Lightning in a Bottle & Knowing When to Stop

`1:47:53`

I can't do it anymore, but I can do other things." And I think that's important because if you identify as an entrepreneur and you sell your business if your identity is tied up into entrepreneurship, you have to go start another because you have to... There's continuity there, that you have to be that person again. And then if you, again, can't achieve the heights, you just feel like you're a disappointment. I've seen this in friends who've sold businesses, and it's just like, it's so sad to me to see that in them, when they can't just see that what they did was incredible, in that moment. These are moments that you have. These are periods of time that you have. These are experiences you have, and that's what happened in that time. Actually, can I go back to psychedelics for a second? — Yeah.

`1:48:40`

— I'm going to tell you a little story. I don't know if it's good or not, but it's meaningful to me. The last time I did... These are mushrooms, by the way. So, the last time I did mushrooms, I remember going into it, telling the guide I did it with, because I did it the first time, and I had this incredible experience to this one song. She was playing different songs, had this one song, that I had this experience where I just felt like I learned everything in an instant. The next time I did it, I'm like, "Can you play that song again at some point? I want to see if I have that experience again." And so she was like, "Yeah, maybe, we'll see," you know, whatever. And so, at some point, I was aware enough that she played the song, and I had no experience. It was blank and empty.

`1:49:29`

And after the song ended, I broke out in laughter, and I go, "Of course, you cannot have the same experience again. You cannot have the same experience twice. You don't deserve the same experience twice. It's not even possible to relive something again. That thing happened then, and this is now. They're detached, they're separate, they can never be the same. And it was a wonderful thing. So, I've now used that with my kids. My kids are growing up. They're 11 and seven. I'm never going to have the experience with my 11-year-old again as an 11-year-old. Once he's 12, he's 12. I can't have that again. So, you have to really savor those things now, and recognize that they are what they are now, and you will never get them again, and don't be sad about that. It just is. And that's the kind of stuff that, like,

`1:50:17`

those experiences that I had in those times, really, those are the things I carry with me, and hopefully do affect the way I move through the world now today. — That's beautiful. — Mm. — When you were talking about selling a company, and then maybe your next company in this entrepreneur's life is not as financially successful or big, — Right. —...as well-respected. I've never heard a great definition of "What success means?" And the best answer I ever heard to "What is success to you," actually came from Steve Jobs, — Mm. —...and it was beautifully simple. It was like, "Did I make something I'm proud of?" — It's good. — Yeah. — It's good. — And that's the way I think about it, is like, for your podcast, you need X amount of listeners. It's like, no, did I make something I'm proud of? — Yeah. That's great. I think that's great.