“IF YOU THINK YOU CAN …”

I avoid talking about the details of my entrepreneurial life in this blog. For all intents and purposes, this is practically a public confessional booth - and I really don’t want to reveal all the stuff that’s going on, as some personalities (and even more tricky, partners and/or clients) might chance upon this corner of the universe and recognize what the hell I’m talking about. Even worse, some ideas might be copied before they’re ready to be released to the bigger world. So … for safety, for confidentiality, and for respect, my lips are relatively sealed … for now.

But I will say this - the pace has certainly picked up, most especially these past couple of months. I used to complain to myself that when we were starting out, it’s as if I went from 200 mph to a sluggish 20. But now I’ve revved up back to 3rd gear. And even at this rate, there’s still the 4th and 5th gears to look forward to.

Every meeting, every deal, every new partnership brings my business partner and I one step closer to where we want to be. Of course, there have been stumbling blocks, and sometimes even downright stupid mistakes along the way. I mean, if it’s in your DNA to Think Big, then there are really times that you’re just going to fall flat on your face. But I guess it’s all part of learning and adjusting to the new rules of the game.

Speaking of playing the game, more and more I realize that there are times that it’s really just a discipline of chipping away, of almost clinical patience. You’ve just got to ensure that your head’s clear on what it is exactly you’re trying to achieve. Everything else is just background noise. Personally, it’s all good. Because if this were chess, it’s as if our first round of moves have already been strategically placed.

In fact, yesterday we had a major milestone, a big win amidst the string of small and medium-sized wins we’ve had so far. That’s really all I’m comfortable to share at this point, but come early next year, you’ll definitely hear all about it. It’s all part of The Plan.

Thankfully, The Plan is extremely clear, almost to an obsessive fault. And all the things I’ve started to get involved in – both business and non-business-related – are all part of putting the pieces into place, almost as if I were weaving this elaborate tapestry whose overall pattern will only be revealed through time.

It’s hard to put into words, but it’s really an extremely different rush when you pick the battles you want to fight, choose the spaces you want to play in, and you, well, you just go for it. My to-do list is my own to-do list, not some hand-me-down order from way-on-high. It’s literally saying that these are the things that matter to me, the things that I have decided to invest my self in; In the end, this is what my life’s work will have been about, long after I’m gone.

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Anyway, I had coffee with my former big boss yesterday morning, a catch-up session if you will. Since he’s no longer my big boss, I’ve obviously no ulterior career motive as I transition into my next line of thinking. Let’s just say that he’s one of the very few people who have earned my utmost respect. Our conversation revolved around several topics – starting with the normal how-are-things, how-are-the-people-we-know; and once we dismissed with the niceties, we eventually traversed into other territories.

He was talking about his vision, and my gut instinct told me that this vision had the usual suspects in it. But he wasn’t talking about hitting sales targets, or of accumulating market share and distribution, or of garnering awards. These were natural byproducts of what he really wanted to achieve. For him, his clear intention was to develop a generation of world-class leaders under his watch. And having done my tour of duty under him, I can testify to how many people’s lives he’s literally influenced, molded - and at times, stretched to the limits, hehehe - for the better.

I was thinking about it, and realized even more just how much I owed to this person. He’s been a constant in my seven-year career, a veritable coffee 3-in-1 sachet – coach, mentor, and boss all rolled into one. But if there’s one thing that really has my gratitude pump flowing, it’s this – he believed in me. Way before anybody had any business believing in me, he saw something that nobody else saw (not even myself, at the time), took that, and pushed it to the limits. Ironically, several instances in my career, he showed me what I was capable of doing.

Looking at this rollercoaster ride called my current life, it’s unquantifiable how big a role that belief, coaching, and nurturing plays now. After all, when I decided to take this leap, I did so hinging on nothing else but my own two core beliefs – 1. that this is what I really, really wanted to do, and 2. that I could actually do it. I was leveraging on nothing else but self-confidence, on the almost stubborn mindset that I would eventually be capable of getting it on. I was starting from Base Zero.

I remember when somebody broke my spirit and told me “problema sa ‘yo, masyado kang bilib sa sarili mo.” That really shook me for awhile. After all, what else did I have? What else could I hold onto? Think about it --- take away everything, and we’re left with nothing but faith in God, and belief in ourselves. It’s not brash arrogance nor mindless self-assuredness, believe me. Having confidence is fine, but there’s a fine line that should never be crossed. In the same vein, the other extreme of absolute meekness and false humility, I believe, really won’t get you anywhere either. So let’s shoot for somewhere in the middle - an espresso-shot sized dose of self-confidence; not a whole damn lot, but packs a wallop of a punch.

If you don’t have people who believe in you, who are willing to bet on you, then you’re in for a rough ride, most especially during uncertainty-slash-risk mode. You’ll need warm bodies that will unwaveringly stand by your side, through the ups and downs and sideways of it, no matter what. Family, friends, companions, partners who see you not as who you are now, but who you will eventually become. Not who you are now but who you will eventually become. Actually, to be very blunt about it, it’s times like these that you’ll know who’s real and who’s not.

So find your posse, buckle up, and start believing. This is our time, our ride, our destiny to take. After all, if we don’t go for it, who else will?