Action

Welcome day three of The Obstacle is the Way, where we're gonna take a thrilling ride through the lives of some pretty amazing people and ideas that teach us the power of getting started, staying persistent, and taking action.

In this issue, we'll explore:

• 🛩 Amelia Earhart's gutsy move to defy the odds and fly high

• ⚔️ Ulysses Grant's unrelenting persistence in the face of adversity

• 💡 Thomas Edison's never-give-up attitude in the quest for innovation

• 🚀 Startups' embrace of failure as a learning tool

• 🍌 Zemurray Fruit's practical approach to problem-solving

Hold on tight, 'cause we've got a ton of fun packed into this newsletter! Estimated read time: 4 minutes 30 seconds 🕑

Let’s go!

Amelia Earhart - Get moving

Amelia Earhart wanted to be an aviator. But back in the 1920s, people thought women were too fragile for that kind of thing. Then, one day, she got a call with a pretty insulting offer to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.

The catch? She wouldn't actually fly the plane, and two men would get paid while she got nothing. Oh, and she might die doing it. But she said yes, because that's what people who defy the odds do.

And you know what? Less than five years later, she was the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. How cool is that? The secret? She got started and kept moving forward. This opportunity would never have come up if she didn’t take the first offer.

Life can be tough, and sometimes we're too scared to take action. But guess what? Nothing happens if we do nothing. So, it's time to take that first step and go for it!

Nowadays, we might shy away from being aggressive or taking risks, but Amelia Earhart showed us that's not the way to go. Earhart had the words, "Always think with your stick forward" painted on her plane, reminding us to keep moving forward.

Remember, courage is really about taking action, even when it's scary or conditions aren't perfect. So, let's create some momentum, get up, and get started!

Ulysses Grant - Practicing persistence

Guess who’s back again. Grant is back go tell a friend! Grant is up again.

General Ulysses S. Grant. He spent almost a year trying to break through the defenses of Vicksburg, a super important city for the Confederacy. He tried everything

• attacking head-on

• going around

• digging canals, and even flooding the area.

Nothing worked. But did he give up? No way!

His next idea was to run his boats past the heavily guarded river. It was a huge risk, but guess what? It worked! After that, he and his troops lived off the land, capturing towns one by one until they finally reached Vicksburg. The message was clear: Grant wouldn't give up, no matter what.

His persistence paid off, and it taught him two big lessons. First, never giving up is a powerful asset. And second, sometimes when you try everything, you discover a brand-new way to solve a problem. That new strategy eventually helped win the war!

The moral of the story? Grant's experience is a rule, not an exception. That's how innovation works, folks! Keep trying, and you might just find the perfect solution hiding in plain sight.

Thomas Edison

The poster child for persistence is Thomas Edison. When he was trying to create the light bulb he tested over 6,000 different filaments, even one made from his buddy's beard hair. Talk about dedication! And guess what? He found the one that worked (bamboo), showing us that sometimes genius is just being super persistent.

Now, imagine Ulysses S. Grant and Edison. Grant with a cigar in his mouth, Edison crawling around his lab for days. Both of them never giving up, trying every option with enthusiasm, knowing that one of them would eventually work. And yeah, their methods might not have been the most "scientific" or "proper," but hey, they got the job done!

The point is, we usually have the skills and knowledge to do what we want in life. But do we have the patience and persistence to see it through? Once we start tackling an obstacle, we can't even think about quitting. We've gotta channel our inner Edison and Grant and keep going until we find the solution.

So, remember: Keep going, stay persistent, and never let quitting be an option!

Startups - Iterate

Startups in Silicon Valley have come to understand the importance of learning quickly. They don't start with perfect, polished businesses. Instead, they release their "Minimum Viable Product" (MVP) - think of it as the most basic version of their idea.

Why? Because they want to see how customers respond right away. If the response is bad, they can fail fast, cheap, and learn from it. It's like they say, "Failure is a feature!"

Seriously, though, failure can be your BFF when you're trying to improve, learn, or create something new. It's like the secret sauce of success. So, don't be ashamed of changing course or being wrong. Problems become opportunities!

Failure is just part of the game, and it's okay! As long as we don't stop taking action because of it, we can learn from it. When failure happens, ask yourself what went wrong and how to improve.

Great entrepreneurs are like ninjas, always adapting and never afraid of setbacks. They might slip, but they never fall. Yeah, failing can be painful, but temporary failure is better than permanent failure, right? So, pay the price, learn from it, and grow.

Zemurray Fruit - What is right is what works

Picture this: it's 1915, deep in the Central American jungle, and two American fruit companies are battling it out for a precious piece of land. There's just one problem - two locals claim to own it, and nobody knows who the real owner is. In one corner, we've got the heavyweight, United Fruit. In the other, the scrappy underdog, Samuel Zemurray's small company.

United Fruit goes all-in, sending a team of hotshot lawyers on a wild goose chase for documents and deeds. But Zemurray? He takes a different approach. Instead of playing the same game, he buys the land from both supposed owners. Sure, he pays twice, but he gets the job done!

This, my friends, is pragmatism at its finest. Don't stress about the "right" way - just find the way that works.

The key is to adapt your tactics to each situation. Focus on the results, not the method. Like in Brazilian jujitsu, it doesn't matter how you take your opponents down - just that you do.

Zemurray always kept his eyes on the prize. The mission was all that mattered.

So, what's your mission? Are you ready to ditch the rule book and get creative to make it happen?

Forget complaining and feeling powerless. It's time to ask yourself: what are you willing to do to achieve your goals? Maybe you'll need to bend the rules a bit or ask for forgiveness later instead of permission now. But if your mission is important, go for it and make it happen!

Best,

Camillo