ACL reconstruction & being investment worthy
I tore my ACL 11.5 years back. A lot of physiotherapy later, I was able to lead a normal life and never seriously thought of having it reconstructed over the last 11+ years. And then this weekend I underwent surgery to get it repaired — I hadn’t thought how unusual my decision was till I saw the reaction of everyone at the hospital when they asked me “when and how did the injury happen”.
It left me thinking more deeply about my decision to undergo the surgery. My stated reason was “I want to be able to play and run again”. Now anyone who knows me in the last 10 years will question it — I have managed to lead a reasonably active lifestyle with yoga, swimming and walking through 10 years and also the ups and downs of pregnancy etc. So if it wasn’t the exercise, then what was the motivation behind putting myself through a surgery and a 6 month rehab process? Also, with a young toddler and an even younger startup I am signing up for a lot in the next few months.
The real answer is “I want to be the best me”. Parenting has given me the strongest motivation in this regard. Your child doesn’t follow your words but your actions - I want a calm kid, I need to be calm; I want a healthy kid, I need to make healthy choices; I want an active kid, I need to be active and therefore if I want a sporty kid, I need to lead by example too.
However, the tipping point was the startup — now i know that it seems puzzling and perhaps you are wondering if I am force fitting something here, so hear me out. The ‘gyaan’ I constantly hear in the startup world is around, hustling, giving it your 100%, constantly ‘selling’ etc. etc. However, the underlying theme is “are you investment worthy” — this is a question that you need to answer not just for the investors, but for your employees, customers, partners and evangelists (this is another topic close to my heart and something I am constantly learning about). And so the question is “would I invest in someone who isn’t fully invested in themselves”? It is always easy to find reasons (aka excuses) for putting this stuff off, but startups are about pushing yourself beyond the smoke screen of excuses.
Hence, for me getting the ACL reconstruction was as much about the physical gains as the mental fortitude of rehab and physiotherapy. I am putting this out there to keep myself motivated when the going gets tough or plain mind-numbingly boring.
