24Mar17 | You only have to be right once

I’ve seen many successful people talking about how their only limitation has always been themselves, and as time goes I start to deeply internalize that.

Two concepts I believe are very important in uncertain times, especially times when you’re doubting yourself. These I believe are sufficient for anyone to move forward with their crazy no matter how crazy it could be:

1. “Always have a contrarian idea, then work to prove it correct”

Probably one of the most dangerous signs that can happen early on is for everyone to agree with your idea. It’s non-intuitive, but if everyone can be fully on board with whatever you’re building, it probably is an indicator that either it’s not big enough, or it has already been implemented and became so mainstream that most people can identify with. So hardest part about extreme success is not the work, it’s being a correct contrarian. Because when you go from an incorrect contrarian to a correct contrarian, it messes with everyone’s heads. Moreover, extreme success becomes meaningful if the one thing you’re correctly contrarian about is also meaningful.

2. “It helps if you have an arc”

An arc is like a story through your life. It enables the buildup of different events and findings to always fit in that one story. The story is the narrative that you tell to yourself that probably would make little to no sense to anybody else. It can quite help because only then you can make sense of everything that happens in your life in accordance to that story. Most crazy people tend to have that internal narrative that enables them to push through when times get dark. Without that narrative, it could be hard to put things into context, especially when things are not moving according to plan. I think you have to believe that dots will somehow connect, because this is the only way to move forward. There’s just no other way to trust a process, if it wasn’t for the arc.

These are not things I made up.

The first concept is being taught by Mark Manson.

The second concept is being taught by Naval Ravikant.

Probably a common theme between these two concepts is that both are internal work. In most aspects of life you only have to be right once, because once is enough. But in order for it to happen, you have to keep at it, time after time. And these are just two of the ways that can tremendously help.

“Picture is perfect in the end. If it’s not perfect, then it’s not the end”

Stay inspiring!