I suck at spreadsheets.
I suck at maths because numbers do my head in.
I suck at attending meetings because I just want action.
You will suck at your first blog post.
You will suck at your first startup, and the one after that, and so on.
You will suck at giving your first speech.
None of us are 100% motivated all the time.
None of us get anything right the first time – unless it’s a fluke.
We all have nightmares of our failures.
We all secretly want to be perfect – even me.
It’s time to embrace the suck.
A lot about life F*cking sucks hard.
My #EmbraceTheSuck story (thanks Sina Fak for the idea) was failing at high school and dropping out. After a break, I went back and finished high school, and the only subjects I excelled at were music and English.
Even though the headmaster told me I’d always be a no good, punk a$$, drop out, I proved him wrong.
I used my expertise in English to become a blogger and that’s why I’m writing these words to you right now.
I failed in the short-term, but by persevering at school, it eventually led me to right now. I could have done nothing and become a bum. I could have listened to my headmaster and agreed with him.
I knew that I was destined to do something big and I believe the movement I’m creating right now is part of my crazy goal to change the world.
All of us can succeed when we embrace the suck and persevere.
“We can listen to our critics or we can lift the middle finger at them and keep going”
Making it through the suck made me smarter, more courageous and it helped me build a newfound resilience.
How do we embrace the suck?
1. Be prepared to fail.
2. Look like an idiot.
3. Be willing to start at the bottom
4. Persevere
5. Challenge the critics
When everything sucks, get back up.
Have a second go even if there’s no reason too.
Back yourself and believe you can push through the suck.
Embrace the suck is a call to action.
It’s about being prepared to eat sh*t because the upside makes it worth it. It’s about doing what so many are not prepared to do because you believe in yourself.
It’s about taking action and executing instead of being a daydreamer and being stuck in a foreplay of ideas, dreams, goals that never happen.
Starting at the bottom and sucking harder is how you get to the top.
Once you arrive at the top, make sure you help other people who are embracing the suck.
Let’s all commit to doing more things that suck and being okay with it. Let’s challenge each other to be courageous.
If I can go from being a high school dropout to making something of myself, then why the heck can’t you?
Embrace the suck because that’s what the people you idolize and anyone you’ve ever looked up to did.
Embracing the suck is part of life.
“Hello, adversity. Come at me!”
One day you’ll look back on all the sucky moments and be proud.
That’s the cherry on top of the cake right there.
That is all the motivation you need to embrace the suck.
i love the five points. to me the hardest are being willing to start at the bottom, and perseverance. I came to realize that its always hard for us to be willing to start at the bottom because we have huge egos and because we think that we’ll be left behind. On the other hand, perseverance is also hard because it demands you to work hard in the midst of obstacles. The good thing is that we only have to embrace these factors for a short period of time, and we will enjoy their fruits for the rest of our lives. Thank you Tim.