Unreasonable, getting past the doubts (repost)
Being unreasonable is cooler than really cold stuff. But I’ll get back to that.
When I was about four years old my father enrolled me in swim classes. He didn’t know how to swim. My mother didn’t know how to swim. However, they both felt it necessary that I learn. I was so scared. So very scared. My father leaned down and just said, “Don’t be afraid.” He repeated this on every big step I ever took, from learning to ride a bicycle to becoming a chef. This thought has become so ingrained in me that I now find myself giving people the same advice- Fear stops your growth, kills your dreams, crumbles your ambition. But let’s be real, that sounds absolutely nonsensical. Society, culture, and conformist concepts make fear a part of life. The thoughts that turn adventure into danger. So don’t let fear get in your way and learn that courage to take the risks and make the moves to ensure your success. Listen to you. Remember to respect the world around you, but don’t be afraid of it.
A few years ago I was staring down the barrel of unemployment. The economy was in a place that destroyed my industry. I was a chef that designed restaurants in an era and time in which no one wanted to build a restaurant and people were going back to eating more at home to save some money. I was scared. Seriously, seriously scared. But I had a secret weapon. I had determination. And that determination told me one thing. It told me not only to not be afraid, but to stop being afraid of my fear- my fear to fail, my fear of absolute poverty, my fear of losing everything. It reminded me of what my father told me. So I took everything I had and opened a company. I was going to design restaurants and cook great food. I was going to be good at it too. I had one friend with me managing the money side of things, but I did all the work. I walked into a world with an absolutely unreasonable dream in an unreasonable market with an atrociously unreasonable choice of business partner. It was awesome. I still work my butt off every day. I still run the company I started a few years ago. I still love every darn day, even the tough ones.
So getting back to the beginning, be unreasonable. No, I mean it. Everyone wants to be in a place at which every morning feels like a blessing. Every morning is like winning the lottery, and you’ve won a lifestyle pursuing and prevailing in your own passionate pursuit of happiness. As time passes, most people find this aspiration to be quite unreasonable. All I have to say to that sentiment is, “So what?” What is wrong with being unreasonable? People have written a ton of books on being unreasonable. I’m not one of them and will never be one of them. All I have to say is that if you give fear the finger, work your butt off, stay dynamic, and be just the right amount of unreasonable (that doesn’t mean stupidity, remember that), you can make it happen.
When I was about four years old my father enrolled me in swim classes. He didn’t know how to swim. My mother didn’t know how to swim. However, they both felt it necessary that I learn. I was so scared. So very scared. My father leaned down and just said, “Don’t be afraid.” He repeated this on every big step I ever took, from learning to ride a bicycle to becoming a chef. This thought has become so ingrained in me that I now find myself giving people the same advice- Fear stops your growth, kills your dreams, crumbles your ambition. But let’s be real, that sounds absolutely nonsensical. Society, culture, and conformist concepts make fear a part of life. The thoughts that turn adventure into danger. So don’t let fear get in your way and learn that courage to take the risks and make the moves to ensure your success. Listen to you. Remember to respect the world around you, but don’t be afraid of it.
A few years ago I was staring down the barrel of unemployment. The economy was in a place that destroyed my industry. I was a chef that designed restaurants in an era and time in which no one wanted to build a restaurant and people were going back to eating more at home to save some money. I was scared. Seriously, seriously scared. But I had a secret weapon. I had determination. And that determination told me one thing. It told me not only to not be afraid, but to stop being afraid of my fear- my fear to fail, my fear of absolute poverty, my fear of losing everything. It reminded me of what my father told me. So I took everything I had and opened a company. I was going to design restaurants and cook great food. I was going to be good at it too. I had one friend with me managing the money side of things, but I did all the work. I walked into a world with an absolutely unreasonable dream in an unreasonable market with an atrociously unreasonable choice of business partner. It was awesome. I still work my butt off every day. I still run the company I started a few years ago. I still love every darn day, even the tough ones.
So getting back to the beginning, be unreasonable. No, I mean it. Everyone wants to be in a place at which every morning feels like a blessing. Every morning is like winning the lottery, and you’ve won a lifestyle pursuing and prevailing in your own passionate pursuit of happiness. As time passes, most people find this aspiration to be quite unreasonable. All I have to say to that sentiment is, “So what?” What is wrong with being unreasonable? People have written a ton of books on being unreasonable. I’m not one of them and will never be one of them. All I have to say is that if you give fear the finger, work your butt off, stay dynamic, and be just the right amount of unreasonable (that doesn’t mean stupidity, remember that), you can make it happen.
That's super cool. I never knew that about you, though there is much I don't know. Thanks for sharing and congratulations, man. :)
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