🤔 Thread: More of the wrong thing is less
(or, how I stepped off the hamster wheel)
I’m going to share a personal story with hope that it inspires at least one person to re-examine their definition of success 👇
Through hard work and an unfair share of luck, I’ve done some cool “bucket list” things in my career:
✅Raised VC from the worlds’ top firms
✅Helped build 100’s of millions in revenue from nothing
âś…Rang the bell at the NYSE
âś…Met & did deals with billionaires & business icons
These are things I dreamed about when I was young and I treasure some of the memories. But when they finally happened I felt surprisingly unfulfilled. I was scoring lots of points but didn’t feel like I was winning.
Then a few years ago during a board meeting I had a moment of clarity. I looked around the table at 10 people, all absurdly successful by financial measures. There wasn’t a single person I wanted to emulate. Most were unhealthy and several had told me that they were unhappy.
Within months I walked away from from a 7-figure salary, moved my family to Boulder, & haven’t looked back. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a capitalist & like money as much as anyone. But for me it's not the thing, and *more of the wrong thing is less*.