Nic McKinley

but I decided I was gonna be one of those eight. It's that simple. There was no motivation. There was no discipline. It was no, I just decided I was gonna be one of those eight. Getting into the CIA. I just decided that I was gonna go work at the CIA. Getting into Harvard. I just decided I was gonna get into Harvard. And I think when you make the decision that something is going to happen,

but I decided I was gonna be one of those eight. It's that simple. There was no motivation. There was no discipline. It was no, I just decided I was gonna be one of those eight. Getting into the CIA. I just decided that I was gonna go work at the CIA. Getting into Harvard. I just decided I was gonna get into Harvard. And I think when you make the decision that something is going to happen,

And you're not jumping off a cliff deciding that you can suddenly fly, right? When you're doing things that are logical and make sense, they may not make sense to the entire world, but they make sense to you. I think this is every entrepreneur's journey. Everybody thinks you're crazy until until you're successful and then they don't.

And you're not jumping off a cliff deciding that you can suddenly fly, right? When you're doing things that are logical and make sense, they may not make sense to the entire world, but they make sense to you. I think this is every entrepreneur's journey. Everybody thinks you're crazy until until you're successful and then they don't.

So if you are just if you just decide that you're going to go do something, then you will continually move your feet in that direction and you'll stumble and you'll fall and you'll learn from those failures.

So if you are just if you just decide that you're going to go do something, then you will continually move your feet in that direction and you'll stumble and you'll fall and you'll learn from those failures.

failures and you'll get up and you'll do it again i think too many times when people quit the people who quit in my special ops selection class or the guys who didn't make it in my cia selection class They all were people who hadn't really decided what it was that they were going to do. They didn't decide for sure that they wanted to be in the Air Force Special Ops community.

failures and you'll get up and you'll do it again i think too many times when people quit the people who quit in my special ops selection class or the guys who didn't make it in my cia selection class They all were people who hadn't really decided what it was that they were going to do. They didn't decide for sure that they wanted to be in the Air Force Special Ops community.

They hadn't decided for sure that they wanted to be at the Central Intelligence Agency. They were just kind of kicking the tires. And that, I think, is the primary reason why they failed. And I think it's the same thing for entrepreneurs.

They hadn't decided for sure that they wanted to be at the Central Intelligence Agency. They were just kind of kicking the tires. And that, I think, is the primary reason why they failed. And I think it's the same thing for entrepreneurs.

It makes absolute sense. In fact, I would... I would say it's so simple that people are skeptical of how simple it is. You know what the number one thing you need to do to make it into a special ops program is? The number one thing that you need to do. No. Don't quit. What's the number one thing that an entrepreneur needs to do? Don't quit.

It makes absolute sense. In fact, I would... I would say it's so simple that people are skeptical of how simple it is. You know what the number one thing you need to do to make it into a special ops program is? The number one thing that you need to do. No. Don't quit. What's the number one thing that an entrepreneur needs to do? Don't quit.

You hear these entrepreneur stories and, oh, look at how this person was successful overnight. What people don't realize is they tried three companies before that that all failed. And the fourth was an overnight success that took 11 years. So so none of it like I've never seen anybody who was an overnight success. You look at the the the work that Kobe put in.

You hear these entrepreneur stories and, oh, look at how this person was successful overnight. What people don't realize is they tried three companies before that that all failed. And the fourth was an overnight success that took 11 years. So so none of it like I've never seen anybody who was an overnight success. You look at the the the work that Kobe put in.

You look at the work that Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or, you know, any of these people put in. Right. That Musk is putting in that Bezos put in that jobs put in. I mean, any of these folks, if you look at the work that they put in, then they just eventually started tripping over success. And and but it's it's they didn't quit and they just continually advanced the ball.

You look at the work that Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or, you know, any of these people put in. Right. That Musk is putting in that Bezos put in that jobs put in. I mean, any of these folks, if you look at the work that they put in, then they just eventually started tripping over success. And and but it's it's they didn't quit and they just continually advanced the ball.

And I think part of the problem that we run into in the business and entrepreneurship community is that we get addicted to fighting battles. So I just put out a sub stack on this very issue. I put it on LinkedIn as well. It. And I know this personally because in my old world as an operator, we got kind of addicted to the fight.

And I think part of the problem that we run into in the business and entrepreneurship community is that we get addicted to fighting battles. So I just put out a sub stack on this very issue. I put it on LinkedIn as well. It. And I know this personally because in my old world as an operator, we got kind of addicted to the fight.

We weren't really thinking about the strategic wins and what was going on. All we knew was, hey, go to this country and go save good guys, kill bad guys, and do that on repeat. And so it was pretty binary because, OK, well, there's a certain set of skills that we need to be able to do that. I do not need to understand computer science and AI to rescue good guys and kill bad guys. Super simple.

We weren't really thinking about the strategic wins and what was going on. All we knew was, hey, go to this country and go save good guys, kill bad guys, and do that on repeat. And so it was pretty binary because, OK, well, there's a certain set of skills that we need to be able to do that. I do not need to understand computer science and AI to rescue good guys and kill bad guys. Super simple.