“Who wrote the software running in your head? Are you sure you actually want it there?” – Elon Musk
The voice in your head is right:
You’re not where you should be, right now.
In fact, you’re way behind where you should be.
The matrix must have slipped you the blue pill, ‘cause now you’re behind 99% of people, and if that doesn’t drive you into an anxiety-induced monk mode, you might be destined for modern slavery forever.
Now, be honest…
Deep down, you suspect I’m joking.
But that little bastard in the back of your mind still kind of believes me, and he’s actually pretty riled up right now.
So let’s try to calm him down with a little story-time and a warm cup of reality.
Here goes…
The other day, I had a coaching call with a 19 year old founder who is running a $20k per month agency.
Impressive, right?
He didn’t think so.
“I just feel like I’m so far behind where I should be,” he says.
“Everyone I look up to was ahead of me, at my age.”
I black out for a moment before drooling a response:
“Huh?”
“You coached Ben Bader. He was making way more money than me at 19.”
“Bro, Ben would have been the first to tell you he was ripping bongs in his dorm room at 19. He joked about that all the time. You’re years ahead of where he was.”
His eyes go wide.
“Oh… Well, what about you, then?”
“I hadn’t even made my first dollar, at your age.”
When we finally untangled the mess of false ideas in his head, we realized:
Not only is he not behind…
He’s actually ahead of everyone I’ve ever worked with, everyone I’ve ever met, and damn near everyone I’ve ever heard of.
If entrepreneurship was a racetrack, he’d be lapping us all.
And yet, he still believed he was behind.
That’s how insidious this idea is:
It tricks even the best among us into thinking that if we don’t have a Lambo by the time we graduate high school, we’re failing.
Meanwhile, most successful entrepreneurs don’t break through until their late 20s, at the earliest, and more often their 30s and 40s.
Don’t believe me? Check the scoreboard:
LinkedIn was launched by a 36 year old.
Red Bull was launched by a 41 year old.
Adidas was launched by a 49 year old.
Starbucks, a 51 year old.
The list goes on (and on, and on), because those aren’t the exceptions, they’re the rule.
And, most of the exceptions you see online — the 20 year old, Lambo-driving info-bros — are:
Exceptionally rare
Usually exaggerating
Often secretly broke, because they have big top-line revenue but almost no profit.
(not all of them, of course — but the percentage is so high it would shock you)
Now, I’m all for having a sense of urgency.
And don’t mistake this message as a reason to wait around for Mercury to align with Saturn so you can finally write your first Tweet.
But when that sense of urgency cannibalizes your creative energy and fills your head with anxiety and overwhelm, it’s time to pluck the Zyn out of that little bastard’s mouth and tell him to shut him the fxck up so you can finally think clearly again.
Bottom line:
The voice in your head is wrong.
But more importantly:
It’s not even yours.
It’s the voice of someone who made a post once that snuck a false idea past your filters when you had your guard down.
And now it’s time to put your guard back up.
Take back your mind.
And get back to work.
- T
P.S. Balance the message in the email with this one (starts at 1:08:52)
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