Forgot about the haters (literally)

I'm writing this from my apartment pool.

I've been thinking about Sean Parker lately.

The guy who co-founded Napster and Facebook.

You know why he built Napster?

His girlfriend dumped him.

He thought if he became a big-time entrepreneur, he'd win her back.

Classic revenge motivation.

By the time Napster became a massive success...

He couldn't even remember her name.

Here's what's funny about revenge motivation:

It works... until it doesn't.

Let me explain.

When I was in school, I got bullied pretty much every day.

Too skinny. Too weak. Didn't play sports. Didn't join clubs.

Just kind of existed in the corner hoping nobody would notice me.

They noticed.

I remember sitting in class thinking "I'm gonna be rich and famous one day and all these fuckers are gonna be jealous."

Very original revenge fantasy, I know.

Flash forward to now.

I've built actual skills. I'm making real money. I'm traveling. I'm in the best shape of my life.

And you know what?

I don't even remember most of those people's names.

The girl who finally gets her dream physique after years of people making fun of her weight?

By the time she has abs, she can't even picture the faces of the people who talked shit.

The kid who becomes an entrepreneur to prove his parents wrong?

By the time he's actually making money, their opinions mean nothing to him.

Sean Parker wanted to win back some girl.

Ended up revolutionizing music distribution and social media.

The girl? Irrelevant.

Here's what nobody tells you about revenge motivation:

It gets you started.

But somewhere along the journey, you stop caring about proving them wrong...

And start caring about proving yourself right.

The transformation isn't just external.

You don't just get richer, fitter, or more successful.

You become someone who doesn't need external validation anymore.

The version of you that finally "makes it" doesn't give a shit about the people you wanted to prove wrong.

Because you've outgrown them mentally before you outgrew them financially.

So if you're reading this and you're still in that phase where you want to shove your success in someone's face...

Good. Use that.

Let it fuel you through the hard days.

But don't be surprised when you get there and realize you don't care anymore.

That's not you losing your edge.

That's you winning.

The real revenge is becoming so focused on your own path that they become irrelevant.

Not because you forgave them.

But because you forgot about them.

Anyway, if you want to build skills that actually make you money instead of just daydreaming about revenge...

I can help you with that, just reply to this email.

To outgrowing the haters (by forgetting they exist),

Grant

P.S. Sean Parker is worth over $3 billion now. His ex-girlfriend? Probably telling people at parties that she used to date him. That's the real W.