Is it worth it?

As you might have noticed, my blog has now more categories, in order of their importance: business, climbing, travels. This is a first try of something different…

You meet, you both smile a lot and feel very energetic, you talk and everything seems perfect. The other one explains the idea, tells you he really wants you as his business partner, that you will have a large share of the business, that you will both make a lot of money, you will have massive impact. You have to bring some money, time and effort in the game but it’s fair sharing of contribution and of shares. All the talk lasts about an hour, maybe less, it’s all to good to be true. You fell you want to start the next day, you want to go all in. That day, you tell to all your close ones what a great idea you heard, what an opportunity… You are so eager to find out more.

Just that the next day you know, when something looks to good to be true, it usually is. You begin to question various aspects, you remember a tremble in the other’s voice, a not-so-strong shake of hands, a voice that seemed uncertain, gaps in his speech… You just remember behaviors, actions, gestures and looks, although one day before you didn’t even notice. That is your subconscious mind telling you something is fishy, something is not good. Then you start to ask logical and rational questions for everything that seemed perfect. You question your judgement, the other’s judgement, sometimes the others good intentions.

And then, at some point, you change your mind. It’s not worth it, it’s not good, you know it and more important, you feel it. You move on, looking and testing other ideas, other people.

How do you know when you should go on and when you should give up? How do you test the other party’s good intentions? Even before you embark in a business model generation, you have to know who is really by your side. Listen to your logic, to your judgement, but most important to your guts. After you hear hundreds of ideas and see what happens to them in the first months, your brain will be trained enough to recognize the good opportunities, to feel when something or someone is fishy. After many hours of just listening without taking action, of meeting thousands of people, you will know when to take action. Just pay attention, learn by observation and wait for it…