Two athletes competing in front of a group of other athletes
There’s a project that I work on outside my 9 to 5. I don’t wanna call it a side hustle because I have big dreams for it, and I can already see the results. So I’m renting a piece of land somewhere for my operations
About 3/4 years ago, some guy came to the same place I’m renting and built a very big structure over a short period. He filled it with chickens (layers). In a few weeks, everything was working
I remember at one point I asked for eggs from his employee, she told me they were not selling
When I was looking for chickens to start producing eggs, as I had been buying from other farmers before then, I asked his wife where they bought their chickens, but she was reluctant to even come close to the fence to talk to me. It looked like they had it all figured out, so they didn’t wanna associate with anyone
I must admit, how they did it dented my confidence a bit, because they were an example of what people who know what they want do. Everything was just quick, straight to the point, or at least it looked that way from a distance
Only recently, when I was in contact with him discussing buying his cages, did I realize maybe I was wrong to think they had it all under control
We finally met, and he wanted to sell me his cages for a very ridiculously low price because he was closing the business, and he looked a bit desperate to get rid of the whole thing
It suddenly made more sense what they mean when they say, “run your own race”
The guy was closing, and I, on the other hand, was trying to find ways to do the opposite, something I didn't imagine when I was admiring how they approached the whole thing at the beginning
He even complained about how he had to sell his eggs cheaper, sometimes struggled to get customers, and that’s the part I didn’t understand because I remember I wanted to buy his eggs and they refused to sell to me. But I didn’t want to kick him when he’s down, so I let it pass
Here’s what I think: Everything looks glamorous, easy, and promising from a distance, but that’s usually not the case when you look closer. Everybody has it easy until you sit down with them and get to hear their story. Don’t make conclusions before you get to ask your questions. Gather all the details to understand what’s really going on beyond what you don’t see
As for me, a lesson learned: "run your own race and never be bothered with what other people are doing because you don’t know their story Focus on yourself and what you do because trying to run someone else’s race might lead you to distraction or put you under unnecessary pressure"
"It's all about one day at a time, one day at a time"
Picture #1 by Stephen Leonardi on Pexels.com Picture #2 by RUN 4 FFWPU on Pexels.com
