StartUpLife and other stories #1: Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
Kia ora! I am so delighted that you’ve decided to stay; thank you – I really appreciate that 💜💜💜
This week has been a HUGE week!
#ElectrifyAotearo Women’s Founders conference and networking.
It’s been exciting and inspiring, and I’ve peopled more this week than I have in aeons.
There were so many a-ha moments, so many key takeaways, so much gold, so many women sharing so generously, and so many quotable quotes. My quote of the day goes to Frances Shoemack.
Be bold;
Be world-class;
Be unapologetic about it.
What I’ve been thinking about
I’ve been reflecting on the juxtaposition of the “Say YES to everything” crowd and the “If it’s not a HELL YES, then it’s a NO” crowd.
At one stage, my various digital life feeds were filled with people who wrote things like “how my life changed after I spent a year saying YES to every invite”. And more recently, my feeds are filled with people saying that we should really cut down on all the stuff we’re doing, and only do stuff that we really REALLY want to.
I’m on the fence about this.
One of the reasons I’m not a huge fan of the “say yes to everything” approach is that some of the invites that have come my way are not the sort of things that are conducive to a long, happy and healthy life. I did plenty of dumb shit in my youth and like to think that I learned a few things along the way.
Conversely, one of the reasons I’m not a fan of the “if it’s not a HELL YES, then it’s a no” crowd is that stepping outside our comfort zones is a great way to learn new things. And I love learning new things.
This all-or-nothing approach is far too limiting. So, I’ve been walking a weird tightrope of yeses and nos
In late 2021 I decided to go it alone, mentoring, training and coaching analysts, particularly credit risk analysts. I also wrote a book. And then, about six months ago, I launched a second venture, bringing the gold standard of retail credit risk assessment to all organisations that want to use it.
And to do these things, there is a lot I’ve had to say No to (Underwater Hockey World Championships 2023 ☹), and many, many things I have had to say yes to. In fact, I made peace with the fact that in order to do what I want to do, means that I’ve had to get very comfortable with being uncomfortable.
What I’ve been reading
Spend any time in #startuplife, and your to-be-read list will grow exponentially. I have just finished reading Never Split the Difference. What a remarkable book! I’ve never thought that my negotiation skills were particularly good, and now that I’m CEO of a start-up, well, that’s one of the many skills that I need to improve.
My to-be-read list grows daily. I’ve added Blinkist to my repertoire.
If you’ve never heard of Blinkist AND you have a mountain of books on your to-be-read list, it may be worth checking out. Essentially, they condense entire books into a handful of salient points. This means you can get the gist of a book in 20 minutes or so.
No, you don’t get the full experience of reading the book, but I find it helpful. If I think the book needs more, then I’ll get the audiobook.
And on that note – how awesome are audiobooks?!?
I absolutely love them.
But I digress – I was talking about Never Split the Difference. The author, Chris Voss, has been there, done that, and (quite literally) wrote the book. He was an FBI hostage negotiator, and that means that the stakes were always high. He covers negotiating strategy and theory; his book is peppered with examples, some of where things worked, some of where they really didn’t, and some that highlight serendipity and how to take advantage of that. Even if you don’t think you want or need to up your negotiation game, this book is well worth a read purely for the stories Chris shares.
What I’m looking forward to
I spent the last two weeks glued to YouTube, watching the 2023 World Championships. Underwater hockey is my all-time favourite sport, and now I get to watch games live, from the comfort of my couch. Back in 1996, when I represented South Africa (the only time I played in the World Champs), there were no flat screens; although the internet was around, it was still in its infancy. So, to watch the games, you had to be poolside. Back then, at Worlds, for the first time ever, I got to see the game on a ‘big screen’ - in other words, I could watch the game live without being in the swimming pool.
In reality, 25 large TVs were placed in a square, and some clever soul managed some jiggery-pokery so that the 25 screens became 1 screen, and the live feed from the videographers (in the pool, on SCUBA gear) went to the screen.
How things have changed!
Now we have commentators and remote-controlled cameras and can watch all the games live from wherever we happen to be. And they’re persisted on the internet, which basically means they’re there forever and ever.
If you’re interested in understanding a little more about this mad game, I can highly recommend the Men’s final – NZ brought home 🥇.
All of that made me think about getting more active. Since pulling out of the NZ Women’s Masters Squad, my training has taken a knock. And most of my energy has been focused on my startup.
So, I decided to enter all 9 MID distance events in the NZ Ocean Swim Series. My shortest swim will be 1000m, and my longest, 2500m.
I haven’t done any ocean swimming in a decade.
This should be interesting…
In the more immediate future, I’m looking forward to my first trip to Sydney (because I don’t count the layover at the airport as a trip).
I have several meetings lined up – this is the first time I have ever gone on a ‘sales’ trip. I think of it less as a sales trip, and more of a relationship-building trip. I have several coffees lined up. Wish me luck!
Also, all top tips are very welcome.
Kia kaha,