Hippie CEO Life #61 - Hitting Red Lights
A behind the scenes view of building a more humanistic company.
July 7, 2023
"We need the yellows and the reds. That’s how we evolve." ~Matthew McConaughey
There i was, laying in bed scrolling Instagram, trying to feel bad for myself, because life is hard, and here pops Matthew McConaughey into my feed. i’m like, ‘get out of here, i’m trying to feel bad for myself’ but he doesn’t go away, he is looking right at me, staring into my soul.
He says, “If life was nothing but green lights and we didn't have yellows or reds. Things that make us pause. Hardships, crises, times for introspection. Then what the hell would it all be for? We need the yellows and the reds. That’s how we evolve. That’s how hopefully there is some ascension to our being. That’s how we give some credit to time and growing older. If we were the same person today as we were 20 years ago, then what the hell are we doing?”
Oddly enough, it’s the message i needed to hear. Laying there, feeling down, feeling like a failure, because building a business is really, really hard and most of the time your days are filled with yellow lights and red lights, one after another but as Mathew said, we need the yellows and the reds. That’s how we evolve.
The green lights are there, and they should be enjoyed, but the green lights isn’t where we grow, isn’t where we get stronger, smarter.
If you haven’t read the Matthew McConaughey autobiography, Greenlights, i highly recommend it. A book filled with incredible insights, wrapped in stories about his life that have you asking, is he just messing with me here or did this really happen to him? I’m guessing the answer is probably somewhere in between but the wisdom he wraps into these stores is invaluable.
“I'm not perfect; no, I step in shit all the time and recognize it when I do. I've just learned how to scrape it off my boots and carry on.”
― Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights
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