Change of Plans - The Friday Finance Break
The Friday Finance Break
(For anyone just tuning in, every Friday we take a break from the CFO content and talk about mental health. If you're just here for the CFO stuff, we'll see you Monday!)
Yesterday afternoon, I had a big surprise:
I discovered that my passport was expired.
And I'm heading out of the country on...
Tuesday. 😱
As soon as I discovered this, I quickly learned the following:
Renewing a passport isn't a fast process. It can easily take over a month.
If you need it in under 2 weeks, there are some very expensive expediting services that will rush it for you,
But even those aren't fast enough to get things done in <2 business days.
The only hope with that kind of timing is going to a physical passport agency office.
And here’s what I learned about US passport agencies this week:
There are 26 of them in the entire country,
There is no way to call or contact them directly,
And all the ones within driving distance to NYC are at capacity.
So what did I do?
I figured it out.
I found a passport agency in a low-population city wasn’t booked up, got a last minute flight, coordinated it all to not interfere with my weekend plans or my work week, and got it done.
Here’s what I didn’t do:
Freak out.
Throughout the entire ordeal, I’ve actually been calm and content
Which isn’t a small thing for me, historically.
And here’s what I take from that:
This is thanks to running startups.
Here’s the thing:
Being an entrepreneur can sometimes feel thankless.
To eat only what you kill
To never have 100% clarity on if you’re doing the right thing
To see peers move up the corporate ladder for famous brands while you toil away in obscurity
To make below market rates for triple the work for a 10% chance of “making it”
But entrepreneurship also comes with something invaluable:
Living in insanity every day makes crazy situations feel normal.
Meaning you can weather them better,
And move on faster.
It’s a nice reminder, on a journey that sometimes feels like pushing a boulder up a hill,
That pushing that boulder
Leaves you stronger.
Having successfully acquired a new passport, I’m heading out of the country for a couple weeks! The CFO Daily will return when I do, in mid-July.
Enjoy the holiday and I’ll see you in July!
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