Throes 2

When I was working at the startup Rumble* 10 years ago, Moiselle** the CEO was my mentor. As I mentioned then, 2 decades my junior, she was driven and brilliant. Time would prove that she was meant to thrive professionally. She went on to make national news, interviewed by various magazines.

I think about this moment often:

On my fist day of training, I posited a difficult scenario which had no obvious solution, and asked Moiselle what one was to do.

"You figure it out," she replied, after pausing for only a second. 

She had this look on her face that I would never forget which is hard to describe.

Years later, I would realize that you are hired to solve problems. Your value as an employee lays herein. Entrepreneurs solve BIG problems. The bigger the problems you solve, the larger the monetary reward.

This is a novel idea, to say the least, to someone who is in the habit of running away from problems as long as she can remember.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago. On our weekly conference call with the 'rents, my brother W told this story of how every country has its own tax laws which may seem very convoluted to an outsider. For instance, even as close as Canada: W apparently has had coworkers explain the ins and outs to him, and (as intelligent as W is) the details are over his head, he reports.

I was all too eager to agree. My current colleague and friend JL and myself have mused time and again: "Home is where you know how to pay your power and water bill, and taxes." Learning these skills all over if one moves to a new country (or even just another state) elicits immediate pain and aversion.

As I made this statement on this day, W jovially conferred, "No, I mean, it may take a while - 6 months tops, perhaps, but I'll figure it out."

There it was, the exact phrase edged in my brain, courtesy Moiselle, from 10 years ago.

In awe and wonderment, I thought to myself, "Indeed, this is the difference between a successful person and one who's not - the mindset."

*Not its real name
**Not her real name