3 things I’ve learned while working in a startup

I failed at a startup and then I went for a 9 to 5 corporate job. Ultimately, I chose to go back and work for another startup.

After three years as a professional worker, here are a few key lessons I’ve learned about life.

First, I’ll be blunt:

I think working for work’s sake sucks. I believe working for something I don’t care is called stress.

1. Life is a journey

When you work in a startup, uncertainty is everywhere. You will get comfortable with risk-taking strategies and you will fail regularly and often, but you will continue.

I realized that life, work fulfillment, and relationships are journeys. I have the patience and the time to take it. This is the challenge and everyone has to face it.

We all want to make an impact in the world and level-up quickly but there’s a ladder to be climbed.

Some people tend to stick to the rules, stay in their lane, and don’t poke the box, and they might just make it out alive. They don’t.

I realized I am not my career. I have a career.

We, young people, tend to quit our jobs because we are not making an impact. To make an impact takes time and impacts create revolutions.

Revolutions are impossible, until they are not, and then they seem totally normal.

Working in a corporation made me to want more. If taking a chance and doing my best work means getting fired, then it’s time to get the hell out of there. So I had to find something that matters. I need me at my best. Work is just an enabler to move further in my journey.

2. Time is your #1 resource

Don’t waste it. Enjoy it. Live it.

Don’t focus on deadlines. There is little time to work on the things that are actually important.

If missed, deadlines are not fatal but sometimes we persuade ourselves that it’s almost the same thing.

In the startup language you have a so-called one metric that matters (OMTM). In real-life it can be friends, networking, work or anything that is important to you.

Whatever your current OMTM may be, expect it to change. And expect that change to reveal the next piece of data you need to do something better. Be ready for change.

Time is ticking and you feel the urge of becoming the person you’ve decided to be and make a difference. We all need time to climb a mountain. Even if we take the helicopter to reach the top. Time makes you brave to continue the journey.

Use time to learn.

We learn when we push ourselves to the absolute edge of our existing skills and experience. The learning part starts when we take on a project that allows us to activate our highest potential. Learning is not comfortable. Everything we do that is worth pursuing requires tough choices.

I learned to say thank you_!_

Being thankful brings us closer together. We live in the best possible worlds. We live in a world where we allow ourselves to be generous, to be vulnerable, and to own our actions.

Thank you for everything you do and most important, thanks for living your dreams out loud. Thank you because you bring generosity, insights and impact to the work you do. Thank you for the patience you have to pursue your journey.

We have everything we need. We have the time right in front of us, and we have opportunity. Go go go!

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