Conclusion

13. Now Go Do It!

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

—Theodore Roosevelt (progressive thinker, kick-ass tree planter, and esteemed twenty-sixth president of the United States)

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably ready to take that plunge and change the world with your best idea. If so, congratulations are definitely in order! The purpose of dedicating a year of my life to this book will be worth it if these eleven chapters have served you as inspiration, motivation, and even some preparation for what you’re about to experience.

Now you know that your journey will include some tough times. Hopefully they won’t be as extreme as getting stranded in the Saudi Arabian desert or being within a whisker of getting thrown in a Malagasy prison. However, if something like that does happen to you, I hope you’ll learn as much from your experience as I did from mine. Each time you encounter such a challenging conflict, you’ll have an opportunity to graduate your mindset.

The most essential tool you can call upon to rise up and move on from these situations will always be your why. Once you understand why you want to introduce your idea to the world, you will succeed. Always remember that sheer revenue does not define your ultimate success or failure. Instead, success will be determined by the extent to which you fulfill your mission; it is the degree to which you answer the question of why you are in business.

For WOODCHUCK, we define success by the amount of reforestation we have done for the planet and the millions of acres of pristine nature we’ve protected across the globe. Other companies may define success as the degree to which they’ve cured disease or solved world hunger. Still others may have a mission to connect humanity at a deeper level without electronic devices. Maybe for some, it’s just about helping people to play better fucking badminton. No matter what your why is, that should be your measuring stick of success.

None of those ideas are going to happen, however, if you don’t start to graduate your mindset right away and take that first step.

Remember, the world needs your fucking ideas. Now, go fucking put them into action!

Want to chat? Want more info? Reach out to me @benjaminjovandenwymelenberg.

There’s no better to place to disconnect through journaling than next to penguins in Antarctica. (Yes, this journal is perfectly angled to show the beautiful woodgrain.)