Forward Motion

Few things scare me more than the words “long-term commitment,” but for 2022, I’m going all-in. For years, I’ve been telling myself (and everyone else) that those words are not for me, but I’m starting to feel differently about it.

Over the past five months, I’ve had a lot of time to think about my life and what I want to do next. What struck me was that I’ve never intentionally built a career, a life, a relationship WITHOUT an end in mind. I’ve always clung to the notion that if I don’t like it, I’ll change it in two years. Friendships and family are the exceptions, of course. It’s hard to get rid of me there.

I recently read an article in Protocol magazine about Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and creator of WordPress. He decided to make it his lifelong career early on and has been unwavering about it since. It’s rare these days, especially in tech, to see someone so resolute in their vision and have the commitment and stamina to see things through over a lifetime. We need more of that in every sector if we want to change some fundamental things about our culture right now. It feels imperative.

Let’s be clear, we all can’t be Matt democratizing the internet. He’s naturally brilliant and just about as charming as all get out. Most of us could find things to invest in things that go beyond our immediate family and lives. Doing so would achieve both a collective and compounding impact – something I believe is necessary to move the needle on the things critical to our community.

The trick is, collective and compounding impact need people to take meaningful action over a long arc of time. Not on everything, but maybe just one thing. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

All this to say is that I am looking at life through a 20-year lens instead of a 2-year one for the first time ever. I’ve taken inventory of what I have to offer and want to apply them in ways I haven’t before (more on this later). It feels like I am at the precipice of my life’s work. It’s scary and exciting, and feels good to have direction and purpose again. My brain, which has been a bit mushy over my sabbatical, is back.