EPTA sense of personal fulfillment.
A sense of being able to grow.
Embracing uncertainty is scary. As we age, our risk-tolerance goes down. My dad once said, your 20s are the time to do whatever the fuck you think is interesting. In your 30s you need to start getting settled. In your 40s, you're on your way to making the bucks.
His main point about making 'the bucks' - was that one shouldn't sacrifice his 20s for the sake of money. As in the 20s, were more beneficial as a fertile growth period than for resource accumulation.
One of the barriers to taking risks is money. Say you want to start a business - it requires a financial investment, a time investment, an emotional investment. There is competition. The chance of failure is high. For this reasons, the opportunity cost of starting a business usually means most people don't start businesses. There's the added intrinsic problem that if you want your business to be successful, you have to be devoted to it, which can feel a bit constricting. It's much harder to separate life and work, when your work is a defining part of something you are creating in your life.
Seeing my friend, swim upstream against the path of comfort, has motivated me too to take this swim as well.
I have a business idea and a product. I have ideas on how to market it. I think I have a populace who will desire it.
Most of all, I have garnered an amount of disposal income that I don't mind risking. Money is an enabler. It lets a person do things. So what's holding me back? The fear of something. The fear of the unknown?
I will still have a day job. If I fail, I will be emotionally devastated. Financially, it would be like placing a bet on the stock market and having it flop. Money is replaceable. Regardless whether I succeed or fail, I will grow from the experience. I will have to hope the growth skews in a positive direction.
I have had many regrets in my life, none that were life-altering, but still, many wishes to be able to redeem the past and make action replace inaction. In life, we always have a choice to portray as weak or strong. When talking to someone, you can be afraid, or you can be not afraid. What results is two entirely different conversations. If you are strong, you increase the likelihood of a positive outcome. So why be weak? Why be scared? If you know you're going to do something eventually, why postpone? Why not do it now?
I think the reason for the procrastination is a belief of incompetency. Possibly, you are actually incompetent and thus your subconscious knows success is unlikely because you haven't developed the skills necessary. Possibly, you are not incompetent, but you feel like you are. I think I fall into this category.
I am scared because it is entirely new. I have never been the big boss. I am scared because I lack experience. But here's what I do know.
One day, maybe 5 years, 10 years from now, I will definitely do it. It's a gaurentee that in this life time, I will definitely try. When I think about it like this, much of the misgivings wash away. If I have to do it, then there is no point diddling myself.
If you know where you must go, then go. Fuck the haters.
