Make BIG Art!
Not small scribbles.
“Try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch; the rest is beyond our vision, but it is there in the distance.”
- Shigeaki Hinohara, Doctor who lived to 105 (read his longevity tips here)
Are we thinking big enough? Am I thinking big enough? It’s a concept that I can’t seem to shake during the past few months.
It’s nice to be working for a prestigious company, while learning more about real estate and renovations, but can I scale my efforts? By nature of working for someone else that’s almost always not the case, but perhaps my non-9 to 5 interests can scale in a way that fulfills me.
Regardless, I’ve been inspired by learning more about contemporaries like Ryan Begelman, who co-founded Summit Series conference, sold vacation homes on the side of a mountain, and is now acquiring profitable SMBs for long-term growth… all before the age of 35.
How does he do? Well you can listen to him on My First Million (podcast) or you can simply take his Summit Series motto and make it your own:
“Make No Small Plans”
As simple as that, and that’s not to say that comparison to others will get us/me there, but friendly competition and better yet, inspiration can open a narrowed mind.
More info on Ryan Begelmen:
BisNow profile on Crain’s
Summit Series explained
Powder Mountain WSJ article
Ryan on Twitter, this thread on equity waterfalls is interesting
Ryan’s first episode on My First Million podcast
So where were we?
If we’re thinking bigger now, the question is where do we want to go? Not to turn this entire issue into quotes, but this is one my favorites:
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
- Seneca
We need a destination, and not just a familiar place we’ve traveled to many times before. We’re thinking big. We’re expanding our horizons. After all 2020 has been full of new experiences that most of us never wished upon ourselves, so how can we plot a path for our future selves.
The only problem is that getting there will take time, perhaps an entire lifetime. Again, we’re thinking big… So how do we we stay on course?
We need a GPS.
First we define our destination.
Next our starting point. Perhaps we have already started on our path years ago or a few hours ago, either way the chances are that some of your life experiences will contribute to your desired future-state
Now, some math. We must calculate how far along we are from start to destination. Perhaps we’re 15% there, perhaps 60%, either way, the best way to revert back to the impatience of our childhood “are we there yet?” mentality is having the guide post of knowing progress is being made.
Lastly, we must celebrate small wins. If a goal truly takes more than a lifetime to accomplish, you’ll never see it through on your own, so it’s important to designate specific moments as checkpoints and treat them as special as they are.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be taking this GPS-framework and applying it towards my life and my ambitions. While this can be understood across many area of life (health, social, wealth, etc), I’ll be focusing, and I recommend you do to, on whichever area presents the most uneasiness in your present self.
Thank you for reading, if you enjoyed this, please consider sharing and/or subscribing.
🤳 Personal Updates
It took way longer than expected, but I finally rejoined Instagram @TheArmand, and while I thought I could “hack the algorithm” with my first post after 2 years, I’m not quite sure if IG works that way now. Nonetheless, if you’re feeling generous, I urge you to donate to my good friend Dominic who’s battling stage 4 small intestine cancer and, while showing positive signs, has not reached his fundraising goal. You can donate here.
Lastly, if you cannot donate dollars, but are interested in paying forward some love, please check out Zappos for Good; they’re sponsoring cost of shipping for up to 50 lbs per printed label to donate to the following causes:
Zappos has always been an incredible company and when I recently found 40 brand new left-foot shoes in my building’s garbage room, I reached out to Sole4Souls, and not surprisingly they welcomed the “singles” donation with open arms. I was prepared to pay for shipping, but they let me know that they’re partnership with Zappos makes it that much easier to send good their way.
Talk to neighbors, friends and family, put a box of goods together and print a shipping label here.
This newsletter is my attempt at (a) sharing learnings with friends and family (b) becoming more vulnerable through transparency and (c) improving my writing. Thanks for reading, and please reply with your thoughts.
❤️ Armand