Recently I have become disillusioned with my business. Not because it isn’t going well but purely because there feels to be no challenge left in it.
I had a goal – to make enough money to support my family through my business. I have achieved that goal and achieved it in such a way that I could literally work 4 hours a week if I wanted to.
Now that’s not to say my current success or income level would be sustained long term working only 4 hours per week, but for the near future it likely would be.
I don’t have a desire to earn more money, thus the thought of simply working to grow my businesses beyond their current state doesn’t inspire me.
Recently I have turned to a competitive game I love to quench my satiating thirst for learning, a 2001 Gamecube game known as Super Smash Bros Melee.
This game is so easy to pick up and play, yet so technical and deep if you want to be good that it is a perfect outlet for me.
Obsession With Business
For year’s I have had an obsession with business, online business in particular.
I would spend countless hours listening to business podcasts, audiobooks and reading blog posts about different marketing strategies or approaches to innovation.
I remember not being able to turn my brain off as it churned through different product ideas and ways I could make my fledgling property website grow it’s traffic or make more money.
Yet over the last 6 months or so that passion for business learning has all but completely dried up.
The proof it in the hundreds of business podcast episodes piled up on my phone that would have previously been listened to as soon as they were released.
Or the fact that I haven’t bought a business book in months when I would usually churn through 1 or more a week.
A Passion For Melee
I first started playing Super Smash Bros Melee in April 2015 after my 3rd child was born. My first tournament was 3-4 Months later in July or August 2015.
What started as a random hobby to help me relive my childhood playing Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64 soon turned into a passion.
Weekly meetups on Tuesday nights, weekend tournaments once a month and practicing every day from home.
It’s been the perfect outlet for my need to learn and improve, which I feel hasn’t been happening in business lately.
My First Glimpse Of My Next Project
I was driving in the car today listing the Start Up Podcast and an ad came on for Blue Apron. The ad described their service and a dish you could make (which didn’t sound up my alley).
But I remember having this strong sense of not wanting to create a product/service/company that requires crappy advertising to succeed.
Instead I want to create something so good that people can’t help but tell other people about it.
That is all I’m going off at the moment. A random sense that I want to create something really good and something that people want to talk about.
It’s a tiny breadcrumb and I have no idea where it leads of even where the next breadcrumb will be. But it’s the first food I’ve had in a long time so I am cherishing it and excited to see what’s next.
In The Meantime
In the meantime I am continuing to maintain my business and might even put in a little bit of work to grow them.
But most of my focus is on 2 things.
- Getting better at Super Smash Bros Melee
- Learning how to learn things faster and become an expert quicker
It’s really the 2nd thing that is driving me at the moment.
I know in the future I want to study neuroscience, I know that I want to somehow be involved and have an impact in the area of education…but I have no idea what those things look like.
Exploring ultimate performace and how people become the absolute best in their field is something that I feel will pay dividends down the line.
Melee makes me zero money and pursuing it costs me money. To be one of the best in a competitive computer game actually means very little to me when I look at my entire life.
But this. Pursuing something with the goal of being the best you can be at it, the immense focus and learning required to achieve that, and any shortcuts to making that happen…are so valuable to me.
I am interested to see how this pursuit of mine plays out in the future and what part my role to become better at Melee has on the project I choose to work on next.
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