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Dear Future Me: A Letter From the Battlefield of the Grind
- Sonny
- Apr 12
- 3 min read
Dear Future Me,
If you're reading this, I hope it's from a place of peace and clarity. Maybe you're sitting in a space you own, breathing easier than you did in the beginning. Maybe not. Either way, I need you to remember where you started—alone, broke, unsure, but stubborn as hell.
You didn't have investors. You didn't have a mentor. You didn't even have a solid plan. You just had this fire in your gut that said, build something. And so you did, brick by shaky brick.
The Good: You discovered your grit. You found out just how hard you could push when there was no one to catch you. You learned to make decisions under pressure, to be your own cheerleader when no one clapped, and to trust your gut when logic said quit. You became resourceful. Creative. Resilient.
There were small wins that felt huge. The first sale. The first client. The first time someone said, "I believe in what you're doing." Those moments kept you alive. They were oxygen.
The Bad: You lost sleep. A lot of it. You sacrificed weekends, holidays, and sometimes your sanity. Your phone became your leash. Your mind never turned off. Friends invited you out, but you stayed in to work—not because you were disciplined, but because the fear of failure had you by the throat.
Finances? A mess. You went from paycheck security to counting pennies and making rent by a thread. You cut back on everything. You skipped meals. You skipped doctor visits. You smiled through it.
The Ugly: It got dark. You questioned your worth. You wondered if you were just playing pretend in a world meant for people with MBAs and seed money. There were days when the only thing you produced was anxiety.
You got lonely. Not just "alone" lonely, but isolated. Relationships suffered. Some people couldn't understand your obsession, and others flat-out left. You stopped texting back. You missed birthdays. You forgot how to just be with people without thinking about your business.
What You Learned: You're not invincible, but you're not weak either. You learned to keep going even when the path vanished beneath your feet. You learned that you don't need permission to start. That failure isn't death. That uncertainty is part of the job description.
You learned to build the plane while flying it.
You learned that entrepreneurship is personal. It's not just business. It's your heart on the line, your identity, your time. And sometimes, the hustle feels like it costs more than it's worth.
Day to Day: No two days looked the same. Some started with a win. Most started with coffee and a tight chest. You were the CEO, the customer service rep, the janitor, the accountant, the marketer, and the product developer. You wore every hat. And some days, all of them fit badly.
But you got up. Every damn day.
Were You Happy? Sometimes. When the pieces clicked, it was euphoric. But most days were gray. Not miserable, just heavy. The kind of weight that builds muscle if it doesn't break you first.
Did You Succeed? That's up to you now, Future Me. I hope you're proud, whether the business made it or not. Because the real win was that you showed up, with nothing but a vision and a spine.
And that? That's everything.
With all the sweat and hope,
Me
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