Some of my clients are trying to find lightning in a bottle for the first time. But some of them have already had success and are trying to regain the feeling. The problem is that feeling is different this time around. So many people get stuck waiting for it to feel exactly the same way it did the last time. It’s important to distinguish some of the scenarios to look out for if you are trying to reclaim the feeling. Failure to process new feelings could cause you to miss when you are right on top of “the next thing” or” your next move.”
You are Older and “Wiser”
One thing that has changed is your age and all that comes with growing older, more experienced, and dare I say, wiser. You are likely in a position where you learned a bunch last time around for yourself, and have created a circle of peers that also have shared their experiences. Perhaps, what excited you 10 years ago may no longer be exciting. Consider your change in age when wondering why it feels differently this time around and try an age-appropriate attack for the challenge.
Your Team/Resources Changed
The first time around your team and resources were what they were. And as your life and your project progressed, so did your team. You probably added members and likely also dropped some. Your team and resources evolved through the stages of your project too, from startup to maturity. And now you are looking at a new startup or at least something that should be treated as such. This may require you to go back to some of the old relationships, no matter how it last ended. Many people want to do a “startup-like project” with their comfortable “maturity-like” team. This is a mistake. Match your resources and projects for success.
The World/Industry Has Changed
This is a point that I needed to convince people of in the past, but the world has changed so much over the past couple of years that’s no longer necessary. Now everybody understands that the world is constantly evolving and at a more rapid pace than ever. And this has changed a bunch of things, if not everything. It’s changed how we work, where we work, how we buy, where we buy, where/how we source, etc. Some things have become easier and some have become more challenging. Either way, remember to build something for now and the future (and not for how things used to be). And it will likely feel different than the last thing you built because the world is so different.
The Way You Desire to Do it Has Changed
Many of the people have hired me in the past bootstrapped their first entity. And they put the blood, sweat, tears into the project to make it work. In the process, building a team, building other resources, building a reputation, and profiting! And now it’s time for the new venture and the way that they know how to do new venturing is by bootstrapping and doing all the work themselves. However, things have changed (for the better), they now have a reputation, resources, and CASH! This creates the opportunity to enter the new venture the way that you want to, and not the automatic way that you know how to.
The Stage of the Cycle May Be Different
The economic cycles seem to have become more extreme. There are some periods where everyone can raise millions easily for terrible ideas and then periods where there seems to be no funding for even “the next big thing.” Many people who caught lighting in a bottle once sometimes only know how to operate in the period of the cycle that they operated in the first time around. I sometimes struggle with clients who want to make fundraising hard when it’s an easy money period or vice versa. Or a client that is stuck in a “getting employees is hard” story during a period where employees are desperate to work. You may have your next lightning, but you must match it up to the where we are in all the cycles.
If you caught lighting in a bottle before and are looking for it again, take the scenarios I described above into consideration because you may be closer than you think, the feeling may just be different.
Jason Dukes is an Executive Life Coach to Visionary Leaders and helps them bring their visions to life through innovative and customized one-on-one programs.
