“If your vision told you to choose a different path, then the right opportunity is waiting for you on the new one.” – Yellowstone
I’ve had two existential crises in my life.
Real existential crises:
Where my sense of meaning completely collapsed, leaving me lost, confused, and feeling like nothing that used to matter to me actually mattered, anymore.
It was as though the color had been drained from my world, plunging my reality into shades of grey.
These were two of the scariest times of my life.
And I’d like to share the first one with you now, in case you’re going through a similar phase of your own life.
It happened in 2009, when a career-ending hip injury forced me out of basketball and into a period of total uncertainty.
Until then, my life had been consumed by basketball:
By early mornings, empty gyms, dusty weight rooms, and the relentless pursuit of mastering my craft.
But looking back, it wasn’t even about basketball, for me:
It was about the feeling of purpose that came from pressing towards a distant mountaintop…
…Testing the limits of my mind, my body, and my will against the highest goal I could imagine.
It was about seeing how high I could climb:
And, more importantly, who I could become, in the process.
Then, all at once, it was gone — and with it, so was my sense of purpose.
I tried to keep training, at first.
But without clarity on what I was training for, all of my workouts felt flat.
So I tried to pursue new goals…
(powerlifting, bodybuilding, even academics)
…But nothing gave me the feeling that basketball did.
Everything felt lukewarm, so-so, kind of interesting but mostly not.
Until late one night, sitting in my college dorm room, when I tumbled down the online business rabbit hole, and felt the color rush back into my life.
Suddenly, I had a fresh new set of skills to learn.
A new mountain to climb.
And a new craft to master.
This new craft, however, came with benefits that basketball couldn’t offer.
Money was the obvious one (and it’s been a damn good one)…
But even better than money was the feeling that I was finally in control of my own destiny.
No coach could put me on the sidelines.
No teammate could hog the ball and ice me out.
No scout could decide he likes another player better, and kill my dream cold.
It was all in my hands, now.
For the first time, I was finally playing a fair game.
And I could continue playing that game for as long as I wanted to — for the rest of my life, even, without needing to worry about age or physical breakdown.
Of course, business came with it’s own challenges.
But those challenges only amplified my sense of purpose, as I forged myself against a new mountain that could be scaled to seemingly limitless heights.
Today, 15 years later…
…That mountain continues to reveal new vistas, new potentials, and new opportunities that I never knew existed.
And I know it will continue to do so, for as long as I continue to climb.
If you’re currently standing at the base of that mountain, preparing to make your own journey…
…It would be a pleasure to guide you inside FounderLab.
We are closing applications at midnight tonight — so, if you want in:
Here’s where you can apply before 11:59pm EST.
I hope it brings new purpose, new meaning, and new color to your life, the way it has for mine.
T
P.S. If you have any final questions about the program, just hit reply. We’re less than 14 hours away from closing, so now’s the time to ask!
“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.“ – Winston Churchill
