Sanity Notes #038: The Freedom That Comes When You Stop Trying to Get It Right

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Whenever I go on a trip of any kind, my five-year-old daughter always asks that I bring her back a surprise.

Coming home from a weekend in Sedona with a close friend, I brought her a beautiful art pack that lets her color paper flowers and turn them into a 3D bouquet.

As she started coloring, she looked up at me and asked if she was doing it the right way, pointing at the box.

Without thinking, while I was elbow-deep making breakfast, I said, Baby, there’s no right way. It’s yours. You can do it however you want. Just enjoy.

A big smile spread across her face, and she turned back to her flowers with freedom and energy.

Watching her, I found myself wondering how often we get stuck telling ourselves we have to do things the right way.

I remember so clearly, especially in my early years as a founder and CEO, feeling guided by a quiet but powerful message that there must be a right way to do all of this. That other people must know better than I did. I read, experimented, and worked from a place of wanting to get it right.

I wouldn’t say I ever became fully free of that, but over time I learned something that changed everything.

Building a company is a creative act. There is no right way. The greatest source of wisdom we have isn’t a playbook or someone else’s conviction. It’s our own inner artistic intuition. Our own freedom. Our own learnings.

If I could go back and coach my younger CEO self, I would tell him the same thing I told my daughter this morning.

My friend, there’s no right way to do this. This is your company. This is your team. This is your dent in the universe. Do it the way only you can.

I don’t know where this finds you today or where it might land, but if you find yourself scanning LinkedIn again, searching for instructions on how to get it right, I’m curious what might shift if you let yourself believe there is no right way.

What would you change today or this week if you trusted that this is your company, your creative act, your team to lead?

Trust what comes forward in you.

Today is a good day to lead in a way that is deeply you.

If I can support you in the question, I’m here. Reach out anytime.

-Matt

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