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I thought about what to write for this month, and how to express ideas to you all as the reader. Then it hit me; the simplest thing to talk about was exactly what happened this month.
As of the 10th of October 2021, I stepped into my dream and took it on head first. I left my security and safety net and stepped back from my full-time position. There was a multitude of reasons for this, some I'll explore here and some are better left in that chapter of my life.
Everyone Dreams...
Everyone has a dream, everyone has potential, I truly believe that to be the case. I do not think we all woke up one day and decided this secure job we rarely enjoy or want to do is what we were born to do. We all have passions, dreams, aspirations, it just seems to me that somewhere along the way we trade them in. Traded for arbitrary and individual reasons that no one should be judged for, just that it happens is all. Very few manage to get towards their dream let alone try to make it. I'm here, as living proof it no longer needs to be this way.
In my previous employment, it took me a long time to realize just how undervalued I was. I was underappreciated, undermotivated, underfunded, and unhappy. When I realized promotions and pay were not going to come I had two choices; sit and whither in the pity, or get up and make something happen. As we are here today and you are reading this, I'm presuming we can gather what choice was made. Exactly right, I took a leap.
Am I Insane? Probably.
Let's start with how that came about, I set out a goal as many of you would know, to have a brand and business-ready and recognized by the time I finished university that I could just step into. I'm not someone to start from behind and complain, I want to be ready and have all assets available to me.
So that’s what I did, we began Matter in July of 2020. From there, however, this grew faster than we could have ever expected. I am in no way egotistically bragging about success as that is not even close yet, more so the push to build out the business is what grew. I am a fond believer of Parkinson's' Law… “the time you allocate to complete a given task is the time it will take to complete” and that is where Matter Athletica got interesting.
The Risk Decision
Once my decision to leave was made, and I knew I was going to quit eventually I set 12 months. By July 1st, 2022 I would quit my job... Here's the thing though, the reasoning for that time frame was nonexistent, I'd simply said 12 months was far enough away to execute, build and get ready. Stupidly enough I believed there would be a point you could ‘be ready’. The more I contemplated the decision to leave, the harder it became to stay. Not because of how much I hated my job, but because of how much I loved pushing people and my passion for this area was taking hold. It became a constant fight internally for me to stay in a job I no longer respected in avoidance of a purpose I truly believed I have.
The more conflicted I became, the harder we worked to make this all happen. A four-year plan had become a 12-month plan, had then become 3 months! Then, just like that, with absolutely no certainty other than my own self-belief and the support from those around me, I made a very heavy choice; step out from the safety of contracted employment and pursue my dream. I had forgone financial security during a time of global panic and instability. Because to me, at the end of the day, the money you receive to suffocate your dreams, in order to help someone else work towards theirs, is rotten money, earned at the expense of your future self. The person who will look back at you and think why? Why did you continue to punish us and hold us back, when all you had to do was believe?
Memento Mori... Remember your Mortality.
At the end of the day, we will all move on from this life and make peace with the choices we made, death is inevitable, and growing old will come for everyone. It's how we go towards that destination that makes the story more interesting in my opinion. We all know the ending, but the story is what's fun to write.
How could I look back at myself, how could I look at my own values and consistently make a choice to fight against them? There is beauty in life when the wise learn their first life was wasted in attempting to play safe. As if giving up their dream and settling into the dust was the smart choice. The lucky ones realise this early enough, that they can forgo those ties and bounds, do away with stagnant living in order to live up to their inner potential. For me, that was this week.
No amount of financial security could keep me from chasing my dreams and hold me still. There is an absolute risk in taking that step, but to me, that risk far outweighs another risk. That risk of never really living; to have gone through life knowing that I could have taken this chance and never done it. When the time comes, and I get to reflect back at the mark I left on the world, there will be a moment where I realised my dream was more important than someone else's money, and that it's something that can't be bought or traded off for any money in the world.
A Thank you to you all... I'm taking you with me.
To everyone that has worked with Matter Athletica, to everyone that will work with Matter Athletica, understand that I have risked everything and will continue to risk everything to push you and drive you towards your dream, just as those around me have done over and over again. This is not just a business to make a few bucks, this is not a brand that reflects my ego; this is about my desire to see humanity start living again, to find their purpose, and strive towards their passions.
I made that choice this week, with no regrets and no looking back. At this moment I will get to reflect on every decision that leads me here, and where it will go from here.
Thank you to everyone that has believed in us, thank you to everyone that continues to believe in us, thank you to myself for finally having the courage to believe in me and no longer let others hold me back.
I will not go gentle into that good night, count on that.
- Ben.