The Lean Dream - Start Building the MVP of Your Better Life
If we don't change our today, all our tomorrows will be the same.
We got used to building startups incrementally thanks to Eric Ries, Steve Blank, and others who popularized the term ‘Lean Startup’.
It definitely helps to navigate the uncertainty with the higher chances of finding the sweet spot and finally building a viable business.
But how about life? Isn’t it more uncertain than a startup? If so, can we apply the same principles and start building MVPs of our new, better lives?
Today we will talk about dreams and will deconstruct achieving them a-la startup which I call to myself ‘The Lean Dream’.
Pause for a moment and ask yourself these three simple questions.
The first one: what dreams do you have that you would highly regret if they don’t come true.
Then the second: what did you do in the last five years towards these dreams?
And the last one: what do you think you will do to achieve your dreams in the next five years? Be honest with yourself.
If you’re a regular person like me with a high-demanding job and other things to do and you were honest with yourself on the questions, then let me guess your answer to the last one.
It probably goes like this: ‘not so much these days, but when I have X (some variable), then I will surely get to my dreams”.
By having X, I mean any event or asset in the future that you think will change the way you live. It can be anything from a job change to relocating or even winning a lottery.
However, I bet nothing will change in most people in 5-10-15 years, and dreams will stay in the sky unless they update the 3rd question and rewrite the answer completely.
Let me elaborate.
First, In my life, I’m often getting in the same loop happening over and over again.
It’s the following: I will do/have A when B happens. Guess what happens then? B is postponed, and then A doesn’t happen.
So when I think of the sentence ‘I will get to my dreams (A) when I have X (B)’, I see a warning sign. Probably it could not happen at all.
Second, our dreams are often complex projects that aren’t meant to be done in a day. For someone, it’s a long trip; for another, it’s getting a pilot’s license or building a house, and so the list goes on.
That means if you don’t have time to start such a project today due to some limitations, the chances are that either the same limitations won’t let you do that in the future, or there will be other things holding you back.
I was having dinner with my relative, and I asked him a question.
“What would you do if you get universal basic income so that you don’t have to work as hard?”
“I like music and would definitely learn to play guitar”. He responded.
“For how long do you dream of learning to play guitar?” I asked then.
“Since I was a teenager”, he replied.
“So, why the heck didn’t you start yet?” I’m saying louder (he’s in the mid-thirties).
“You know, I’m busy with other stuff, and to make it happen, I need to free up my schedule” was the answer which I think wasn’t fair enough, but it’s not the part of this story.
And then I told him a simple thing.
“Look, tomorrow is Sunday. Leave all the regular stuff behind and borrow a guitar from a friend of yours. Then download an app and do your first step to learn anything you can do in one hour. It will be the first step towards your dream, and don’t even think of the future and how much time you may need to accomplish it”.
I was trying to apply The Lean Dream concept in the example above. Sadly, he didn’t make a change.
The Lean Dream is based on two pillars. Let’s talk about each one in detail.
1. To figure out dreams that you would highly regret not making throughout your entire life.
Most of us, if not everyone, dream of achieving or getting a lot in life. Yet, some things could bring positive and lasting emotions, while the joy of having others will vanish within days or weeks.
So why chasing dreams that won’t make you happy? Let’s choose wisely.
The task here is to filter among all your dreams and desires the ones you would highly regret if they don’t come true.
Dedicate a quiet time on your own and ask yourself some of these questions. The goal here is to understand what makes you feel great about life.
What activity would you start doing if you win millions in a lottery so that you don't have to work?
What activity would you stop doing tomorrow if you win in a lottery?
What would you start doing if there would be a guaranteed success in the future?
What do you enjoy the most that you don't even notice how the time passes while doing that?
When you have a list of your dreams, then ask yourself a simple question about each of them: “How would I feel if that doesn’t happen?”
If nothing ticks inside yourself, then it’s not the essential dream. It’s like a rephrase of Derek Sivers’s quote: “If it’s not a Hell Yes, it’s a no”.
2. To make the first doable step towards a chosen dream tomorrow, this week (or the worst) this month, no matter how busy or constrained you are.
This part helps to start the process (and the hard work behind it). Usually, we tend to delay large projects but can easily cope with tiny tasks.
Speaking of dreams, which are often complex projects, don’t think about them as a whole but rather as the list of tasks.
The most important thing is to identify the least needed incremental task to start and do that immediately without over-analyzing.
It’s now time to rewrite the 3rd question from the beginning of this post and hopefully the answer.
Instead of asking yourself what do you think you will do towards your dreams in the next five (or so) years, ask, “what can I do towards my dream tomorrow that is achievable and will move me forward?”
Don’t think about what's coming next or how many resources you will need to accomplish all the tasks. Just uncover the very first thing and do that tomorrow.
Suppose you did that, my congratulations! That's one small step for man, one giant leap for your mind which needed to break through the boundaries.
Now, repeat this step, choosing the next tiny doable task towards your dream: the smaller a task, the higher chances to stay on track.
Want to write a blog? Choose the name as the first step. Dreaming of a trip around the world? Pick the first location to go to.
As you continue, you may find that you have more resources than you initially thought, and it’s so fulfilling to know you’re moving towards your dream.
Just keep going, and your life will never be the same. If we don't change our today, all our tomorrows will be the same.
Speaking of me, I have a couple of examples to share - this is how I came to these thoughts.
Do not waste a chance while you have it.
I do love traveling, especially in a camper van. When I saw VW Grand California, I knew it’s the one I will purchase someday. Also, I had a dream to spend months on the road cruising on a camper van with my family.
One day, a friend of mine shared his dream of sailing around the world with all his family. It didn’t happen due to COVID restrictions. And it probably won’t happen in the future because two of his four children will grow up and start studying.
This led me to the question: will I have a chance to spend several months traveling when I can afford to buy a VW California van? Probably my daughter will go to school at that time, and as with my friend's story, the dream will stay a dream.
As time went by, I was reading forums and watching Youtube about camper vans. I found it’s possible to build your own van, which will be cheaper and more fun to do with your hands.
After months of doing my research and thinking about it, I decided that my Lean Dream would be to purchase a cargo van, convert it to the camper and seek adventures with my family now, while we have the opportunity.
And so, I did it.
I bought a Ford Transit and am now working on the conversion, which brings so much joy to my life even before the trip is made (more stories later).
Don’t wait for event B, which may not come.
I enjoy writing, and if you ask me what I would do if I win in a lottery, the answer is to read a lot and write.
However, I was approaching it this way. I will start writing (event A) when I get enough experience and/or sell my company for millions as credibility proof (event B).
I’m in business for over 20 years, yet the big exit hasn’t happened yet.
Moreover, I told myself that I would start writing (event A) when I have time (event B) because I’m quite busy these days.
I was naive to think that things would change in a quarter, a year, a decade. If we don't change our today, all our tomorrows will be the same.
And it proved the consequence one more time: when the desirable event A is dependent on the event B, the latter will be postponed, and thus A will never happen.
So, I decided to play it backward and start doing what I want without waiting for event B to come.
I might not be the person with the greatest experience yet; I might have other urgent things to do today. But I don’t care as long as I'm doing what I love.
So, I take time each week to write, letting other things go.
I write about things that I feel are important to me, and If it touches someone’s soul, that’s great. If not, then there is always one reader who will deeply appreciate that - my wife.
A final question
You don’t have to be a superhero to follow the principles above. Anyone can do that. The only thing which matters is to allow yourself to make such a shift in your mind.
If you don’t do that, it doesn’t mean the life of tomorrow won’t be good. It just means tomorrows will lack something you deeply desire inside yourself.
How would you feel in your declining years with all external wealth meeting a person who gave up on something but lived up to his true vision and did everything you were dreaming about?
As a post scriptum
Have an example that relates to this story? Share it with me for my further posts.