“Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact:
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it.”
– Steve Jobs
This summer I spent a weekend at a huge estate deep in the forests of mid-western Sweden. We were there to celebrate that the estate has been in my partner’s extended family for 100 years. It was a great, memorable experience.
Apart from managing this beautiful estate, the owners (my partner’s relatives) run an interesting business: they make pre-cooked meals from the cattle that roam freely on their lands, with traditional Swedish ingredients and zero additives.
The brand is called Grön Ko, which translates to “Green Cow”.
Now, I don’t recommend consuming food packaged in plastic. But over the weekend, we had the opportunity to taste all of their dishes. And if you ever have to make do, these aren’t a bad choice. They were surprisingly delicious.
We also learned that their products are virtually everywhere in Sweden: in every major grocery store; on the trains in the national railway system, etc.
So I started paying attention, and have indeed found them almost everywhere I look since.
The experience of sharing Grön Ko meals with the people who created the company (and who are also family) and then seeing their products in every day life all around the country, made me realize something:
Since 99% of people have no connection to the products, brands, and objects that make up their daily lives, it’s almost impossible for them to form a relationship with the creative and entrepreneurial spirit that shapes our world.
This seems trivial, but it’s not.
When everything around you is perceived as anonymous items made by some faceless corporation, it creates a mental separation.
Life appears as a set of inevitable constraints created by someone or something else, perhaps even a “higher power” – and the idea that you could change it is unlikely to even enter your consciousness.
But if you’re lucky enough to know someone who created something big – something that shapes the life of other people – a magical shift happens.
It changes your entire worldview. Life becomes malleable. You realize that with grit and the right strategy, you can create something millions of people use every day.
Not only that, you see that everything, even the norms of society, is created by the choices and actions of people who are just like you. Which means you can do basically whatever the f**k you want:
You can move to the other side of the world.
You can become a different person over night.
You can choose to walk your own path, whatever that means.
Since reality is mostly what our psyche tells us, it’s hard to overstate the potential of making this discovery for yourself.
The more you are exposed to people doing big things, the easier and more natural it becomes to view yourself as one of the people who create the world.
This is perhaps the biggest advantage of those who grow up among wealth and success. They simply never have to overcome this mental hurdle.
It’s also why living in places like Silicon Valley and New York is such an advantage. There, shaping the fabric of the world is normalized.
If you study history, it used to be that you almost had to live in such a place in order to do something significant. It used to be that unless you were born into the wealth and power, you had none.
But that’s not as true anymore.
I have the privilege of knowing several people doing big things. I did grow up relatively well off, so I was lucky to get exposed to some first hand. Others I’ve met IRL through my own work and endeavours (like my partner’s relatives).
But most of them I got to know via the internet – and you can too!
With an ounce of curiosity and an internet connection, you can get close to the people behind the brands, companies, and projects that inspire you.
And at least, you can start identifying yourself with them as opposed to those around you, who may not be as inspiring.
This is not quite the same as spending the weekend at their house. But if you’re curious, hard working, and doing something interesting with your time, you’ll be surprised at how many of these people are open to connecting. And you never know what it might lead to…
So send that email. Go for that DM.
It might just change your world.
Ps. if you’ve already reached a degree of success, one of the most worthwhile things you can do to pay it forward is build a relationship with someone who hasn’t. A hero of mine did this for me recently and it’s insane how that changed how I view myself and my outlook on life.