What You’re Taught and Why it’s Wrong

(A repost from nearly 3 years. Nearly every word still holds true.)

The past few weeks have been interesting. I’ve had severe setbacks in ventures and then great upswings. It’s a weird feeling, but it also reminds me of how different real life is than what school and professional institutions force into your head.

Elementary school:

Remember elementary school? Where they taught you A for Apple, B for Ball and C for Cat? When’s the last time you had an apple while playing ball with a cat? Never. Elementary school sets you up to dream. Yet, as people progress through life, the dream – whatever it may be – slowly starts dwindling down to the path of least resistence.

Middle school:

Middle school is where you start reading books. Not fancy Shakespeare just yet, but good books that are mostly inspirational and highly adventerous. Yet, there are so few people who pursue adventure in real life.

High school:

Remember when you snuck out of your house to do something fun that your parents didn’t want you to do? That was fun. Yet, most people don’t have fun – don’t pursue fun as they get older. They stick to their boring desks in a useless job and in their tiny apartments and just keep on working. Sneak out and go have fun!

College:

College is another animal. If you don’t have fun in college, you’re missing out. And yet, this point in your life, you’re independent, living in the crappiest location and have the least amount of money. Still, the fun never stops. 

Job: 

If you go through all the different types of schools and end up at just another job – you’ve already lost the game. Finding a job is great. Finding the right job is important. Many people find a job based on their professional degree. That should never be the case. Finding a job on your passion is far more important. A professional degree has a set path. If you’re satisfied with that path, fine. You’ll make a six figure salary in the next 15 years, you’ll take 2 weeks off every year to go to Florida or Mexico or some other pre-defined place – because that’s what every one does. 

But, take a look at everyone who is succesful and happy – they fought their way to be there. No one – ever – is going to give you the opportunity to succeed just by staying on one path. 

The “system” is broken. Companies don’t succeed, because people don’t like their job. People don’t like their job, because they don’t enjoy it. They don’t enjoy it because it’s not their passion.

Most people are talented. Heck, everyone is talented. Just do what you want. And don’t accept less than perfect. It’s not worth it. 

Chasing a Dream. Living an Adventure

I got on a plane for the first time when I was 2 years old. It was a Boeing 747 flying between India and Saudi Arabia. Ever since then, I have been hooked on aviation. A significant portion of my life and funds go towards traveling and exploring the world. A few years ago, I decided that I was going to make it my mission to travel to every single country before I turn 50. So far, I'm on track. Some years are great. Others, not so much. But the progress is always moving forward. 

When I first started traveling independently, I wanted to get to New Zealand. At that point, I had two options: fly New York to Los Angeles to Australia and then to New Zealand. That's all great, but I really didn't want to spend $2000 to fly in coach. So, I waited. In exactly 15 days, I take off for the journey of a lifetime: New Zealand in pure luxury. 

Etihad First Class Apartments:

Etihad announced their A380 jets not too long ago. And it took the world by surprise. I'm privileged to fly one of the first few flights in an apartment. Yep, a first class apartment. Spoiled? Absolutely! 

These photos speak for themselves: 

Emirates First Class: 

On my way back from New Zealand, I'm flying back on the Emirates A380 in their first class cabin. I'll once again, let the photos speak for themselves: 

Park Hyatt Sydney: 

WHY:

To chase this image:

CHASING THE DREAM:

The total market price of this trip is close to $50,000. That's larger than most people's down payment on a house. While I'm paying nowhere close to that amount, I am taking a few weeks off to chase the dream. 

I meet with so many people that want to either travel, quit their job, start a company, etc. BUT, they don't. I'm only concerned with people that do. The people that chase their dreams. The people that make the hard choices. The people who actually mean what they want. 

“Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
Sing with me, just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until your dreams come true”

— Aerosmith

Untrustworthy People

“Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it’s broken, but you can still see the crack in that mother fucker’s reflection.
”

— Lady Gaga

I've written quite a bit about why we invest in people first and everything else later. It's because we need to be comfortable with people and build a layer of trust before we decide to work with them or support them. More importantly, it is so that we don't waste our most valuable asset - time. 

Over the past few weeks, as we've moved into looking at two particular scenarios in depth - one personal/professional and the other one purely professional, I've been taken back. 

I don't think I've been this angry in a while. Seriously, untrustworthy people, go fuck yourself. You don't deserve anything. #Betrayal

— Aanarav Sareen (@aanaravs) May 27, 2015

Yesterday, I had a minor outburst on Twitter and received a few offline messages about them. And the truth of the matter is - that once you think you trust a person - and then you find out that they're living a secret life, it sucks. It sucks that people have the audacity to lie to you - when all you've done is support them unconditionally. But it also becomes really easy to back away. 

“You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

— Marilyn Monroe

And so it goes. Another day. Another story. 

On Big Decisions

The phone rings. It's another entrepreneur. It's another pitch. It's another story. And I have a list of questions, a series of doubts and always a twinge of guilt. Why? Because even though I'm not entirely sold on this idea, entrepreneurs call me every single day - asking for advise, feedback or introductions. I'm happy to do it for each and every single one of them - if I believe their story. I feel guilty during most of these conversations because I have been through what they're going through. 

In an entrepreneur's life, there are usually 3 difficult decisions:

1. When they give up comfort
   • Entrepreneurs are a rare breed of people - they are willing to give up everything to make themselves happy. That's the definition of an entrepreneur. They give up comfort of their current circumstances. They sacrifice relationships to form better ones. Why? Because it makes them happy. Here's the thing: for anyone to even think of these changes means that their current circumstances - professional and/or personal are wrong. But, knowing what is wrong and making the change are two different things. 
2. When they have to ask for money
   • If you're dreaming, might as well dream big. When entrepreneurs do that, they need money - whether to pay rent or to pay salaries. You always do. And when you have to, your ego is hurt. It hurts going to people that told you once that you wouldn't make it. But, you have to put that in the rearview mirror and let it roll off of you. 
3. When they're in an incredibly difficult situation
   • The biggest determining factor in success is making hard choices. And the only time you have to make hard choices is when you're in a difficult situation. You know what you do then? You rip off the bandaid. Just fucking do it. If you don't you're going to bleed internally. Or as Paul Graham from YC in an article perfectly titled "How Not to Die" says: "So I'll tell you now: bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don't get demoralized. When the disaster strikes, just say to yourself, ok, this was what Paul was talking about. What did he say to do? Oh, yeah. Don't give up."

If you are comfortable with the 3 traits above, I'll tell you this: make the big decisions. Believe in your dream. You know why? Because no one else on this planet will. Not your partner. Not your family. Not even your employees. 

I've started a few companies. Some have liquidated. Others have not. But despite the outcome, I have yet to regret any of those decisions. Why? Because I believed in them and fought for them harder than I have ever fought for anything else. There's no point in fighting for anything UNLESS you believe that it is going to be longterm. 

And if you're not always fighting, then you're making short term decisions. Decisions for today. Not for tomorrow. And those decisions are never going to work. That's my promise. 

Because Magic Happens

"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." — Walt Disney 

In 1919, Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star. According to his editor, he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

It's 7:00am on one of the first few beautiful Fridays of this year. The sun is out. People look happy and the world continues to do amazing things. 

This week has been therapeutic for me. It started off by opening up to someone I care about. It is ending with a quick trip to Chicago.  

But, more importantly, it has also been a difficult week for me. I've felt a whole range of emotions that are somewhere on the magnitude of scary to terrifying.  

Last night, I was talking to a friend of mine and I realized that the only reason I'm qualified to talk about any of this is because I have thankfully lived through some of the darkest periods in my life. 

I realized that in order for me to even be at this point in life - I had to live through all of it. I wanted to run away and give up more times than I care to admit. But today, when I look back on it - I'm glad all of those things happened. They weren't easy. But they taught me one thing - magic happens. Magic happens when you take that leap of faith. Magic happens when you believe in the people around you. Magic happens when you    follow your heart.

Why? Because magic exists. Don't you deserve magic?