The Power of Starting Something Stupid

Let’s start by differentiating unhealthy stupid and Stupid as the New Smart.

Unhealthy stupid is just what it sounds like. We want to stay away from it.

Then there’s Stupid as the New Smart.

You know that idea you’ve had for a long time that just won’t go away?

That lofty dream that tickles your soul?

That thing you’d do if you didn’t have that voice in your head telling you it was a little foolish?

Yah.

THAT idea.

Learning how to lean into the power of THAT kind of “stupid” is what this book is all about.

Want to know where to start?

Use the Stupid Equation: Future Regret = Today’s Imperative.

Here’s a quick take on how Richie walks us through the exercise.

Take a few minutes and make a list of all the things you’ve dreamt of doing—those ideas that have danced in your mind that you’ve passed on because you didn’t think you had the time or money or expertise or whatever.

What are they? You can have a hundreds things or a handful or just one. But come up with a list.

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Alright, now fast forward to your 80th birthday.

Pull out that list. Look at it as you realize that you didn’t wind up doing *anything* on that list.

Some of the things you find funny you ever mentioned, others you’re a little bummed you didn’t get to and some you have deep regret for not getting to.

You might regret not doing a bunch of things but what three things do you think you would *really* regret not doing?

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Now, prioritize these few things from the most important to the least important.

Bingo.

You now have your Stupid Smart ideas.

(What’s your favorite one? Ready to rock it and tap into the power of starting something stupid?)

The big three excuses for why we postpone our dreams:

Not enough time. Not enough experience. Not enough money.

For me, they all boil down into one big fat excuse (read with a whiny voice): “I’m not ready.”

Bottom line is this: We will NEVER feel totally ready.

EVER.

Richie describes the three excuses as the time, education (experience) money gap—the TEM Gap for short.

His wisdom in this section is part of what inspired me to lean into my own stupid little idea to buy a church’s 5-acre campus in Ojai.

I had always wanted to create an offline Oasis. But it was always at some point in the future. You know, when I was “ready” and had more time, experience and money.

Well, what was really weird for me as I leaned into the smart-stupid idea of buying the campus was that the moment I leaned in and went for it, it was *really* (!!) easy.

Joseph Campbell once said, “When you get to a chasm, jump! It’s not as wide as you think.”

That’s EXACTLY what I felt when I stared at the (apparent) chasm that was acquiring the church.

Noting the power of starting something stupid and propelled by a purpose beyond myself, I jumped. And I discovered that the chasm was about as wide as a sidewalk crack.

It’s funny because in the same week that we decided to get the church I did my first Spartan Race. I almost didn’t make it to the starting line because of the ol’ TEM Gap.

My primary obstacle? The story I was telling myself that I was too busy to train, etc. etc.

But, thankfully, I decided to do it. And… The race was EASY.

Another sidewalk crack that initially looked like a giant chasm.

As my Uncle so poetically put it: “Life is a Dancing Leap over a chasm that does not exist.”

<— Amen.

What dancing leap might YOU make over that chasm that doesn’t exist?

P.S. In Do the Work, Steven Pressfield echoes this wisdom. Here’s how he puts it:

“Don’t prepare. Begin.

Remember, our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account.

The enemy is Resistance.

The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/ shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.

Start before you’re ready.”

Living in permanent beta.

That’s one of my favorite ideas and the cornerstone of allowing those small, incremental optimizations to aggregate and compound over time.

In Jocelyn Glei’s great book Maximize Your Potential, she shares wisdom from Ben Casnocha who wrote The Start-Up of You with Reid Hoffman.

Ben tells us: “Software companies often keep the ‘beta’ label on software for a time after the official launch to stress that the product is not finished so much as ready for the next batch of improvements. Gmail, for example, launched in 2004 but only left official beta in 2009, after millions of people were already using it. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, concludes every annual letter to shareholders by reminding readers, as he did in his first letter in 1997, that ‘it’s still Day 1’ at Amazon.com: ‘Though we are optimistic, we must remain vigilant and maintain a sense of urgency.’ In other words, Amazon is never finished: It’s always Day 1. For entrepreneurs, finished is an f-word.

Finished ought to be an f-word for all of us. We are all works in progress. Each day presents an opportunity to learn more, do more, be more, and grow more. Keeping yourself in ‘permanent beta’ makes you acknowledge that you have bugs, that there’s more testing to do on yourself, and that you will continue to adapt and evolve. It means a lifelong commitment to continuous personal growth. It is a mind-set brimming with optimism because it celebrates the fact that you have the power to improve yourself and, more important, improve the world around you.”

Imagine that.

We’re never finished.

No need for the pretense of perfection.

It’s always Day 1.

Just have fun trying to get a *tiny* bit better today.

Can you feel that freedom?

P.S. Reminds me of George Leonard’s Mastery where he tells us to approach our lives as a practice: “A practice (as a noun) can be anything you practice on a regular basis as an integral part of your life—not in order to gain something else, but for its own sake… For a master, the rewards gained along the way are fine, but they are not the main reason for the journey. Ultimately, the master and the master’s path are one. And if the traveler is fortunate—that is, if the path is complex and profound enough—the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels.”

Imagine loving the journey so much you HOPE the destination is two miles farther away for every mile we travel. We’re not trying to get to “finished.” We’re loving each moment of the journey too much for that. Every time I read or think about that I’m in awe…

Ego.

We’ve talked about it a fair amount in various notes.

Most recently in Ego Is the Enemy where Ryan Holiday tells us: “It’s when the notion of ourselves and the world grows so inflated that it begins to distort the reality that surrounds us. When, as the football coach Bill Walsh explained, ‘self- confidence becomes arrogance, assertiveness becomes obstinacy, and self-assurance becomes reckless abandon.’ This is the ego, as the writer Cyril Connolly warned, that ‘sucks us down like the law of gravity.’

In this way, ego is the enemy of what you want and of what you have: Of mastering your craft. Of real creative insight. Of working well with others. Of building loyalty and support. Of longevity. Of repeating and retaining your success. It repulses advantages and opportunities. It’s a magnet for enemies and errors.”

We need to do the math on our egonomics.

In short: We need a strong, healthy ego that’s plugged into something bigger than ourselves and grounded in a deep sense of humility.

We want the healthy, confident, grounded sense of self that gives us the power to live a life of meaning and purpose in service to the world.

And..

We want to keep that in check by grounding ourselves in a deep sense of humility and connection to something bigger than ourselves.

How’s your ego?

Fake it till you make it?

No need.

Just be the highest version of you. <— THAT’s the real you. The authentic you. —> “The person you imagine yourself to be in the very best and most powerful moments of your life, is the authentic you.”

Everything else is the fake version of you.

As Anthony de Mello says: “Get rid of your fear of failure, your tensions about succeeding, you will be yourself. Relaxed. You wouldn’t be driving with your brakes on. That’s what would happen.”