I hadn’t been to my optometrist since before the pandemic — close to 5 years. Even I knew my vision had changed over that time. How much wasn’t clear but change had happened.
After the usual battery of tests and letters and lenses, I was given a glimpse of just how much had changed since my last visit. My optometrist set up my old (current) prescription lens strength in the Phoropter and showed me what my current “normal” was. Then she asked me to close my eyes as she set up my current prescription in the machine. It was like going from no-K to 4K in a moment. What a gift to see the difference. “Pretty cool eh?” she said. Yup.
I mean, it was cool to be able to see the difference 5 years makes. It was not so cool to see how 5 years of aging damages your body…but the lesson was impactful.
How many times do we, as founders, forget those first milestones.
I remember sitting with my co-founders at Trexity imagining what it would be like if we could do 10 deliveries a day. Then when we hit that it was 100. Then 200. Then 500. Then 1000. Then 2000. Then 3000.
From where we started it was hard to imagine that we could achieve these milestones but we did.
I like to remind our team of how far we’ve come in such a short time. These early years are unique because the milestones are plenty and being conquered quickly. There is nothing like the first of something and scaling from there.
Don’t ever forget to look back to where you were and be amazed about where you are. This ride does not lend itself to moments of reflection — there is just no time to linger — but it is ok to look through the lens every once in a while.
Then get back to work.