At 24 I would be considered quite youthful, inexperienced, and even entry-level in nearly all white collar professional realms. But this is not most professional realms, this is the acclaimed Silicon Valley. Here we are supposed to have sold our first $100+ million dollar company by now. We live in a bubble dictated by success theater and when we’re not blowing up with the hottest app, we’re supposed to fade into the background.
So what happens when we entrepreneurs are grinding & struggling? What happens when we’re painfully trying to find our breakthrough? That’s the part they don’t tell you about. When the little voice creeps into the back of your mind whispering, “You’re too slow. Look at all your other peers. It’ll never happen for you.”
You feel the fear. The fear of failure. The inferiority complex bogging down your mind.
I feel it. Just like you do. It keeps me up at night. Just like it keeps you up. It is the slow burn that darkens even our brightest victories. It is the voice that says, even in a proud moment, “This isn’t enough.”
But in those moments of fear feel companionship, because I feel it too. We all do. And the ones who don’t just happened to have reached the point where they may no longer care. Use the fear, help it push you in times when you can push no more. Remember no one is judging you as hard as you. You are the voice in your head, not them.
You are crawling to a distant mountain top, one that few ever reach. Many fall along the way; the fear finally breaking them. But crawling is moving. And moving will get you there. It may be slower and scarier than you had hoped but you will get there.
Just. Keep. Moving.
-C
