“The hardest truth is this: The world doesn’t give a crap about what I’ve done so far. The world wants start-ups, Fortune 500 corporate experience and world traveling knowledge. It doesn’t care about self-realizations and unconventional personal philosophies, however hard it was to reach them.

This is not a regret. It’s coming to terms with reality. It’s what every ambitious person who lacks a supportive context has to understand:

My definition of success has to be unique and personal, because it will never match the world’s.”

This is what I’ve recently come to terms with, and I’m surprised, saddened, and happy that your going through the same thing.

It’s good to know others are going through what I am, but don’t take it for “I don’t wish good things for you”, it’s just that misery loves company and all.

ps- It’s not quit misery, but you know what I mean. I hope.

I just want to ponder on what you, Carlos, have said. You’re jumping around a topic that I don’t quite get upon first reading. I’ll be sure to read it again sometime.

The more I sit and put off finishing this comment and looking back up at your article, the more I seem to understand what you’re saying:

Context matters more in the world; individual view/self-realization/enlightenment is just that. It’s individual: not what the world sees.

Right?

The difference is that once you realize it, you have nothing to stop you. But I can’t even travel to where my co-founders are. I can’t go to events. I can’t meet up IRL with potential business contacts.

Again, this is not a regret, it’s a harsh realization of context limitations that will always be there for me. I would be just a dreamer instead of an overachiever if I were to ignore this.

Thanks for the kind words, my feminist friend

I feel very similarly when I look at such inspirational people around me. There is a part of me that wants to kick the wall because I wasn’t born with entrepreneurial influences or as productively guiding mentors, etc. There are so many opportunities I didn’t take, and I could be so much further along now, if I had only known that the option was out there. And it isn’t the same as playing catch up with anyone else, my goals are different, my skills in different areas; it’s playing that game with myself, but not really knowing what I’m catching up to because the alternative never happened. So it’s just a motivational thing. ‘Hey, I have these opportunities now. I can see these options now. They may not be as beautifully lined up as they could be or might have been if things were different, but they’re here. It’s time to stop losing time.’

If it’s any consolation, you’re one of those inspiring people to me that makes me think of the options I wasn’t aware of before.