As for what this all means, I’m still trying to figure that out. I abandoned seven long-held principles about business and software engineering, and nothing terrible happened. Have I been too cautious in the past? Perhaps I was willing to be a little reckless because this was just a side project for me and not my main business. The experience is certainly a useful reminder that it’s OK to throw caution to the wind when you’re building something completely new and have no idea where it’s going to take you. (Joel on Inc.)
When you’re venturing into an unknown land, be it a new project, new job, career change, or any sort of risk, it’s really easy to get dragged down by reasons not to do it. And we humans have a tendency to take the easiest path.
But if all we always listened to the reasons not to do something, we’d never do anything. I could think of thousands of reasons not to drive 24 hours to Salt Lake City for my 1st AIESEC conference, take that internship in Egypt, or move to Malaysia after graduating with supreme loads of debt.
But I have no idea where I’d be had I not taken those 3 risks (and there are more). Sometimes, I think it’s better to chase your dreams with a calculated blindness.