Don’t Cower: Encouragement to Change Everything

I have been reading articles about the massive success of Uber. I have been so interested in seeing new markets opening up and watching a new stream of intelligent leaders surfacing. It’s invigorating.

There’s an article in particular I want to share.

[From an interview with designer/artist/soul searcher Elle Luna:]

So I was using Uber all the time in San Francisco, even though I hated the design. And then I went to the Crunchies awards ceremony and at a post-ceremony event, where I was in a ball gown, I saw the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, sitting at the bar. I was three whiskeys deep at this point and I walked up to him and said, “I use Uber all the time and I absolutely hate the app. I think you should bring me in to fix it.” He replied, “Oh, yeah? What are the three things you’d fix about it?” I said, “I’d redo the logo, redo the entire app, and change the rating system.” I think there was something about being in a dress that empowered me to say such things (laughing). And do you know what he said? He said, “Be at the Uber office at 9am on Monday.” I told him I couldn’t do it alone and he said he’d have a team for me.

I thought the offer was bogus, but I went to Uber’s office on Monday at 9am, laughing to myself, and Travis led me back to a project room with two other designers—they were from outside of Uber and he had flown them in from New York! We took on the Uber app and redesigned it in three weeks. In fact, one of the guys he flew in from New York, Shalin Amin, ended up staying on full-time. The app is gorgeous and last night it won the Fast Company 2013 Innovation By Design Awards for the transportation category, beating out Mars Rover and Tesla.

Most people want to be fit, most people aren’t.

Most people want to build a successful business, most people won’t.

Most people want to be the best version of themselves, most people aren’t.

Most people have dreams they want to fulfill, most people won’t.

Everyone wants to quit something, build something, be something, do something. Most people won’t.

How many things have we wanted? How many opportunities have we craved? How many broken things have we wanted to fix?

And how many of those have we shrunk from. Hid from. Or, excused away.

We’re not alone.

Most people won’t.

But every once in a while someone puts themselves out there. Makes the leap. Faces rejection or failure or worse. And comes out the other side. Better. Changed. Bolder.

Most people won’t. Which means those that do change everything.

-bryce dot vc

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Granted, the woman was already an esteemed individual. Nonetheless, she saw an opportunity to present her (possibly undesired) perspective and didn’t cower. She not only addressed what she saw as a problem, she provided the answer.

I know most people cower too often. Others may be quick to find a complaint, yet never stretch their brains to seek a solution.

Me? I want to change everything.

What about you?

Have you had a great idea, but haven’t given it legs? Do you have goals, but haven’t structured the discipline needed to succeed? Do you want to change something, but let fear and self-doubt cause you to settle?

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Do not fear. Pray for strength.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,  though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. ‘Selah'” Psalm 46:1-3

Do not fear. Pray for strength.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:3

Do not fear. Pray for strength.

How do you press on? How do you move forward? What tools have you found to be helpful? Where have you found encouragement?

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