Gary Ong | September 22nd, 2021

Controlled chaos. That’s what a startup is. Everything is moving at breakneck speeds. Things break. They get fixed. Mistakes happen. Most are not fatal, but in the moment, they can feel like they are. So amidst the chaos, sometimes all we want to do is stop. But, we don’t want to stop ourselves. We want to stop everything. We want to control everything.

Everyday, I am inundated with requests, problems, and opportunities. An investor wants an update call this afternoon. An employee can’t figure out an experiment. A potential industrial partner wants to start a project and a pilot. From the outside looking in, most of the issues are good problems to have. It means that I have investors, employees and interested partners in the first place. But, it’s all fodder for stress. They all drain physical and emotional energy. As the options pile up, chaos ensues. You can’t decide which to do first. Then, you look out and wish that the world will just stop for a minute. That way, you can use the minute to catch up.

Take a deep breath. You can’t stop the world from moving, but you can take a moment to stop. Pause. Center yourself. Then, just roll with it. Whatever task comes next, just do that. Trust in the proper timing of events. You are doing what you are doing right now because this is when you should be doing it. So, just do it and do it to the best of your ability.