This essay has been a long time coming. Ten years to be exact.
That many years ago, I started driving my oldest daughter to daycare. And, every Thursday since then — now that I’m four years into driving daughter №2 to the same place — has been trash day on the street where the daycare is located.
It also happens to be about the time when I made the decision that I would smartly, carefully and at the right time launch my own business of some kind. All hopped up on Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas, and the impacts of the Great Recession, I was bound to do something great with my abilities and never want for anything again.
Someday. Somehow. I’d launch a legacy-defining business.
But, what business?
Pick one.
I’ve had books planned and shopped, podcasts mapped out and recorded. In 2013, I launched a community for Dads that hasn’t really gone anywhere since. I’ve launched agencies and managed services. I’ve started t-shirt stores, consulted, copywritten, built websites, and mowed lawns.
You name it. I’ve done it. Or, at least, I’ve come up with the idea to.
You see, I have an affliction. An addiction. Every morning, I wake up thinking about the business I’m going to launch, run, and succeed with. But then nothing happens. I get discouraged. Down. Depressed.
Yeah, OK. That’s a bit melodramatic, but you get the idea. Life gets in the way or I get distracted and I don’t meet whatever expectations I set for myself, so I get down.
Then, more Thursday trash days come and go and I’m reminded that I wasted another week. And my “window” to be great is closing quicker by the (trash) day.
Finally, some time passes and I come up with another idea or a different angle on the original idea…and on and on the cycle goes.
It’s a wonderful, horrible, beautiful curse. I have the drive to be great. The skillset to be legendary. The ideas to be a change maker. But, time goes by and I don’t have anything to show for it.
[Disclaimer: I love my life. I have a beautiful family and solid career — both for which I’m extremely grateful and dedicated. But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a scratch I’ve been trying to itch for a decade now.]
But here we are. On another Thursday.
Trash day.
Except, today, on this Thursday trash day, I stand here proud. I stand here energized. I stand here focused.
I’m working on my business. Life is good.
And, what’s funny about the whole thing is that, while I certainly won’t shy away from actually completing something, it’s the journey I’m most excited and energized about. You see, all those years ago, I had a million ideas a minute. Today, I still have them. I just choose to focus my energy into the SaaS company and new category of asynchronous meeting platforms I’m trying to build. It’s a heavy task but one I’m extremely excited for and capable of achieving.
I’ve also found a way to turn down the noise that, for all those years in part, led me to get distracted, discouraged, and off kilter enough to not achieve any progress. To achieve this, I’ve committed to writing. Just like you’re reading here. When I feel the itch, a thought, an idea (whether it’s about fatherhood and parenting, marketing, technology, or even more crazy/brilliant business ideas), I’m just going to write it out or say it out loud. Sorry/not sorry.
And, all the while, I’ll continue to make progress on Asynchly by living by my own reasonable yet self-challenging expectations. Do I have an awesome idea and an incredible opportunity to get it out in the world? Yes. Am I going to let the stress and urgency around pushing a product to market overwhelm me while I try to live my best life as a Dad, husband, and full-time employee on top of that extracurricular activity and effort? No.
I’m going to pace myself and give myself the amount of time, space, and flexibility to build this thing well and according to my life. And for that, I’m going to be happy.
And, on this Thursday trash day and those to follow, I choose to be happy and content with my pace and progress. This essay has been a long time coming, but so haven’t I. And my success will be well worth the wait.
