I really like making and discovering new things. It's a bit of a problem, because as soon as I've made something, I'm bored with it and looking for something else to do, know or create. It's the reason why I get "into things" so intensely, only to be done with them the next time somebody asks about it.
*cough* 120 houseplants *cough*
When my new book was finally printed and arrived, I eyed it with scepticism. I wrote You Don't Need An MBA between January and October 2020 and once it turned up in May 2021, I had already moved on to thinking about other things.
We're now taking enrolments for Not An MBA, with a curriculum based on that book, and I'm already looking for ways to change it or adapt it... before we've even started! This compulsion of mine is both a curse, and a blessing, depending on who you ask. (Try my team, they're having fun...)
But there's no inherent value in being static. Consistency and commitment is perfectly honourable until it begins to constrain creativity and growth.
For Not An MBA, the mindset shift was when I realised I don't have to stick to what's in the book - how boring would that be? You may as well just read the book! The value of naMBA will flourish as it's imbued with fresh thinking, interesting curation and new ideas that others build on, add to, challenge and enrich. I can't wait to see these ideas take on new shapes and forms as we make something new together.
Nothing we learn, immerse ourselves in, think or create ever really goes away. Instead, those experiences bleed across borders, inject life into new and dark corners and nest themselves in gorgeous and nuanced ways, bringing value and creativity to even the plainest of pursuits.
The same is true in our work and personal lives, every time we change direction or start something new. Sometimes we feel needlessly trapped. I hear people tell me that they've come too far to change jobs now. That they're too deep in a project to start again or change it, that they've committed too much to their relationship to leave and start afresh. Starting something new looks empty, scary and uncertain, and would waste all of the work that's come before.
I get it. I've been battling depression for most of this year, and one of the least useful stories The Big D likes to tell you is that you're stuck. That things are hopeless, and you've no hope of changing them for the better.
What rot. This is sunk cost fallacy at its finest, and it simply isn't true. Every time you take a new step, you bring all of the experience, knowledge and value from the last phase along with you. You're never starting with a blank sheet. The pages are already full of you, and everything that's brought you to this point in your life. You get to choose what to keep and what to discard, curating your sense of self as you step into the next leg of your journey.
Don't be afraid: to change your life, to update your opinions, to take a new job, to try a new hobby, or to buy more houseplants than you can fit in your house.
Every new thing you try is built upon what's come before, and will in turn seed new life, as you encounter new opportunities, build new relationships and deepen your identity with richer perspective and understanding.
Don't stop growing and changing because you feel stuck. You are never, ever stuck. There's always a way forward, and that way will be better for the journey you've taken to get there.
Do that thing. It's not too late. I promise.
Til next week,
- A
Alicia McKay
