June 7, 2021

Resist the urge to build more.

When I was growing up, I was told the more responsibilities one takes on, the greater he/she becomes. A simple phrase that went on to shape my world view. It became the filter I saw the world through. That's how I ranked people around me and that's what I was striving for to leave behind.

In my head, more equaled to progress. So I spent my entire 20s looking for more things to take care of. More responsibilities. More people. More money. And as I was going up this ladder, I slowly lost sight of the ground. Where I started from. Who I was. What I wanted. So you can guess what happened next. After a couple of breakdowns, I stopped.

Now I'm in my 30s believing the opposite. The fewer things you are responsible for, the greater you can become. I thought I was doing a good job on all of those things when I was younger. But it turned out, I wasn't.

You would be surprised how similar it is in our work. As a founder, growing a company sometimes feels like raising a kid. So if you teach this kid that the more things you are able to do, the greater you become, you know now where that leads. Most startups start simple but after a couple of years of taking on more requests, more responsibilities, they lose sight on what they were actually good at. Now they are just another all-in-one tool that are not really doing a good at any.

Resist the urge to do more.
Progress by doing less.

OpenPurpose

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