An insight came to me while I was reading the book A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy.
(So much revelation in the first few pages. Go and buy it. You’ll thank me later.)
Yesterday I decided I would look at the new business I’m venturing into as an adventure.
Adventure-centered attitude is the best antidote to FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt).
If my new business is an adventure, then all the obstacles in my way are what makes the adventure interesting. Something to look forward to. A valuable learning opportunity. An opportunity to feel as hero of my own story.
If, on the contrary, I perceive my new business as a potential source of anxiety because of so many unknown unknowns, I will not enjoy the journey. I will only live for that one moment in the far, far future when I will have succeeded.
But what is an adventure good for if you’re not enjoying every minute of it?
Always be yourself. Unless you can be Indiana Jones. Then always be Indiana Jones.
Doesn’t Indiana Jones leave an impression of a man having a lot of fun? Even when you see him in a deep pit fighting snakes?
That’s how I see myself today: as Indiana Jones. Coming to the office in the morning equals to showing up for an adventure.
Hmmm, I wonder what new insights await me as I’m writing and publishing my next newsletter issue.
I wonder what great people I might meet today on Twitter. Maybe some of them become my future friends. Maybe some of them will be delighted about the app I’m working on because it helped their business.
Who knows what this temporary setback I’m experiencing teaches me in the long run.
What is the worst that can happen if I don’t set up this Facebook advertising campaign right?
An adventure-oriented attitude. It’s ten times better than worrying about whether your business would lead you to where you think you’ll be in two year’s time. If the ability to control outcomes is an illusion anyway, why force dissatisfaction on yourself? Simply relax and mindfully enjoy the ride.
Your current time and place is a page from an adventure book. You’re telling your journey’s story on every page of that book, not only at its end.
When I look back at the last decade of my life, I see it as an adventure in learning. What I’ve learned in that period helped to prepare me for the new adventure that’s in front of me.
This thought alone makes me super excited about my future and super grateful about my past. If you ask me what my life’s goal is, it is to live the life of no regrets and to die empty.
Regarding regrets: so far so good :) I’m not ready to die just yet, though. I’ve got work to do.
Image Credit: Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho
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