Obsession With A Problem

I got there late. I hate being late, and yet I got there late, the whole way in the car wishing I had had more time to make the North-South journey, driving too fast but glad I'd decided not to ditch. I could've stayed home, a little voice said. I could still turn around, it whispered, as each exit approached. But I kept going. I'd bought a season pass to Speak To Me, a local speakers series, and tonight was the first one -- Innovation & Passion: Inspiring Tales from Bay Area Entrepreneurs. I had to get there.

I needed a creative kick in the ass.

But first, I had to find parking. Yeah, because I was late, the parking lot at the Mill Valley Rec Center (ugh, I hate Mill Valley, little voice whined) was packed. I resisted my temptation to burn out of there and go home, arriving as I was at 7:13 for a program that started at 7:15. I could see through the windows crowds of women holding wine glasses, still chatting. Phew, I wasn't late. And just then: parking opened up.

Because I got there right in the nick of time, I didn't have the leisure to take in the display tables flanking the entryway, or to grab any food. Just a glass of wine, and a seat.

Which honestly was probably the best thing for me, my very first time there.

Looking around I felt a bit daunted, as I tend to do at these things. Everyone so glam, there with a girlfriend posse. Shiny smooth blond hair.

And me.

Still I took a seat in the third row on my own, got out my nerdy notebook and off we went.

Here's what happened to me that night. It took a while for my discomfort, the jitter of being late, to dissolve. Not everything said from the stage that night took hold in me, but I did write down these words.

Responding to "What does entrepreneurship mean to you," Danae Ringelmann, co-founder of Indiegogo, described entrepreneurship as being obsessed, not with a solution, but with a problem. So obsessed with a problem that you can't stop thinking about it, can't stop talking about. You don't know where it's going to lead you, you don't know what the solution is, but you can't stop obsessing about this problem. 

Entrepreneurship is obsession with a problem.

I know this feeling, love this feeling. This kind of obsession is so energizing. It's what I feel when I have an idea and can't wait to sit down and write it. It's what I felt when we were working on the Blissbug app concept all those years ago (long story). It's what I want to feel every day.

That obsession with whatever your problem is: now, that's living. That's being fully in the What I Am Here To Do.

I certainly got what I wanted, late or no. Creative kick in the ass delivered! 

Think about it: what's your problem? Become obsessed with that and see what happens. What could we all make if we just did that: a better world, a more beautiful life?

I'm obsessing, for sure. Come along, please, and bring your problem.

xx

The Speak to Me series continues November 19th with Circle of Friends: Creating a Meaningful Circle of Girlfriends. I'll be there. By then, I'm sure I'll need whatever they're dishing up.

P.S. I paid for my season ticket, cash dollars from my pocket. All opinions, as ever, are my own.