#112 - Stable
In control, trust me, and hopes and dreams
Stability: Synonymous with a quiet and even boring life.
But the opposite is true.
Stability is the key to moving fast.
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In Control
What do I mean by stability?
The state of being stable. That’ll do.
Stability shows up everywhere. Take cars. Cars contain something called an Electronic Stability Control (ESC) System. (bear with me!)
The system’s job is to maintain stability. It continuously monitors. And if instability is detected, it’ll apply braking to individual wheels or adjust engine power automatically.
It’s this system that allow the car to go fast without losing control.
Stability is crucial for a car. But it’s also crucial for you. And what ever company you might work for.
Trust Me
Let’s start with the company.
The imperative in startups is to move fast. Move fast and break things. But more importantly: Move fast to stay alive. It’s a race against the clock. Against the dwindling bank account or the looming competition.
But often it’s this need to move fast that slows things down. The system loses stability.
Culture is the big one. But it could also be product, finance, or any other internal system. I saw them all spin out of control at the previous startup.
Stable culture is built on trust. Trust and respect. If things are going wrong, fine. No need to panic. You trust each other to pull through. A stable, methodical approach can be taken.
But when a culture is unstable, trust evaporates.
When a car spins out of control, a huge amount of energy is expended but it goes in many different directions. Into spinning, and flipping, and crashing. And, crucially, not into progressing on the road.
Likewise when a culture loses stability energy is no longer reserved for progress. It’s spent on bickering, and politics, and resentment.
I imagine you’ve resented colleague at some point in life. I certainly have. How much energy it consumes! Our raging mind let loose. It’s exhausting.
An unstable culture has that playing out everywhere. Mental energy evaporating into mental feuds.
Stability removes the bullshit. And with that gone the energy can be directed towards the main thing. Moving forward.
Hopes and Dreams
And then of course there’s you.
Just like the startup stumbling forward, here you are chasing your hopes and dreams.
Of course you want to get there faster. Who could blame you.
But once again the key is stability.
Two months ago I did a Vipassana; a 10 day silent retreat, with 10 hours a day spent cross legged meditating. Incredibly intense experience. One lesson stood out, and concerns us here.
There are three types of action in our lives:
Physical action, what we do; vocal action, what we say; and mental action, what we think.Most our time is spent worrying about the first two. What we should do, and what we should say. I spent much of the 10 days ruminating on nothing else.
But that’s not the secret to progress. In fact all we need to focus on is the third: Mental action.
All we need to change is how we think.
Do that- get into the right headspace- and everything else will follow.
The key, then, is achieve mental stability. To quiet the anxieties and worries that destabilise our days. Solve for that and Right Action will follow.
Wherever you want to get: In your mind, body, relationships, or work. The key to progress is stability. And not just in that domain.
Want to grow your startup faster? Shoot for a calm mind, a healthy body, and happy home. All else will follow.
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(Credit to the below book for the idea of stability)
My Week in Books📚
Outlive by Peter Attia
“The science & art of longevity”. Such a good book.
My younger sister heckled me for reading this. For striving for immortality. But that’s not the case at all.
I have no desire to live forever. 80 will do me just fine. But how those years are spent does concern me. A decade in a hospital bed is my worst nightmare. And I’m not sure there’s a better book on that topic.
Tldr: Exercise is head and shoulders above everything else for longevity. Get out and move more. That’s it.
Thank you Nikita Goldin for the rec!
Book recommendations welcome & encouraged. Just hit reply! 🙏
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A Final Thought 💡
“There is no coincidence that stability brings success, and success brings stability.”
– Robert Green
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Very good framing around quality of life vs. longevity.