Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

When you hear the timelines of successful people, you see the logical step-by-step progressions they went through to get to where they are now.

You may hear about Elon Musk’s journey from college, to founding Paypal, Space X, Tesla, and then finally acquiring Twitter.

But if you dug deep into his story, you’d realize it was hardly a steady climb. For example, Musk was ridiculed by NASA and its veteran astronauts like Neal Armstrong(a personal hero of his). Musk himself admitted that he had no background in aerospace, but instead of giving up the possibility of Space X, he self-educated and built a strong team to support his knowledge gaps.

But the troubles didn’t end there. When it came time for Space X to secure a contract with the US government, they had to complete one successful rocket launch. While that seems relatively simple, it’s not — it was literally rocket science. So, when the first 3 rockets Space X launched blew up within seconds, Musk used every last dollar of his own money to fund the last launch. As he slept on his friend’s couches in the weeks leading up to the final launch, he constantly woke up in the middle of the night due to constant panic attacks.

His bet paid off, and Space X became the first private aerospace company to secure a contract with the US government.

While this is his most extreme example, Musk began each of his businesses with relative ignorance(with respect to the particular field he entered, NOT general intelligence), and each company presented problem after problem even after they were up and running.

Whatever you’re considering, just start, or as my friend Nick Bibeau advises everyone: “WRITE ALREADY”.

And when you’re underway, expect things to go poorly. Don’t act out of fear, but be ready for the possibility of every launch, date, or day to go poorly in some way.

Most of the stress caused by adversity comes from its unexpectedness. If you can always keep in mind that the twists and turns will come sooner or later, you rob these obstacles of most of their strength.

Ultimately, you have to consider what your boundaries for seeing adversity and hard times through are.

Do you value financial security or pushing the limits of humanity? Someone who values the former would have probably shut down Space X when NASA was saying that what Musk was doing was impossible(or they wouldn’t have started at all, as there are easier ways to make money). But Musk certainly falls into the latter, the risk takers and visionaries, so the choice for him was clear.

(Listen to Musk speak in the video below from 8:20-8:36)

The same goes for relationships and life choices (like a new job or where to live). What are your hard boundaries or needs? Set them, and be willing to work through any other obstacle. People and places change — but so do you. Advice or self-help books can only do so much for you in your unique circumstances. Often times the best decisions are made in the exact opposite direction of conventional advice.

Ultimately, nothing worth having comes without a challenge.

Begin now. Don’t wait until you’re qualified, but begin when you are mentally ready to learn whatever you need to learn to get the job done.

And if you’ve already started, expect the obstacles to show up often. It’s a sign that you’re on the right path.