Moving, Movies & Metaphors

I moved myself into a storage unit yesterday. All my shit. Clothes, toys, books, Legos, copious pairs of Mugsy Jeans, furniture, literally everything I own. And let me just say, moving everything you own into a 4’ by 5’ storage unit & being able to fit all of it EASILY is quite a humbling reminder that you’re broke & have a long way to go. Quite literally, all my physical assets can comfortably fit into the backseat of a Toyota Camry. I gotta figure out a way to buy some real estate. Too many digital assets…

Here are a few top of mind thoughts on moving:

1) Moving sucks

2) Moving in the pouring rain sucks more

The end.

Furthermore, as many of you may have seen on LinkedIn, I am moving in with my amazing, kind, beautiful girlfriend.

This is, of course, a joke. And, technically, we are not moving in together until January, because that is when I will be actively contributing real US dollars towards rent… So what does that mean you might ask? Well, I am going to be bouncing around for the next two months (remember I don’t have a job), while also spending some prolonged periods of time at her apartment (as a guest, not a paying roommate. She has made this very clear).

Obviously, I will be contributing in non-monetary ways… With kindness, favors, unsolicited/unwarranted advice, vibes, etc. You can’t put a price on vibes.

Anyways, as I sit here & type this in her (our) bed, I am officially what the Gen Z’ers are calling a “digital nomad.” Very exciting stuff.

Ahh fuck. Never mind… Can’t even be a digital nomad these days unless you’ve got a trust fund. Now that, my friend, is beautiful, internet irony… And a perfect segue.

Welcome to week 4 of Trust Fun… Your favorite internet newsletter / diary. And if you haven’t given me your email yet, do it here. Okay, let’s get into it.

Stop Faking It

We have an urge to pretend like we know what we’re doing all the time. Almost instinctively, we’ll respond, “Of course I’ve seen it” if somebody asks whether or not we’ve seen a cult classic movie that we 100% without a doubt have never seen. Why? Why do we not admit without apology when we don’t know something or haven’t seen Pulp Fiction? What’s wrong with never having seen Pulp Fiction? Why do we sometimes pretend we have?

*Editors note: I’ve seen Pulp Fiction. But I’ve never seen any of the Kill Bill movies.

I believe the same blanket theory applies in the professional world. A lot of us are stuck somewhere between needing to be a knowledgable leader, while also not knowing what the hell we’re doing. People are expecting things from you… Stability, advice, knowledge, the right answers, for you to be an expert. A lot of things that you may not know or have... So what do you do in a situation like that? Where you leapt without a parachute into a job you probably are ever so slightly underqualified for, or you ‘entrepreneured’ your way into being a founder of a company where truthfully you don’t know up from down?

We’re all reaching for the stars, right? But what the fuck do we do when we actually grab one?

Inherently, this is entrepreneurship. You take a risk, it either doesn’t work & you fail, or it works & you have no idea why. In both scenarios, you don’t know something.

And then, you have an urge to fake it. Fake knowing you knew all along. Fake knowing you understand what’s going on. Fake knowing you know what went wrong. Fake. Fake. Fake.

Not faking it is hard tho. It’s really really hard. It requires you to have humility without letting that humility prevent you from being confident and a leader. But please, do not ‘fake it till you make it,’ because I promise you, you will never make it.

Bobby Iger, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company (ever heard of it) has some incredibly wise words regarding this topic:

“You have to ask the questions you need to ask, admit without apology when you don’t understand, and do the work to learn what you need to learn as quickly as you can. There’s nothing less confidence-inspiring than a person faking a knowledge they don’t possess. True authority and true leadership come from knowing who you are and not pretending to be anything else.”

I’ve been reading his book The Ride of a Lifetime (shout out Chris Meade for the recommendation) & it’s got some incredible advice on how to navigate these exact scenarios.

And a little candor here… I am very, very guilty of pretending like I know what the hell I’m doing. I used to do it all the time. Maybe I still do? I mean, take this entire newsletter for example. The audacity I have to be sitting here, typing away actual advice to people is actually insane. I’m quite literally unemployed & homeless. Why on earth are you even reading this? Lol.

Just kidding of course. Please keep reading ❤️❤️

If I am being 100% honest tho, there’s a TON I don’t know. And there’s even more I need to learn. But, glass half full moment, how awesome is that!?

You know like when you’re picking a movie to watch with someone & you suggest one of your favorite movies of all time & your friend says they’ve never seen it & you’re like what the fuck how have you never seen this & they’re like I dunno I just haven’t & you’re like ugh I’m so jealous I wish I could unsee it & watch it for the first time & then you put it on for them & you get to watch them watch this epic fucking movie for the first time.

Sharing something you love with somebody (especially for the first time) rules, right?

Well, I’m pretty sure the rest of life is like that too. Go find someone who’s seen the movie a million times that you’ve never seen. Have them show it to you. They’re going to LOVE showing it to you.

This is what we call in the business world, a mentor. Mentors rule. Go find a mentor.

I’m so proud of this metaphor FYI. Really, really hope it make sense 🤞

Anyways, like I said before, this is really really hard. Our human instinct is to fit in, say yes, and push forward. But resist that. Say you don’t know, be an outcast, and take a step back.

Love you guys. See you next week.

PS. Digital nomad tour kicks off Nov 27ish till Dec 19ish. Will be in LA, SD, CHI, Austin, Charleston. HMU if you want to connect / golf / have an extra bed.