Do the Thing — Before Life Gets in the Way
Why the best time to risk it all is earlier than you think.
I meet so many people who want to do the thing.
You know what I mean: the book, the startup, the pivot, the bold ask.
They talk about it in their offices. Over coffee. Late at night, when the idea won’t stop buzzing.
But most don’t ever do it.
They tell me:
“I’ll start once I leave my job.”
“After this year’s bonus.”
“When things settle down.”
Things don’t settle. Responsibilities pile up. And before you know it, life overtakes ambition.
In Your 20s, the Odds Are Stacked in Your Favor
Let’s be real. In your 20s, you have:
Few responsibilities
Time to fail and try again
A natural resilience that still recalibrates like a rubber band
You literally can’t lose much. And that gives you a license to take outsized bets.
A Medium essay on entrepreneurship argues “you can risk it all…and lose nothing because you had nothing to begin with” .
The data isn’t uniform. Harvard Business Review found older founders tend to have more exits . But anecdotal evidence also shows that serial founders under 35 double revenue from first to second ventures .
Meaning? Youth isn’t a weakness, it’s a tool. Use curiosity, runway, stretch losses into lessons, iterate fast.
In Your 30s–40s, Life Hits Hard
House, partner, kids, parents, routine.
Every added responsibility comes with an invisible cost:
Less risk-taking
More inertia
Fewer clean breaks
You’ll hear, “It’s different when you have dependents.” And yes, that’s true.
But those anchors are also what compels you to build autonomy:
Financial
Mental
Energetic
Because one payoff of “doing the thing” is freedom from the security trap, not confinement to it.
Risk Isn’t Side-by-Side With Responsibility — It Should Support It
Here’s the framing shift:
If you’re early: Take the shot. Lean equity > leveled staying power.
If you’re later: Lean wiser. Combine ambition with infrastructure and balance.
In fact, the HBR says 50‑year‑old founders have 1.8× higher success odds than 30‑year‑olds .
But the failure rates of startups prove nothing is guaranteed: 90% fail; only ~18% of first-time founders succeed .
So yes, it’s less about when, more about how you start.
How to “Do the Thing” with Wellness and Clarity in Mind
Ambition without alignment goes toxic. Here’s how I balanced the bet with calm and strategy:
1. Low-Cost Starts (Time + Energy over Burn)
My projects began with side hustles.
Adobe earn-out? I spent that time rebuilding internal systems, not coasting.
Starting doesn’t require full throttle. It requires momentum.
2. Block Clarity Time
Early in the morning, no meetings. Thoughtware important.
Airplane mode, walks, journal pages, all part of preparing me to “do the thing.”
3. Apprentices & Reference Classes
I found mentors early (and still do).
They plugged my blind spots. Not because I was unsure, but because nobody builds alone.
Networking isn’t hustle. It’s systemising insight.
4. Nervous System Infrastructure
Daily training, breathwork, rest.
These aren’t gym tropes, they are scalable leadership infrastructure.
If you burn out in year two, you can’t compound knowledge or equity by year five.
Three Lessons That Still Matter
Fail fast while soft - low emotional draw
Your first venture was made to teach. Don’t treat it as destiny.
It’s feedback.Scale equanimity, not just valuation
You want to increase leverage, not just investment.
Work toward autonomy and absence, not visibility and busy.Seniority = Strategy
When you’re more established, plan for the orchestration of your internal and external worlds, don’t rely on random energy.
What Your Future Self Will Thank You For
Same founder, later in life:
“I started early, not perfect, but started.”
“I scaled with steam AND calm.”
“I built systems that pinged without me.”
In a decade, that matters. You’ll be the stack of books vs just one bestseller.
Final Thought
The world doesn’t pay for ideas, it rewards action designed with intention.
The best time to start?
📍 Sooner than you think.
📍 With structure, support, and self-care.
📍 Because when you balance the bet with calm, you get scaling not just surviving.