What Shadows Are You Chasing? 👻

Author

Damon Brown
November 13, 2024

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Hi reader,

I was visiting relatives in Southern California recently.

In and around LA, you can expect back-to-back traffic, folks swerving lanes, drivers desperate to make even a few feet of progress.

I know. I used to live there. 

And because I know this, I headed out hella early.

Not sunrise, but when my phone GPS said I could get back to Vegas in record time, I was ready to go.

It was beautiful. Five, sometimes six rows of freeway, mostly empty. Room to move. 

I put on an old-school rap mixtape and exhaled.

About 10 minutes in, I noticed something out the corner of my eye. A car was going at least twice my speed. I swerved to avoid them.  

They kept on switching lanes, once, then twice, maybe three times. 

There was virtually no one else on the freeway.

Within an hour, other cars sped by doing the same thing - and I swerved once or twice to avoid them.

They weren’t race cars. Most were family cars like mine. But they swerved around the shadows of traffic that was no longer there 🚘

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I was startled by one or two of the near misses, but I wasn’t mad.

Well, at least once I realized what was happening: I didn’t live here. They did.

The manic lane switching, hitting three-digit speeds, and no-signal driving make sense when you think this is your only shot.

If you see an opening on a highway that’s crowded 23 out of 24 hours of the day, then you drive like you’re headed to your last meal.

You drive because you don’t know when traffic will come back again.

When will this opportunity be taken away?

The burnout, the stress, and even the potential crash all disappear into the rear view mirror.

Until you realize you’re going to get there no matter what.

And being consistent and strategic may actually help you get there in peace and in one piece.

During the same trip, I actually did run into some brief traffic.

There was a 5-car pileup blocking part of the road.

I said a prayer under my breath and headed home 🏡

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🙋🏾 I’m Damon! (http://www.damonbrown.net) I help side hustlers, solopreneurs & others like yourself bloom. As a bestselling author, 2x startup founder & 4x TEDTalker, I co-founded the popular connection app Cuddlr and led it to acquisition within a year while being a stay at home dad with my infant son.

🫱🏼‍🫲🏿 Today, my boutique coaching business Bring Your Worth supports hundreds through one-on-one virtual and in-person support, as well as behind-the-scenes services for TED, HEROIC, and other impactful organizations. You can catch this free weekly newsletter as well as the 18,000-subscriber strong television show BringYourWorth.tv.

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