Holidays are particularly exciting for me during this time; not so much for the holidays themselves, but because it gives me an extra day to work on my startup, since I don’t have to report for the day job. Today I’ve been able to spend some time strategizing with the developer and also working with another friend that will be a part of the fitness startup, helping me with content and the video work we need to do. We’ve all been reading a few different books related to startups, companies and innovation, and are working to identify which principles we want to apply from each of these books and how we want to execute on it. We’re also planning to spend ½ of Friday this week and all of Saturday working on our first steps together.
I’ve thought some about working these holidays as I’ve had friends and family try and get me to “enjoy the day.” I don’t know quite the right word to use… it’s not harassing, but something close – family and friends that tell me to quit working, take a break, enjoy a day off. For me, there is no other time. If I enjoy my time off, I’ll never have enough time to get the things done that are needed to get this startup going. My friends and family don’t mean any harm, but it made me think about two things. First, I wondered how many others have given in. I think if I gave in once, it would be easier to give in twice. For me, it would snowball from there, and I would go back to enjoying my time off whenever I could, again putting the startup on the back burner for a better time. The other thing I thought of is that this really is a sacrifice. The next several months to few years will be a lot of sacrifice – giving up “free time” to get enough work done to make something out of my ideas. I think of how this has been a distraction to me in the past where I have not been willing to make the sacrifice to get things going. I’ve got to push these thoughts out of my mind and continue to do what needs to be done.
That being said, it’s getting dark and I’ve put in several hours today. I’m going to enjoy some fireworks! Have a safe and happy 4th!
What sacrifices are you making to get your startup off the ground? How have family and friends responded?