I’ve been thinking about something lately.
How much of what we “know” these days comes from watching rather than doing. We listen to podcasts. Watch videos. Read threads. Join chat forums. And eventually, it starts to feel like experience. Like we’ve been there. Like we understand it. Like a war reenactment enthusiast eventually might feel he knows what it is to be in combat.
And sometimes we do gain some experience and insight from our vicarious endeavors… at least conceptually. But there’s a difference between understanding something in theory and carrying it in your bones. Between seeing it… and living it.
That gap has been on my mind.
So I’d like to try something.
I’d love for people, who have actually done something, to share it with the world. Not to impress anyone. Just honestly. Not “I once tried this,” but more like “I stayed with this long enough for it to change me.” Something you committed to. Something that took time. Effort. Blood-sweat-and-tears. Something that taught you something real.
And then… what did it teach you?
The idea isn’t to rank experiences or compare. It’s just to surface something we don’t always get to see anymore… lived knowledge. Hard-earned perspective. The kind that only shows up on the other side of doing; the hard way. If we can fill the narrative-space with stories of hard work and delayed-gratification, maybe we can inspire the younger generations.
So here’s the challenge:
Write a short essay about something in which you’ve actually developed expertise, and how you got there. And more importantly… what it did to the way you see things now. Then…
Post it. Anywhere and everywhere.
Let’s see what’s out there. What people are quietly carrying. What’s been learned in the real world.
I’ll start.
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Part curiosity. Part stubbornness. I like solving problems. I like building things. And if I’m being honest… I’ve never had much patience for being told how something should be done by someone who’s never proven they know how to do it themselves. I’m a lead by example sort of person.
So most of my life has been self-directed in one way or another.
At one point, I spotted an opening tied to a government contract in a very specific niche. Nothing glamorous. Just an opportunity that made sense if you looked closely enough.
And I went all in.
For about four years, it was 20-hour days. Seven days a week. Building, refining, pushing, figuring things out as I went. Securing the contract. Building the company around it. And eventually, exiting.
It wasn’t fancy, but it was real.
And what it taught me was this:
If you’re going to build something… ask yourself where the payoff actually is. Because it takes an enormous amount of effort to build anything of substance. And that effort doesn’t really care whether the payoff is small or large. The work is the work.
So if you’re going to do it… you might as well aim for something genuinely meaningful. Something with a big impact. A big payoff (monetary or otherwise).
That’s one of mine.
What’s yours?