Oddbean

There’s a story in the book emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman. This couple was fighting and out of rage, she broke a painting they had. Many years later, she didn’t regret the breakup, but she missed the painting. That momentary spur and rage may not be the best indicator of life directions. My boss gave me this book in my first engineering job and I told him it was a great book to put me to sleep. He didn't give up, he told me, ‘Pam IQ got you here, EQ will take you all the way’. I told him, ‘I am my own person and if people can’t handle it that’s their problem’. In another conversation, I told him I am emotional and sensitive and he said, that’s a great thing because you can understand how people feel and react accordingly. I realised then, that I never saw things that way. I read the book - and understood it wasn’t about changing who I was, but about self awareness. When I left the company, it wasn't the awards that I remember but the people who came to my farewell, beyond engineers and managers, were the cleaners, the security guards, the factory workers. It may not be much to someone else, but to me, that was my success story. I genuinely want to see you succeed. Everyone here wants to see you succeed. You have a lot of potential Will. But you have to overcome this self limitation and learned helplessness. And you can. Take a break, go for a walk, read the book, take a nap, feel better and start over. Now, on the actual 99% content of the previous note, having users as your partners and investors might be a great way to help you move forward, and you can build this solution for many other open source entrepreneurs. If you don’t like this idea, you can brainstorm many other ideas. The goal of the note is to encourage creative solutions. I don’t know much, I don't have much, but I hope anything that I have provided here will help you move forward. Good luck, Will.