The Utter Realization of a Wasted Life...

A blistering cold winter day - St. Petersburg, Russia, 1849.

Thousands of people gathered around the town square to witness the big event. 

The air was silent and nothing but a priest’s prayer could be heard, just moments before the execution.

It was Dostoevsky’s turn to die. 

Who? You might ask…

Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the most respected and well known novelists to ever walk this planet. 

He had a big impact with his writing and a very promising path ahead of him. 

However, he was a stubborn guy with radical beliefs…

So he wasted most of his youth attending political meetings instead. 

When revolution broke out in 1848, Dostoevsky was arrested along with 23 of his colleagues and spent eight months in jail with no hope of a trial. 

Until one cold Russian morning, he overheard they’d be put on trial after all…

They were taken to the town square and forced to undergo an unusual ritual. 

In front of them was a priest, behind them were armed soldiers…

All around them were thousands of people, just there to watch…

It didn’t take long before they realized this was no trial.

They were about to be executed.  

Three of Dostoevsky’s colleagues were shot and killed…

And now, it was his turn. 

The priest was chanting a prayer and just as the execution squad was about to pull the trigger, a messenger came interrupting with news. 

The Tsar (Russian emperor) had ordered to commute their death sentence. 

They were given a second chance at life but were instead sentenced to hard labor for 4 years in Siberia. 

What was the point of this history lesson, you might ask?

Well, minutes before this “miracle moment”, Dostoevsky thought about all the time he wasted trying to revolutionize something that meant nothing in the end. 

He hated himself for wasting so much of his own life doing things that didn’t align with his true purpose as well... Writing.

And now, for the next 4 years, he would live in some of the harshest conditions…

He wasn’t even allowed to write letters to loved ones or possess a pen and paper even just to journal. 

But Dostoevsky was driven to get back to his purpose and the thing he loved most…

So, he “wrote” novels in his head. 

As he swore not to waste another second.

He saw his life more clearly and deeply understood the value of time. 

When he was finally released from prison, he wrote novel after novel…

And kept writing, literally until his last moments on earth.

He is renowned and remembered to this present day and most likely, for many more centuries to come.

Can you relate to his choice to lean deeply into the thing he loved most and felt called to accomplish during his lifetime?

I can...

Five years ago I quit my job and started The Sales Rebellion. 

I scared the living crap out of everyone, including myself.

And if I had listened to all the doubt and negativity that was perpetuated in my direction…

I would just live in a pile of regret today.

Doing something I was never called to do.

Running a business for 5 years is one of the single most difficult things I’ve ever done, full of ups and downs…

But every single second has been more than worth it.

I work with the people I love, build in order to affect change, sacrifice for something I deeply care for…

And I am building my own legacy that is worth its own weight and not someone else’s…

And Rebel, you can too. 

So stop wasting your life chasing things that don’t matter and are just a distraction from your true calling.

Stop chasing vanity metrics and start building your legacy with eternal joy, happiness and fulfillment.

Get back to the roots of your Rebellion and don't let someone else write your story.

Take hold and live it out for yourself.

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