Making Survival First: Part 23 - The Ethics
This is Part 23 of the Making Survival First book series. For the previous sections click here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22
Truth is the endpoint of any sufficiently trodden journey. Dig far enough into anything and eventually you illuminate a few pixels of reality's greater mosaic.
In this four year book journey I like to think I illuminated a few truth pixels about business, life, and myself. As a consequence I stumbled on a series of guiding principles I will be basing the rest of my life on.
An ethic, if you will.
It’s not what I planned for, but it’s what happened. Besides, Plato and Aristotle had their ethics. Why not me?
In this penultimate chapter of Making Survival First I'll describe the current state of this ethic and how it will guide my life moving forward.
Through Darkness, Light
In the Divine Comedy, Virgil guides Dante through hell so he can reach heaven. Darkness is a pitstop on the path to paradise. This is true of business and life, and is the central theme of Survival First.
In business, survival means confronting that which threatens survival - risk. Only by surviving can we receive entrepreneurship’s rewards. This has been true in my personal life. I wouldn’t be the person I’ve become if it weren’t for the dark periods I’ve ventured through with along the way.
Be Myself, or Else
In business, fitting in is death, or worse, commoditization.
Survival demands standing out. That means doing the opposite of what most people do - ignore competition. To stand out I have to do what others can’t or won’t do. The most reliable way of doing that...is be me.
My personality and reputation are my only true monopolies. Therefore being honest to myself and who I am is not only practical for business but necessary for my soul.
Businesses are Relationships
The most important thing I can think about as an entrepreneur is my relationship with my business. More money doesn't matter if I hate my business or the person I have to become to earn it.
Therefore the most useful questions to continually ask myself revolve around what would make me like or dislike my business. These questions are direct pathways to disarming risk and unlocking opportunities.
Seek Asymmetry
Aside from ordinary coin flips, all life is asymmetric. There is always an imbalance between upside and downside. Survival is about avoiding negative asymmetries while thriving is about finding positive asymmetries.
All of the best things in my life are consequences of asymmetries decisions. These include moving to Austin, becoming an entrepreneur and investing heavily in relationships. This entire book journey is one giant bet on the hidden magic of asymmetry. If I do this right, the upsides of this book journey will far outweigh what I put into it.
Walk the Path
There's been a quiet miracle slowly unfolding throughout this book journey. What started as me alone at my computer with an empty Google Doc has become something I never could have imagined had it not been for a series or borderline miraculous serendipities.
Some of these include Scribe’s coaching program, eventual collapse, perfectly-timed revenue spikes in my business, and my organically growing team of top level book industry professionals helping me bring this thing to life.
By forces random or cosmic, the lesson is becoming clear. As I walk my path, life will unfold for me and guide me to where I need to go.
Discovering this currently-evolving life-guiding ethic was not what I had in mind when I opened that Google Doc all those years ago, but it’s what happened. I don’t know where it will take me, but I have faith I’m going to like it.