Last week* I received a lot of “Thank you’s”.
I wrote an article in which I briefly described my story as an entrepreneur (in Bulgarian). The main point was that true entrepreneurs are not in for the money but FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME. After reading the article a lot of people wrote to me, thanking me for the inspiration. “Very rarely do I meet people so in love with their job”, was one of the comments.
My feelings: Getting a dopamine kick feels good (yeah, go ahead and like this too :). On the other hand, I felt guilty.
The problem with success stories is that they are very one-sided. When Gareth (just a random name) reads my story he sees a guy who loves Mondays, who always smiles at work, who is non-stop inspired and on the go. All problems are challenges, all failures are lessons learnt… and other self-help slogans.
Gareth thinks: “This is so cool. I wish I was as enthusiastic as Svetoslav. I need to find my true calling. Life is too short to work with the arrogant Peter from the marketing department and with this demanding Liza from client X”. At first Gareth becomes excited about the future but then a bit depressed. He may never be as happy at his job.
Gareth never gets a chance to get a glimpse of the truth
I too have a lot of grumpy Mondays. I very often get frustrated, I have sleepless nights and I don’t like all the people I communicate with (if you are a partner or a client, not you :). Have I lied, saying that I like my job – NO. I love what I do! But it’s not perfect.
It’s just that all CEOs and entrepreneurs are sales people
We don’t have any other chance to survive. We spend our days selling products, services and most of all – ideas. We have to convince our team, investors, clients, partners… you name it.
“Truth, well told” is what we do. That’s our way to move people, brands and markets** And we will continue to do that, no matter what!
But here’s a disclaimer for you to think about every time you read a success story!
Every success story is a two-sided coin. We often show the side we like better. The truth – progress in every area of life takes time and effort and is accompnied by shocks and traumas. You need to learn to overcome them.
P.S. This article is not to give you an excuse to never try anything bold in your life. On the contrary, I just want to create the proper expectations so that you don’t get lost in the fast-food culture of our time, prevailing in anything from relationships to building companies.
About me: Apart from acting as a CEO of DEV.BG (the biggest IT community in Bulgaria) I help CEOs of small companies build their business. If you face a case I can help you with, drop me a message on LinkedIN.
Excuse my English 🙂 English is not my mother tongue and as you have seen it may be improved. Though, I believe that my level of command of the language covers the basic criteria in order for me to convey my ideas.
image: pixabay
*This article is written in May.2018. “Last week” was relevant then 🙂
**This is one of the slogans of McCANN World Group
