A while ago I gave a talk at an NGO to high-school students in their fourth and fifth year, the last years of secondary school in Argentina. They asked me what I did when I was stuck, when things weren't working.
My answer came from my first venture. What I learned there was to respect my low days without treating them as the end of what I was building.
This post is for a stretch like that one: a project, a business or a career move that has gone on longer than you expected without the result you were working for.
Two years before the first tourist
My first venture was Cultura Cercana. It took two years before I guided a single tourist.
All my marketing failed. I was between 25 and 27, and it was very hard. I thought about quitting.
The sadness lowered my pace. It didn't make me give up.
What I did on the low days
On the days when I couldn't do much, I did whatever I could manage that day. I sent an email, called someone, posted on blogs and left comments.
In Spanish I describe it with the word pólvora, gunpowder. As closely as I can translate it:
I feel that today I can't do much, but I keep doing whatever I can manage that day until I get my strength back. I respect what I'm feeling, but I save gunpowder for the clarity of trying something new and the effort that takes.
Respecting the feeling meant I let a sad day be a sad day, and I slowed down. I kept doing the little I could, and I saved energy for later: for getting my clarity back and for the effort of trying something new.
Around 40
After leaving ToursByLocals around age 40, I spent time learning languages, studying quantitative finance and building QuickInsight. By that stage, I handled the low days differently.
The sadness and the uncertainty still came, but sometimes they didn't last even a day. I noticed them earlier, and I cut back and slowed down sooner, until I connected with my energy and drive again.
My experience doesn't show that it always pays to keep going. What it taught me is to respect a low day without treating it as the end of what I was building. Around 40, I got there faster.
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FAQ
What should I do when I feel stuck and nothing is working?
I can tell you what I did when my first venture went two years without a single tourist. The sadness slowed me down, and on the low days I did whatever small thing I could manage: an email, a call, a post, a comment. I saved gunpowder: energy to get my clarity back and to try something new.
How do I know whether to keep going or quit?
Feeling low, by itself, doesn't settle whether to continue. Whether something has stopped working is a question for a day when you can see clearly, and it needs evidence beyond the mood: what has moved and what hasn't.
Does feeling stuck get easier with experience?
It did for me. Between 25 and 27 it was very hard. After I left ToursByLocals around age 40, the sadness and the uncertainty sometimes didn't last even a day. I noticed them earlier and slowed down sooner, until my energy and drive came back.
What if the low days don't pass?
Then you're dealing with more than a low day, and what I describe here isn't enough. If it's your job, pull back a little and watch what the job does. If it's more than work, talk to someone, and if you're in crisis, get human help first.
QuickInsight is informational only. It is not medical, legal, financial, or other regulated advice. If you are in crisis, get human help first.