If

I heard Michael Caine read this poem by Rudyard Kipling, in his classic British accent, and it was lovely.

A letter every son wished their father wrote to them:

If—

by Rudyard Kipling, 1865 – 1936

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
    And stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run—
    Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

So many wise words to heed and practice by, especially on this indie hacking journey. I’ll take three:

“If you can wait and not be tired by waiting” – Totally my experience with hitting ramen profitability. Overnight success is a myth, and to just survive and stay in the game, for YEARS, and not tire of it, is the key.

“Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies” – It’s so easy to start lying when you see everyone else doing it. In entrepreneurship, some take “fake it till you make it” too far, into ethically grey zones. They tell white lies on their landing page, post fake social proof, tweet rage bait, start dramas or fights, be divisive, just to get attention. The worst is, they start to believe their wrongs are right when they are rewarded by being divisive. To be able to see through all that, and not be influenced by it, is a daily challenge.

“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master” – This is powerful. How to not be blindsided by my goals, and miss the tangential opportunities before me. Or even, to neglect family in the pursuit of my dreams. Revenue goals is just a means. The end is a better life for and with the family. They won’t be better off if I’m always absent. So look ahead to my goals, but don’t get trapped in it.

What else in the poem resonated with you?