Silicon Valley today is like Florence during the Renaissance, with insane amounts of energy and output. Yet, the battles and crises that humans go through have remained the same.

Matt MacInnis grew up in a small town in Nova Scotia, seeing amazing companies being built in Silicon Valley He wanted to start on. As a result, Matt had spent his 20s agonizing over the pursuit of that outcome, until he had realized that an 18-year-old Matt probably should not set goals for a 35-year-old, and it is okay to change your focus and desires as you gain the wisdom to be rescued from your past.

It is perfectly rational to go start a company with insane odds against you if you understand that the outcome is beautiful no matter what. If you can approach it with that mindset, then it will be beautiful.

Matt had a lot of hard lessons through his career, but he also learned from the book "Zen in the Art of Archery," that everything worth doing is hard, and those hard experiences shape you and make you a better person.

Get the book from Amazon: Zen in the Art of Archery.

After Steve Jobs effectively stole Matt's designs for a product, Matt realized that your heroes are not who they appear to be. You should never be putting anyone on a piedestal.

You might look around and think that everyone else has life figured out, but they don't. Everyone is faking it.

Instead of striving for an achievement, it first helps to figure out whether that is the right achievement for you.

For example, many entrepreneurs want Matt to invest in their company, but instead of answering the question whether Matt should be an investor, they are focused on getting Matt as an investor. Similar, but not the same.

Getting what you want would be a lot easier if you are trying to get the right thing.