"Where is the new reward?"
"Sign me up," some might say. But the one who likely holds all the keys is entrepreneur and essayist Miquel Huguet, who is launching a book with precisely that title.
Where’s my reward, you ask?
This is my third essay, after Fundraising and Transgression. Talking to me, you’re bound to find plenty of rewards.
Let’s see then.
Throughout life, people search for what makes them happy, but happiness depends on so many things. What’s our concept of happiness, really? The starting point for the book is one of my investments in a company founded by a young woman I met at a tech conference. I invested 100,000 euros—not an extravagant amount, but…
Depending on who you ask.
Some can invest millions.
True. Others don’t even have loose change.
Most investors put their money into people rather than projects: in this case, it was a young woman, the daughter of civil servants, sister of a civil servant, and someone everyone expected would also become a civil servant. But she, despite her excellent education, had no intention of doing so—not even a tiny bit. She couldn’t. Her life was about searching, fighting, striving, struggling…
And you...?
It made me think: how is it that some people find happiness occupying a very mediocre role in society without moving an inch, while others, like her or myself, would be terribly unhappy and feel the need to fight? I’m 68 years old, and I’m still creating, searching, fighting—and I will die that way.
Hopefully, much later rather than sooner.
This book explores why we are so different in that regard. Personally, I’d rather fail miserably while striving for something grand than live sadly in mediocrity. Society needs transgressive people.
Those who raise their heads, we cut them down.
Because society is also conservative; it doesn’t want things to change. By nature, we are resistant to change. But evolution requires change.
Was it Voltaire who said happiness is cultivating your garden?
Yes, yes, and that’s why I said some people find happiness in mediocrity. People don’t want to leave their comfort zone, even if their comfort zone is a pigsty. Better the devil you know... It’s terrible.
I have to agree with you there.
Innovation is trendy, but only on the surface. Look at Andorra: there was the Niu by Andorra Telecom, but it didn’t really take off. Breaking the established rules never quite works.
Alright then: I’m very mediocre—what should I do?
If I were you, I’d already have started three or four publishing houses or my own television network. I have a company in Miami, you know? Over there, you feel inspired—though, of course, there are people there too who are content living in mediocrity—because there are so many creative, innovative people.
Europeans must be getting old.
When EU funds are allocated for innovation, for example, it takes a year and a half to two years from approval to access. So much bureaucracy… In the United States, the process takes two months. It’s hard to compete.
Not everyone can work on grand projects. What about smaller-scale ones?
Of course, not all of us can be an Elon Musk.
Thankfully.
I’m very small-scale, yet I’m an innovator. I’ve also failed many times, but I’m still creative—even now, I'm not young. My happiness lies in that and in sharing what I do with the public through my books.
Alright then, motivate me—so I can start my own TV network.
You know what the first thing is? Self-esteem. It’s the ability that some people have to believe they are capable of doing something. Some are born with that feeling—I’m one of them. Others, on the contrary, think they’ll never be able to.
That’s very deterministic: if you’re born with it…
If you weren’t born with those characteristics, then work hard to develop them.
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