with me on how I could pivot
there can be passive aggressive behaviors in the entrepreneurial world. who knows what is going on in the private lives of these mentors
the purpose here and if you are reading this is to prepare you. because you will not only face resistance, but you will actually face resistance from people who are supposed to help you.
if you are not making payroll then most of your employees may simply quit. you cannot blame them as they got bills to pay. so if you are an early stage startup and you are thinking, well maybe we can have everyone take a massive pay-cut this quarter. think again
if you don't get sales and then something like covid happens and you have to move back in with your parents, then your partner may leave you. this is reality
I think you get the point
also unless you have good mentors, you are pretty much on your own
the targeted and succinct use of your time is your greatest ally
if you are broke and your venture is not taking off and there is 'stuff' you gotta work on. you need to start now.
you may be able to afford a subscription to Netflix, but time. you then go and try to find free movies on the internet, only to end up wasting more time
you need to stop and be bored in the evening
if you will work all the time, you will get burnt out
and no one cares if you get burnt out

I remember one time, it was the time when covid was going away or had just gone away. I was on a long walk. It is a busy part of the town and there was a large Vietnamese restaurant there. I was by myself and I was looking inside the restaurant. and there were many people there and many families. I was thinking about my child. my stomach was grumbling. I didn't have a particular set of feelings. but it was one of those occasions, whereby if someone offered me food, I was hungry enough, I would just take it. and when it comes to food, I don't make it an issue. I would even feed my enemy and feed them a decent meal, because I don't want their body or brain to suffer. so a stranger, why not. I don't know why I am typing this, I was not angry or bitter. it was just that my stomach was grumbling, and I guess I started thinking about the time when just a couple of years ago I also used to go to a restaurant with my child and my then wife. I always wish all people and families well.

food is one thing. but money
when you take someone's money, you adopt the values
adoption of values from a reality whereby dissent is silenced and the means via which this occurs is not grounded in reason. I think this is a big problem
when you are an entrepreneur, you need to:
manage yourself (your mind, behaviors e.t.c)
manage your energy
be an inventor and an entrepreneur
and find product/market fit
if you have addictions, then you need to manage yourself and manage your addictions. but first you have to be consciously aware that you have addictions
almost no one talks about this, but I've seen casualties in the entrepreneurial circles from my limited vantage point
some otherwise really smart individuals doing some incredibly dumb s**t

you don't focus on self-control to get self-control. you have to change everything, like everything, to have increasingly better self-control. you have to have controls in place. sometimes you don't get second chances. and the bigger you are dreaming, the more likely that someone has got a tag on you. unfortunately, this includes people who you may think are supposed to help you.

if you are struggling with self-control, then everything gets impacted
choose resilience and agility over rigidity
disciplines is a developing set of daily habits. but it's also being mindful of the creeping up of the bad wolf that seeks a particular kind of a feeling
and my personal theory is that that feeling comes from a worldview that powers disconnectedness. which is not a critique of any one world-view necessarily

secondly, it is difficult to uphold the creed (from my limited vantage point as a civilian). in fact you may even be going back and forth so many times. reality is different from what you see in the news and media. you are going to get hit. you will get hit all the time and you will get hit from places you'd least expect and you will get hit in ways that you didn't anticipate. the bad wolf is seeping through and around you

it's what you don't know that is going to hurt ya - Jim Rohn

shifting gears:

so now you are an entrepreneur, and this is more than once that you team has disbanded. maybe it's an entirely new project
you are working on your issues, facing yourself. facing the darkness
as you are doing that, unbeknownst (and I had to google this word) to you, someone's been putting the traps in front of you
there are different kinds of traps. in fact, if you could see there are a whole lot of booby traps
but you are doing the same old, same old
you are working hard 0800 till 2000 and then you come back and watch 3 hours of Netflix while you munch on 1 bag of popcorn
not only are you oblivious to this new pattern you is developing. but you simply don't see the traps
someone wants you to fail. really really badly
you pi**ed them off
you grew up watching a lot of funny movies. but life, my friend, ain't all sunshine and roses
sometimes it's not even about getting punched in the face once. sometimes you are in a cave, you are eating tubers to survive and occasionally someone comes in and clobbers you and you are digging on the wrong side

only the paranoid survive. - the late Andy Grove

you pi**ed them off, now they retaliate. they want you to fail and they want you to fail miserably

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting - Sun Tzu

maybe the traps were all over
maybe the one who set the trap knows your weakness
whatever the reason may be, if you walked into a trap, it's your fault
the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can start digging in the right direction. it's unlikely that someone will throw you a rope ladder

you are now lonely, but you are doing the best that you can
you are climbing out of the cave. you can begin to see the light. that's good. keep moving towards that light. it's not a mirage!
maybe you have the fortitude of realizing that the stuff in your mind (and your environment) is controlling a large chunk of your life
so you find a good evidence based practitioner
you are making mistakes
maybe you are making big mistakes....
you got the shocks and you kept making the mistakes...including the big mistakes!
with the same ol crowd you have been hanging out with

remember what Jim Rohn had said, 'you are the product of....?'

maybe you had a moral failure (I am not referring to moral injury...gotta serve your country)
there is a lot of stress and your anxiety is off the roof

let me ask you a question, do you have a healthy way of dealing with stress?

now a couple of more years have passed by
you wanted to learn machine learning. but now you realize that you didn't pay attention and you were cracking jokes when the teacher for mathematics in middle school and high school was trying to teach you the basic concepts
you also feel guilty. you are like, maybe I can find that fellow and write to him and say I am sorry. I should have paid attention in class
as luck would have it and shifting gears, there is khan academy. alright so you are spending a consistent amount of time there. that's a good start. keep it going

you will meet all kinds of agents and actors
some will actually give you good advice. you need to write it down. you cannot keep it all in your head. no matter what anyone says
sometimes an agent/actor will give you good advice or ask a prompt question. but they will ask it in a manner that is completely cold. something like:

if this is so important for you, why don't you? (why don't you do it)

don't take it personally. make a plan. execute your plan. ask for what you need. rejection is part of the journey. never leave a bad impression

don't get bitter. get better - the late Jim Rohn

don't get too comfortable, Life can change right in front of your eyes. — Unknown

you got a good heart
but you also made mistakes
maybe someone set traps for you
but you walked into it

it's all your fault. get better

because you got a good heart, you make time
you are talking to someone who has been to war. you can feel the hurt. humans are incredibly resilient, but this is real. google hangout and no video on
some weeks pass by and your contact is not emailing you anymore and you are sitting there thinking if it's something you did (but you are very conscientious). but your mind is too preoccupied to think of what's really going on. even when you are doing the 22 day pushup challenge

you got your own demons
how do you address the questions in your mind. it feels like the world has become hostile. you are a dreamer, but no one cares.
you've gotten over the fish-tank and the yelling. now you are listening to Brian Tracy

who you become is who you attract in your life

yes, but this s**t is difficult
putting up a facade is easy. looking at yourself and who you really are....
but this begets the question

who are you?

now your divorce is finalized, and the divorce lawyer actually gave you good parting advice. you just paid for his mortgage for the next 8 months
how do you deal with that stress again?
and why do you have an account on like 3 dating apps. man, got to take a time to think about why the relationship failed in the first place
priorities
separately, maybe you have been living Steve's dream (Jobs), maybe another entrepreneur. you never really took the time to focus on the why

the how will get easier; if you have a strong enough Why - the late Jim Rohn

but the harsh reality is that most early startups are sh**tty. it takes time to build the structure, to then get into the form. maybe it takes a while, just to get you in that disciplined mode. this could be months, years or decades. keep trying. don't settle

discipline is everything - the late Jim Rohn

also, whatever you are working on could get copied in literally 2 second (it used to be weeks or months)
study innovation

don't do it alone. and separately, never go solo

here is another harsh reality
nobody cares
it's not that the middle class is evil. it's that everyone is playing video-games and eating friend chicken or something
they don't even know that you exist

you don't need omnipresence. you need to learn how to provide value

value. value. value. value. value. value. value. value. value. value value. say it with me. VALUE. VALUE. Jump up and down! value. value. value. value. value. value. value. that's right! value. value. value. value. value. Okay, now we are talking. value! value! value! value. value!

the stressors on teams are incredible
the pace of change is increasing
new breakthroughs are emerging faster. now supposedly there is a social network that is reserved for AIs only
separately, new threats are also emerging. here is a sample link

show up. provide value. become a part of the solution. I hope that you aren't part of the problem! if it's the latter, then life will get very difficult! opi is not you.

so what is the structure for your connectome?
how was it shaped?
what does it seek (sensations, stimuli e.t.c)
and how does it seek the sensations?
does it matter to you that your needs are sourced ethically. if not, then you need to take a pause and just sit with this reality
even if this takes an infinite set of lives
maybe your connectome was enabled in a caring and loving environment. on the other hand, maybe you grew up in a tough neighborhood
but what was the meaning that you attached to these experiences?

do the people around you read books? what do they do all day. what stimuli do they put into their hearts and mind. and contingent upon the inputs going into their system, can you really trust them to give you good advice?

this concludes part 01 of this blogpost
as a human you will make mistakes
VUCA will skyrocket
sometimes VUCA affects everyone (tsunami, pandemic e.t.c and other times it is relative)
when your VUCA skyrockets you will either become better or ....there are a whole lot of possibilities
if you make a big mistake, you pay the price. actions have consequences

overall, success is also kind of like that song from the Rocky IV soundtrack:

there's no easy way out. there's no shortcut home. - Robert Tepper

businesses fail
civilizations rise and collapse
but one thing remains consistent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

prepare. prepare. prepare. prepare. prepare. prepare. PREPARE! prepare. prepare! do it now! do it with the resources you got. prepare. I really mean it. prepare now. start now! prepare. prepare. prepare. prepare. prepare!

Credits:

blogpost generated Coach Adeel Khan. non-ai edition
image generated by chatgpt by openai

the cost.... of overnight success - part 01