As I reflect on the year 2022, an annoying fact stands out - I had achieved most of what I wanted when I was 22. At this point, I had my own company and employees, my podcast show with a decent group of audience, my books published on Apple Books, and a scientific career as an oncology researcher along the entrepreneurial way. However, I am lost from staring at this almost completed checklist. Therefore, I faced the problem of not dreaming big enough a few years ago, and here are my reflections.
The problem of not dreaming big enough and You are more capable than you think
I had nothing but imagination when I thought about quitting my full-time job and starting my own company. Unfortunately, the likelihood of my dream coming true was deemed to be as low as me being a 7-foot NBA player. I was wrong. In entrepreneurship, it was more a matter of execution than qualifications. You don’t need anyone’s approval to start your own business and shoot it in different directions. I was also wrong about the correlation between the number of initial capitals and the startup’s likelihood of success. There was no such correlation. Building a company from scratch is sweat and tears, which cannot be avoided with any amount of cash. Money, or capital, is just an amplifier of anything you do.
The giant monster in your life is your imagination. Otherwise, nobody ever cares what you are doing, how good you are, or how bad you are. For example, you started a company and did not make any sales for the first three months. I don’t think some people care more about that than you. Hence, if you understand that everything takes time and we often overestimate that our business will go viral, you move on, and you should move on. At the same time, we underestimate our ability based on academic performance and our past. For a startup or life, you only need one offer from a company out of millions of companies worldwide. All you need is that first customer that trust and buys from you. All you need is one shot on target, so if you stay in the game long enough, your fish will be hooked one day. In addition, the more time you spend in the game, the more knowledge, and experience you gain. So, you and your capabilities also grow at the same time.
The giant monster in your life is your imagination. Otherwise, nobody ever cares what you are doing, how good you are, or how bad you are. For example, you started a company and did not make any sales for the first three months. I don’t think some people care more about that than you. Hence, if you understand that everything takes time and we often overestimate that our business will go viral, you move on, and you should move on. At the same time, we underestimate our ability based on academic performance and our past. For a startup or life, you only need one offer from a company out of millions of companies worldwide. All you need is that first customer that trust and buys from you. All you need is one shot on target, so if you stay in the game long enough, your fish will be hooked one day. In addition, the more time you spend in the game, the more knowledge, and experience you gain. So, you and your capabilities also grow at the same time.
Everything takes more time than you think to get started, but once it gets created, it rarely collapses in a blink.
Humans have no problem picturing linear correlation - the quicker you turn the wheel, the longer the bulb glows. However, it is an exponential correlation that underlies life-changing events, and sadly we are not very good at picturing and understanding exponential relationships in our minds. For example, as your business, podcast, or online identity stays longer in the game, the more content and reputation you accumulate over time. Until a certain point, nothing significant happens, and most people quit at this point. However, if you blow past this point (on the x-axis), the exponential curve shoots up a lot faster than a linear line, which is when something memorable happens to your business or projects. If we have the sense of exponential relationships in mind for every project we love, the quiet days would not be so hard for you to keep moving because we know what is ahead.
What’s next?
Most of what I thought was impossible to achieve four years ago was accomplished by then. The takeaway lesson is not how special I am but how incapable I thought I was. Also, I underestimated how critical grit and exponential relationship are in business and life. Therefore, if impossible goals were achieved in less time than expected, expanding the horizon to think in decades with unrealistic goals should be the more realistic way to approach life. So, what do I want to achieve in 2023? I want to make millions of dollars and live in NYC. I want to be a respected scientist and entrepreneur. I want to have friends worldwide and build a business with them. I want to write a best-seller. I want to give talks, seminars, and advice as an oncology scientist and entrepreneur. I want to see how high the sky is the limit and how far I can reach.
What about you?
What about you?