More from Val Sopi
In business, the success of a product, depends largely on “who” made it. That is the entire story. And I am talking about the products you rely on. Not the electrical outlets anyone can make. I was reading a really bad Hemingway short story and it occurred to me how it could have been written by anyone, but the bigger–than–life person behind that story is what got it published. Look at all the products you use, there is a pull you feel towards the “who” is behind it. What really brought home this idea to me is that I am about to cancel a product I like because of who is behind it. So the opposite and the negative is true as well. How do you become a person people care about to buy from? You become unapologetically yourself. Not arrogant. Not brash. The “You” you. In your ideal world. And you put a lot of care in the omelette that you make. And you don’t make that omelette just to exchange some cash. You want the person who eats it to feel what you feel when eating such an omelette. You want to improve their life. You want to elevate their human experience. And doing this is really hard if you’re working on something you don’t like. Find your omelette, and go all in. People crave elevating experiences. And yes, the omelette is the software you’re making. But, it can be an actual omelette as well. PS: I love omelettes, hence the analogy.
I've spoken about quitting a few times before. Quitting is an amazing tool in our arsenal that we should be more comfortable in using. We're taught to never quit, but the truth is that learning when to quit is a superpower. We can never quit our ultimate goal, our destiny. That is ingrained in us. It leads us. But, it doesn't mean that it won't be delayed for us if we get distracted by shiny things along the way. The ideal situation is not to get distracted by the shiny things in the first place. But, we do. I do. Though, I'm happy to say that I don't so much lately. But, I've gotten distracted by mediocrity before because it sounded safe and I wasn't brave enough to say "No!" to. Or I had doubts about the journey I was on. And the shiny thing felt safe, even though I knew that it wasn't the right thing. My ask. The promise. Beware of the shiny objects One thing I like preaching about is that quitting is an important tool that must be used on our way to reaching our destiny. Quitting has served me well throughout my life. And I'm not talking about just quitting a job you hate. Big quits. Something you know you should be done with. Something your friends and family may think you're crazy to part ways with. But, you know in your heart of hearts that you're made for more, much more. The hardest part is quitting things that have somehow become a part of our identity. And they don't have to be things that are necessarily dragging us down. They are usually things that keep us in place and stop us from moving on to the next chapter in our journey. The trick is in realizing this. Once we do, everything becomes clearer. Closing old doors makes room for new exciting doors to open.
I always think that I’ll be happy when everything is running smoothly. When X visitors are flowing in, conversions are steady, the app works flawlessly, and revenue is predictable. But that’s not life. And nor is business. Life is messy. And there’s no such thing as perfect. At least, not the version of "perfect" I have in my head. Messy is the perfection. Every chaotic piece, every moving part, somehow coming together to make it work. Look at our bodies: an intricate mess of cells, signals, and systems, all in constant motion, working toward a common goal. What's more, nothing runs in a chronological order. That's only our perception. Things are constantly out of sync. Dancing in the background. Building our simple reality. I want to embrace this more. The unpredictability, the imperfection. The beautiful and disorderly relentless mess of it all. I don't want inbox zero. I don't want to have my life in order. I want to let go more. Not hold the beautiful bird on my hand every so tightly that I squeeze the bejesus out of it. Do more. Do less. Whatever. Live as it comes. PS: I wish I lived more like my writing above.
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