Rodrigo
Eight years ago in the summer of 2004 I studied abroad in Shanghai. While I was there I met another student named Rodrigo. Rodrigo was from Spain, spoke marginal English and always had a smile on his face. Rodrigo loved to have a good time, he’d party all night, explore all corners of Shanghai and if he had time he’d show up to class. Over the course of the semester I’m not sure he ever got any work done, but I am almost certain he had the best time. Looking back now I NEVER thought I would be getting business advice from Rodrigo, but I did.
One year ago Rodrigo was in Chicago on business and gave me a call. I hadn’t heard from him in a long time and jumped at the chance to see him. He asked me to meet him at his hotel at 8pm and we’d go out for a drink (code for “get ready for a late night”). I showed up at his hotel, walked into the lobby bar and there he was having a great laugh with a bunch of strangers. Same old Rodrigo… or so I thought.
Rodrigo and I ended up at Maestro’s having an overpriced martini and talking about the last eight years. Three years ago he had realized that his current line of work didn’t fit him and he wanted to pursue his passions. Rodrigo wanted to save cities energy and he had an idea to do it. So he quit his job and over the course of the next 2 years he created, grew and successfully implemented his idea in many cities. I was amazed. He told me to “figure out what you believe in an you’ll become rich as a byproduct.” My mind had been blown.
What does “rich” mean?
I met Rodrigo when he was 17. He was now 25 and more successful than nearly any one I knew. I was amazed. How did he go from the party animal I had met Shanghai to successful businessmen all the while staying the happiest guy in the room? “Doing what I believed in has made me rich. Being rich has nothing to do with money. I am genuinely happy working. I love it. Even if I failed I’d be rich,” he told me. To Rodrigo, being rich was being happy.
Happiness
After Rodrigo and I parted ways I thought about what he said for a long time. What made me happy? What did I believe in? I had no idea and the more I thought about it the more lost I became. Eventually I realized there was no quick answer and that a lot of people search their whole life for these answers, so I stopped looking so hard.
Happiness varies from person to person and comparing yourself or your business to others is a sure fire way to make you unhappy. There is alway someone bigger, always some one better and always someone smarter (Unless you’re Apple). Who cares? The real question is, what makes you happy? I’m happy when I get up in the morning excited for the day ahead. In Steve Job’s famous Stanford commence speech, he says..
“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
If you are not happy at work right now you are failing yourself. In fact, if you’re not happy in any aspect of your life right now you are failing. Change it now.
Enjoy the ride
I started approaching my days differently, both personally and in business. I wrote down the tasks that would make me happiest to complete each day and did my best to get them done. Please note that these tasks weren’t always enjoyable, but they made me happy to complete them. I also started thinking about my startup, Snapclass, as a person, an actual human life. Snapclass was born, is currently growing, hopefully will mature and sadly one day it will die. All businesses and people go through the same cycle. The experiences, people, problem solving, excitement and learning are your reward. So sit back, be happy and enjoy the journey. Strive to do what makes you happy everyday and before you know it you’ll be rich.
