You’ve Been Lied to About Success

Work doesn’t have to hurt to matter. In fact, it shouldn’t.

You and I have been told that business is a battlefield.

There is wartime and peacetime.

We’re implicitly taught to see every competitor as “the enemy” and every day as a struggle for survival. That “fun” is a distraction and that if you aren’t suffering… well you’re just not trying hard enough.

This narrative didn’t come from nowhere. It was built. Carefully and relentlessly by business thinkers, Silicon Valley heroics, war metaphors. By books, movies and MBA programs that all parrot similar gospel: pain equals progress.

Stay paranoid, fight to dominate or get crushed.

My truth is that this mindset is soul-crushing, reactive and prone to creating the lack of internal engagement corporations endlessly suffer from.

Alas over the past 18 years I followed these rules and bought into the narrative.

I climbed the ladder and sacrificed weekends, relationships and my own sense of self thinking and believing that it was the price to pay for greatness.

When I finally reached the “so-called top”, it really didn’t feel like success. More work, for sure. It was like winning that game but forgetting the reason you were trying to play it in the first place.

Not so long ago, I stumbled into my two co-founders, Jake and Sean who believe in an audacious idea: What if work could be enjoyable because we prioritize working with great people?

What if making, innovating, and experimenting could be a true source of genuine excitement?

Over this past year, I’ve experienced a level of creative joy I pretty much wrote off as being possible. Fun, genuine fun, is a true catalyst.

When you allow yourself to enjoy what you do your energy soars.

You think faster. Generate bolder ideas and collaborate more naturally. Its flipping a switch in your mind that instantly taps into a bottomless well of inspiration.

Human life.

Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion.

Then what can guide us? Only philosophy. — II. 17

Hustle culture and its messaging glorifies the constant grind. It misses the point.

Working endlessly without joy is running a marathon on a treadmill. You rack up miles, sure, but never get anywhere meaningful.

Real progress comes from passion, from that electric feeling you get when you can’t wait to wake up and “play”.

The Myth of Endless Management

Another massive fallacy is the idea that you need to manage huge teams to make a dent in the world. I tried that route.

I managed many layers. People who were very competent but not necessarily inspired. On reflection perhaps this was my fault or circumstance outside my control. I don’t fully know but I damn well tried to inspire.

My days were consumed by meetings, status updates and tons of tape. Every step of creativity got filtered through committees, processes and oh-so-many reviews.

By the time we launched anything the spark that made it special in the first place was gone.

There has long been a place and need for what I’ll call “old school” collaboration.

But layers of management tend to bury our unique gifts.

This new age of powerful tools makes it possible for an individual or a small, focused team to accomplish more than entire functions could just a few years ago.

Why spread yourself thin managing endless hierarchies when you can pour that energy into creating something extraordinary?

A Revolution of Creators

We’re living in the golden era for anyone with an idea and courage to pursue it.

You have everything you need. Knowledge, technology, global platforms and AI right at your fingertips.

What used to gate-keep is fast losing relevance.

You don’t need much permission anymore.

If you want to make something, you can just make it.

If you want to share it, you can just share it.

What sets you apart in this new era is the quality of your thought and the authenticity of your passion. People can sense genuine excitement. And when they do they gravitate toward it because it feels alive.

The competition is still out there but the rules have changed. It’s not about crushing everyone else.

It’s about standing out by being undeniably you.

Fun as a Superpower

Perhaps the biggest lie we’re told is that fun makes you weak.

The truth is that fun keeps you inspired, adaptable, and fearless.

When you enjoy what you’re doing obstacles become challenges.

You’re more willing to explore new angles and take risks. Failure is part of the adventure.

This mentality is dare I say revolutionary in a business culture obsessed with rigid, joyless efficiency.

Choose Your Own Metric

Revenue and market share of course matter.

We all need to pay the bills.

If your core metrics revolve solely around dollar signs and dominance you will undoubtedly wake up one day wondering what the point of it all was.

The real question is: Do you feel energized when you wake up?

• Does the act of creating make you feel more alive?

• Do you still have that twinkle in your eye at the end of the day?

If the answer is no after a few months… break free from the old ways.

Those old ways are dying anyway by collapsing under their own weight.

It’s not your responsibility to prop them up.

Make the Leap

You stand at a crossroads.

One path leads to the familiar world of endless grinding, constant stress, and a faint promise of relief somewhere down the line.

The other path leads to a place where “work” can be a true extension of your passions, a space fueled by curiosity and genuine excitement.

One path may look safe but drains your spirit. The other path feels uncertain yet is bursting with possibility.

Choose the path that makes you feel alive.

This moment in history is your chance to break with tradition and create something that resonates deeply with who you are. Fun isn’t a luxury.

It is the key ingredient that transforms ordinary work into something much more spectacular.

Embrace it, harness it, and watch how it propels you to places you once thought were out of reach.

Don’t wait for the old system to validate you. The revolution is happening right now, and it’s fueled by people brave enough to prioritize joy in their work.

The last question is: will you join in?