the thursday buzz: 1000 paths up the same mountain

hi lil bees!! 🐝 welcome back to the thursday buzz.

For those of you who are new here, I’ve really liked this format of sharing longer-form pieces on Tuesday around the psychology of money and how that manifests in every part of our lives. Meanwhile, the thursday buzz is more of a stream of consciousness, like ways that I’ve been trying to live the truth I put into my pieces. So for today’s piece, stay tuned for:

• Fun memes to get you through the week relevant to this Tuesday’s piece

• What I’ve taken away from Guy Raz’s brilliant book How I Built This

memes

Like I said in Tuesday’s piece, Pixar & Disney are the real OTP (one-true pairing) and you can’t make me change my mind. Enjoy.

sneha’s stream of consciousness (SOC)

Over the weekend, my dad bought me How I Built This by Guy Raz: the man, the myth, the legend. I’m not here to give you a summary, ask your AI of choice. Instead, let me share my personal learnings, the main one being:

There are 1000 paths up the same mountain. 

I was reading an earlier chapter that discusses differentiating between dangerous and scary for to-be entrepreneurs.

• Scary: Something that evokes fear or anxiety. It may feel uncomfortable or overwhelming, but it doesn't necessarily have a negative outcome.

• Dangerous: Something that has a high potential to cause harm or injury. It might not feel scary initially, but it can lead to negative consequences, such as regret when you’re 65.

I read this and was like oh man, maybe I need to go all-in and work on my newsletter / company full-time. As someone who is definitely more on the risk-averse side, I could feel anxiety just bubbling under my skin.

Funnily enough, the next chapter is labeled, “Leave your safety zone… but do it safely.” This chapter literally talks about how for every blind leaper, there are entrepreneurs who eyes are wide open. They’ve already measured the jump, “taking the leap of faith knowing they’ve carefully packed, checked and triple-checked their parachute.”

For so long, I’ve prescribed to this idea that an entrepreneur needs to fit this mold: ambitious, risk-taker, good communicator, confident. Even though I was ambitious, I was risk-averse, not much of a talker, and lacked so much confidence. And to be honest, I’m probably still not someone I’d describe as your classic entrepreneur. But for the first time in my life, I feel the effects of wanting to build something larger than myself, beyond my risk aversion, beyond my appetite for talking, beyond my confidence. I believe so deeply in financial empowerment for all, especially marginalized communities, and for that reason alone, I will build. There are a 1000 paths up the same mountain.

I asked myself what are my non-negotiables. I’m someone who is risk averse and therefore, want to bootstrap my company, similar to how Daymond John worked for six years while building FUBU, THE American hip hop apparel company. I also know I’m an extremely disciplined person; if I want to join the 5 am club, I’ll be a bit crazy and sleep at 10 AM every weekday night. Combining these two facts with this passion to build something bigger than myself, I told myself I’m going to continue working hard at my 9-5 job in climate, and build my company from 5-whatever time, every single day. Especially as I take time to really hone in on the idea I want to build beyond this newsletter. No ifs, ands, or buts. I heard from a lot of people that this is not going to work, because you need to be all in. The thing is, I truly am.

I’m freaking terrified, but I’m acting each day to get closer to my vision of what I want to see in this world. With each step, I can feel layers of fear shedding off. First, it started off as an idea for a newsletter. Then, I formed LLC which made everything super real. Then, I began sending out short-form articles twice a week. Then, I made a Tiktok and put my face behind a camera. Phew, each step isn’t as hard as I thought, and sheesh, what I’m saying is resonating with people.

My friend, Mit, gave me the comparison to concentric circles. You start with the communities you can reach, and you build your credibility to reach your eventual north star. Each time I am trying something new, it only invigorates me to look at my bigger picture and north star: financial empowerment for all marginalized communities systemically. Even as someone who is building this company while having a full-time job, I know there are experiences that can’t just be skipped:

• Sacrificing something for a vision bigger than yourself, whether it’s time, money, resources, friends or all the above.

• Tough conversations with loved ones, and most importantly yourself. Warning, bring tissues 🤧 , but believe it or not, I feel infinitely closer to these people.

• Feeling extremely terrified with venturing into the unknown but doing it anyways.

But what comes from taking your unique path up that mountain is truly beautiful:

• You create your own luck. I really believe in the power of manifestation, and how energy starts opening itself in this world to you in funny ways when you let go of the old and make space for the new.

• You meet people whose wavelength truly matches yours. I’m only 25 and I know how rare it is to meet people whose wavelength you truly just match. I love deeply, and I’m so excited to see the people who come along this journey with me 🙂 

• You get closer to the version of your highest potential self.

I’d love to hear from you about your journey in finding your north star, especially if it’s something that you feel like you’ve trialed and errored it for what feels like a million of times. Reach out to me at [email protected] or DM me on instagram at betweenthebuzz@.

Until the next 🐝 , with love,

Sneha