Thanks for writing this essay, which clarifies your intentions.
I have the benefit of being older and having lived a life of introspection, reflection and growth. I have learned many things that get in the way of the life I want to live, including the way I want to conduct my businesses.
The obstacles that stood in the way of my personal and professional success stem largely from invisible forces that were sets during my upbringing. I can understand rationally how this comes from my parents, who were badly damaged by WWII. My father was a Polish resistance fighter who was imprisoned in a hard-labour camp and barely survived. My mother a Jew who witnessed her mother being shot, was forced into slave labour, violated, and then escaped to live by her wits until the end of the war. I don't think anyone raised by such deeply traumatized parents would have come out any differently.
Knowing this was barely helpful. It took years to peel out the layers concealing these inner forces, bring them to light, and then correcting them. I suspect that the uniqueness of who I am - an intellectual - means that certain approaches worked, whereas others didn't. However, I can say that each realization, each change made me better at living my own life and at running my affairs. I see it clearly in my co-founder and business partner, for whom the issues he hasn't resolved - his propensity to please others, to not offend - get in the way of our business. It's the same for everyone.
I look forward to each essay you write and each discussion that ensues. It's the best way for all of us to grow.
Thanks for writing this essay, which clarifies your intentions.
I have the benefit of being older and having lived a life of introspection, reflection and growth. I have learned many things that get in the way of the life I want to live, including the way I want to conduct my businesses.
The obstacles that stood in the way of my personal and professional success stem largely from invisible forces that were sets during my upbringing. I can understand rationally how this comes from my parents, who were badly damaged by WWII. My father was a Polish resistance fighter who was imprisoned in a hard-labour camp and barely survived. My mother a Jew who witnessed her mother being shot, was forced into slave labour, violated, and then escaped to live by her wits until the end of the war. I don't think anyone raised by such deeply traumatized parents would have come out any differently.
Knowing this was barely helpful. It took years to peel out the layers concealing these inner forces, bring them to light, and then correcting them. I suspect that the uniqueness of who I am - an intellectual - means that certain approaches worked, whereas others didn't. However, I can say that each realization, each change made me better at living my own life and at running my affairs. I see it clearly in my co-founder and business partner, for whom the issues he hasn't resolved - his propensity to please others, to not offend - get in the way of our business. It's the same for everyone.
I look forward to each essay you write and each discussion that ensues. It's the best way for all of us to grow.