SUCCESS is an Instrument of Torture

Let’s not bull shit each other! We can all agree that at some point in our lives, we have looked at others, what they have and how they got it, and used that to gauge success. Right?

I will be the first to raise my hand and say I am no different and have been guilty of that as well.

I must admit that when I was younger I used to do that and I was all obsessed with SUCCESS. I read frantically every book or article I could get my hands on, like Newsweek, Fortune, The Economist, Forbes - you name it. I was consuming so much content on success, obsessively reading about other people's career stories in a deep search, just blindly hoping to find that life-changing secret that would take me there as well.

Gauging by the amount of books on SUCCESS and the content that surrounds us around this topic, I can make an educated guess that I am not the only one mislead to believe this is the best way and a shortcut to finding SUCCESS.

I decided to write this piece in order to let you in on a secret: SUCCESS is absolute bullshit! It’s like a drug for all those ambitious peeps looking to improve their lives, which should be most of us. I bet we have all been sold on the dream of SUCCESS in one way or another, and made to feel that if we read and follow certain steps we’re going to accomplish something great, without actually getting us any closer to our goal.

I am telling you, this shit is an addiction. It is not worth your time pursuing this pipe dream!

“For you to be successful, you need to picture yourself where you want to be. You need to reach for a distant star, and you will get there. Do this and do that, blah, blah, blah blah.”

I think we have all read similar nonsense before… That’s the crap I am talking about. Unfortunately, I have wasted more time of my life reading useless articles on success than I can dare to call. I, for one, have completely come to terms with the notion that abandoning the fictitious concept of SUCCESS is the best way to go for any entrepreneur or businessman. It just doesn’t exist and therefore my recommendation is that we stop chasing it altogether.

Success narratives are actually condensed versions of a long history which don’t teach us anything of value. Forget about SUCCESS! Instead, we should be focused on the failures endured.

The most valuable learning tool is FAILURE.

When we fail, we learn our limits, and it teaches us how to crush those limits.

The true growth comes from all the stories in the middle of a journey that ended in some level of success as they like to call it. SUCCESS is actually an instrument of torture. It’s a myth that we get sold on to make us feel if we won or lost. It’s a fucken distraction. It’s vital to stop focusing on it!

Here is how I define this shit called SUCCESS:

• Being able to get where I want by doing what I want.
• Having the courage to tell the world they are wrong! - This takes time and isn’t that easy, as not many have the courage to do this. We naturally like to swim with the current.
• Daring to fuck things up on my own terms.

If SUCCESS were a final destination like we’re trained to believe, we would get to this destination and would be like: “OK, I have arrived, now what?”

Think about it, when we obtain something shiny and new, it's only a matter of time before the satisfaction of having obtained that wears off. Kind of reminds me of my high school days when I did track & field. One of my events was the high jump. Once I cleared the bar at a certain height, the hunger for more success inevitably forced me to raise it again, until I hit a wall and had to figure out a way to get better in order to clear that new height.

Instead of aiming for this destination of SUCCESS we’re sold on, just focus on what your ultimate goal and terms are, and be ready to suffer through it. Yes, you will suffer through it. Remember, it’s an inescapable process of torture.

For me this is a far more permanent feeling, than success itself.

FUCK MOTIVATION!

We have all looked at industry leaders like Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and many other successful entrepreneurs, and thought to ourselves, ‘it seems like all these guys have their shit together at all time’.

Let me break it to you! While I haven’t participated in business projects or collaborated personally with any of these guys, I have worked closely with other distinguished tech CEOs, COOs and CTOs, where I have had the opportunity to look under the hood in the most intimate way. Very often society and followers tend to build fan bases and even ‘worship’ such role models, but never ever forget that these guys are humans too, not much different than you and me. They have their ups and downs as well. And they are not necessarily always on the up.

However, what separates those accomplished tech leaders from the rest is the simple fact that they do have one thing firmed up. They can be defined as a group of highly inspired individuals that use Inspiration to effectively recharge or regain their focus.

As human beings we’re wired to be motivated by default. It’s a standard feature in all of us. The most basic and natural form of motivation that most of us can relate to is making a living. Why do you go to work every day? Think about it for a second and be honest with yourself! You wake up and jump out of bed every morning to go to work because you want to generate the economic means in order to support yourself and your family. In most cases you also want to make a difference in your workplace. If I were a betting man, I would be willing to bet that the majority of professionals are drawing motivation from these two reasons.

Q: Is this sustainable?

A: Probably not!

Q: Does this make greats?

A: Probably not!

Kind of doesn’t make a strong case for motivation, right?

Motivating is one of the most common approaches to leadership. Yet the truth is it’s just NOT sustainable over time. Remember how I mentioned before that we are wired with this trait already? Have you ever wondered why do we need more? What’s that vital ingredient that seems to always be missing?

The answer is pretty obvious but elusive at the same time: What we truly need is Inspiration!

As a leader, being able to inspire people is the most powerful trait you can think of. Having the ability to inspire someone or being inspired yourself is a deep-rooted approach that’s sustainable and one that steam roles motivation. It’s that simple!

I am a person that loves to watch and study documentaries that have some sort of biographical nature, as this type of content always presents a story line of some person fighting against all odds. But most importantly it’s about individuals like you and I. It’s not about super humans nor is it about superheroes. It’s about regular people doing big things while finding the inner strength to overcome challenges that all of us have faced.

I am a strong believer that every human being has the ability to do big things if given the opportunity and the environment to develop.

Q: I bet there are some of you that think quite highly of yourself, right?

Q: I bet you also think you just don’t have what it takes to do what the likes of Elon Musk and others have achieved, right?

A: Most of us undervalue our potential on a regular basis. Being able to overcome this shortcoming is what makes the difference between being that 9-5 person that is motivated by the two main reasons listed above, and those that are fueled up by Inspiration, which drives the execution of their bold ideas into industry-changing companies.

We all possess this untapped capability deep inside that’s being stepped on by a heavy weight called self-doubt. The difference, as simple as it sounds, is to figure out the best way for you to take that self-doubt weight that's weighing you down and just remove it.

Some will have great leaders they can rely on to help and guide them while dealing with this, and other will have to figure out what works best for them. I have had great leaders that have inspired me, and at the same time I have also had to find Inspiration in things like music, movies, documentaries, books etc. The beautiful thing is that true Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. There is no universal step by step instruction manual on how to get inspired. This is very much part of our unique fabric as individuals.

Some great inspirational sources:

• A sports event. A big come back and a victory.
• Music. A song like “I believe I can fly” from R-Kelly.
• Movie. The pursuit of happiness (one of my favorites).
• Ted Talks. Simon Sinek’s many great talks.
• Leaders we work with that lead by example.
• Our Kids.
• Coaches.

What Inspiration does for us:

• Gives us emotional strength.
• Provides us with fresh new ideas.
• Drives consistent and positive change.
• Power to create & innovate.
• Enables us to see the realm of alternative possibilities.
• Makes us dream.
• Empowers execution.
• Gives us hope.

You can be someone’s Inspiration without even knowing it!

One of the reasons I started writing again is because I was recently reminded by regular readers of my early blog posts of the fact that they used to get inspired by reading my articles. Many insisted that by keeping them updated on my life experiences and providing them with real-life advice, it helped them overcome many obstacles along the way. If I need to be truly honest, all those words moved me deeply. I had gotten so buried into work that I stopped sharing and little did I realize that I stopped inspiring people. I know I reached a small audience in comparison to some of these other influencers, but the point is that you can be someone’s Inspiration without even knowing it. I really believe that and it’s been proven to me time and time again.

One thing to never forget is that Inspiration can be found in the darkest of places. Don’t be surprised if you’re able to find it in between suffering or soul searching.

Seedcamp Blog Post #2: 20 Things You Should Know Before Becoming An Entrepreneur

Here is my second guest post for Seedcamp's blog. Wrote on 20 Things You Should Know Before Becoming An Entrepreneur. 

If you're an entrepreneur, or looking to become one, this is a must read and something to keep handy as you go down this very amazing journey. 

About Seedcamp: Seedcamp is a new kind of fund, supporting startups from the pre-seed and seed stage. We back ambitious founders from around the world and help them build billion dollar global companies by providing them the right access at the right time to Learning, Network, and Capital. We invest initially from $0-$250K and accelerate them across the P/M fit, traction, growth, and scale stages from seed funding to IPO.

Shortest CEO Speech Ever - IMPACTFUL

Brian Kim, an executive coach I interact with shared this amazing speech with me this morning, and just had to share it. 

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit– are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends and have proper rest. Value has a value only if its value is valued.”

                                                                      -   Bryan Dyson, former CEO of Coca Cola.  

Gotto Keep Going

Ever since I can remember, I have always had this drive and passion for business. Not so much the details of it, although I do love the minutia sometimes, but more so the possibilities business creates for people.

As a child, our family didn’t have much, which means I went without. I didn’t have the GT, RedLine or Robinson BMX bike like the other kids in the neighborhood, or the latest Vans or Nike shoes like my classmates. Was that shiny new bike and good looking shoes too much to ask? Yes. I couldn’t get these things from my parents, as these were considered luxuries.

The WANT drove me to go out and earn my own money by starting a business of my own. A business where I could earn what I needed to obtain the things I wanted, but I couldn't have if I stayed put and did nothing about it, so at the age of 10, I started a grass cutting grass in the neighborhood.

This was my first ever venture, which started with me hitting the streets of my neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking people to let me cut their grass for a fee of $15/cut. My success was almost instant. This effort led me to land 10 clients that paid me $15 per cut every two weeks. The first 5 clients I was able to handle myself, but as the customer base grew, I had to think about hiring help to scale the business. I ended up hiring some friends to help me serve these customers. I remember getting my first payment, I was like "wow, I have actually managed to get someone to give me their money for a service I am providing, this is something that can be big!, I am building an empire here". I had employees and was making real money. At the age of 10, I was dreaming about how I was going to establish a company that had all these "employees" cutting grass on my behalf, and eventually, we would expand it to other neighborhoods.

This business venture taught me one of my first business lessons on the distributions of equity in a business and the power of entrepreneurship. I charged $15/cut and paid my friends (employees) $5/cut, which seemed fair to me, as I was the one that knocked on the doors and got the customers. It was my idea and I executed on it, so why should I split the fees 50/50 with my friends that were helping me? This was a topic of conversation all the time with my friends, they wanted to know why they only got $5/cut vs. my $10/cut. At the time, I knew nothing about business, but I just knew instinctively that this was the right approach and one I needed to hold a hard position on. After all, I knocked on the doors and was the one with the business idea. I didn't have a co-founder.

As entrepreneurs we can sometimes get accused of being greedy, paying too little, not sharing the love with others that are helping us build the company, etc. Here is my take on that, as an entrepreneur we take LOTS of risk and put all we have at risk to build something that may or may not work, YES we have others that help us build the company for a salary that we pay them, even if it's not market rates, but they made the decision to take the job. As an entrepreneur and founder(s) of an enterprise, you deserve the line share of the business and you should never feel guilty about it.

You "knocked on the door' ;)

That grass cutting business lasted for about 8 months. Within the next couple of years, I nibbled away at other business ideas in Jr High and High School. I always had this dream of being a business man.

The other day I was going through some of my things and found this paper I wrote in 11th grade. The title of the paper, 'Business Man'. It's basically a paper describing me in the future. The purpose of the paper was for us to write where we saw ourselves when we graduated high school, what we wanted to be doing with our life and what our life is going to be like. I read through the paper, which was filled with grammatical errors, aside from those, I realized that this paper I wrote in high school, described what I had created in my life. I wrote about starting a business selling CD storage cases. Back in those day, CD’s had just come out, and there weren’t a lot of options for storing this new media.

The paper described my business being a huge success, I had a hundred employees, a really nice car, and a 6,000 sq. ft. home. The teacher had encouraged us to cut out pictures of what we wanted, so in my paper, there were cut outs of the home I would live in and the car I would drive. I look back today and think, “WOW, It’s not that far from what I actually have accomplished in life.” Interesting that I could look back at a paper from 20+ years ago that actually worked out, minus the CD storage business. I actually wrote, back then, what I have become today.

I’ve always dreamt of doing what I am doing today. I've never given up. I have had many businesses failures, and I’ve never given up. Almost so much that my friends and family would think and say, “OK, what is Ivan up to this time?”

Now, I realize that you gotto keep going.

People will wonder what you’re up to, and wonder when you are going to actually “Be There”. You will get so excited about your idea, dump time and money into it, and pour all of your heart into it. You will experience great triumphs, and epic failures throughout your process. Realize, it’s yours and you gotto design your own life and keep going.