Kill your 'onces'

We're all guilty of it, aren't we?

“Once I find the perfect idea, I'll start my own business."

"Once I get that raise, I'll start investing.”

“Once I lose a few kilos, I'll hit the gym.”

But here's the bitter truth: The magical land of "Once" doesn't exist.

"Kill your 'onces'," is advice I heard from Dickie Bush.

Let me take you back to my early skateboarding days first...

I was like a squirrel, stashing away every cent, dreaming about that Rolls-Royce of skateboards. You know the kind. The one that would make the neighborhood kids' jaws drop.

The funny part? I spent more time watching the skateboarding gods performing tricks on VHS tapes and analyzing skateboarding magazines than actually skating.

Picture me, all impatient next to a slow loud modem, waiting for the internet to finally reveal the secrets of the perfect kickflip.

In contrast, my friend, let's call him Peter, took a different route. He had this old skateboard that looked like it had survived a few world wars. And Peter? He was always on the streets, shredding, eating dust, picking himself up, and doing it all over again.

Guess who turned into a skateboard virtuoso? Yep, definitely not me.

Peter didn't hang on to any 'onces'. He grabbed the 'now' by its horns and rode it like his beat-up skateboard.

Now, flip the tape to another episode from my teenage years.

There was this friend of mine who was always going on and on about starting his own skate brand. But it was always about 'once'. "Once I get the cash...", "Once I find the perfect design..."

Well, call me crazy, but already at 13, I printed my own skateboarding T-shirts. I had to buy an empty shirt, then literally beg a printer, who was pals with my father, to ink a few pieces with a vector tractor on it.

Voila! "Village skateboards" was born, in all its tractor glory.

At 17, I started my first official business (had to wait until 18 to register it), an online skateshop - Warehouse.

We were pioneers in dropshipping without even knowing it. Distributors laughed at us, convinced that no one would ever buy expensive gear online without trying it on first. But they somehow agreed to work with us.

And we didn't care if anyone was laughing. We didn’t wait for any 'onces'. We were too busy seizing the 'now'.

You guessed right - my friend who dreamt of having a skate brand has never even started.

And I think you know how it ended up with me.

No, my breakthrough was not Village skateboards. I actually completely forgot about this “brand” until I found a T-shirt yesterday at my parent’s house - and I’m wearing it as I’m writing this.

Neither was it Warehouse.

But only thanks to these extremely imperfect experiments, I ended up running a brand that works with amazing skateboarders from all over the world.

So here's my advice to you: The next time you find yourself in the company of a 'once', show it the door and invite 'now' in.

There's no place for 'onces' on the road to success.

Kill your 'onces' and seize your 'now'.

Trust me, the view from the other side is spectacular.

Carpe Diem,
Tino

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