“Greatness comes from humble beginnings, it comes from grunt work. It means you’re the least important person in the room – until you change that with results.” ~Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy
This quote resonated with me because I’m at the start of a, hopefully, long process of starting a coffee business. My beginnings aren’t flashy or super exciting to anyone looking in, but I think that’s what I want.
I want this to work, so I’m taking it slowly, but progressing no less. My plan continues to be taking it one step at a time. To analyze results, learn from mistakes and successes, then move to the next step when I’m ready. It’s not as exciting as people make it out to be, but for me, it’s everything.
I’ve never been one to accept compliments well and now is no different. I don’t even like writing blogs about my progress because it feels braggadocios. When someone tries ETT Coffee and says it’s delicious, or the smoothest they’ve ever had, I can’t help but think they’re lying. They’re just trying to make me feel good, right?
In part, I believe this is my attempt at not letting small wins go to my head. I don’t want to think everything I’m doing is perfect. If I do, I may stop trying so hard and analyzing better options. I realize I have a long way to go to reach my goals. Knowing this means I can’t be blinded by early victories.
Of course I’m grateful for all the support I’ve received, but I’m trying not to take that to mean I’m done. I think it’s important to be humble throughout the process of doing anything big, but especially so in the early stages.
If you let early victories go to your head, you may never achieve big results. You may let your ego rule and make decisions that don’t align with your original goals. Your ego craves money, attention, easiness, and success, so you’ll start making decisions based on those things. But staying humble allows you to see the bigger picture, the larger vision. From there, you continue making decisions that put you closer to that destination, even if they’re not easy.
So start small and stay humble. Be grateful for early wins, but never allow them to obscure your focus. You have so much to achieve. Objectives much bigger than just you, so keep to the path and don’t let anything push you off course.
