Do Cool Sh*t (29 page)

Authors: Miki Agrawal

A great piece of advice I was told was to always focus on your desired outcome and not the pain you’re going through right now to get there, as this desired outcome will keep you inspired and strong, even during your most vulnerable moments.

What has kept me going thus far has been my deep conviction for what I was working on and that it fit the basic requirement of doing cool shit. This means: do what you believe will fulfill your innate being. At the end of the day, if whatever you do does not meet that basic requirement, chances are, it may be “cool” for someone, but not for you.

My dad said to me: “The challenge is to go find what keeps your eyes all sparkling and wide open, and what gets you brushing the dust off your behind every time you fall and come back with greater gusto, and what in your gut feels right without worrying about what the rest of the world in general (or your parents in particular) think about—for rest assured they will come around and they will be your biggest fans and cheerleaders.”

So if you have been feeling that itch, that feeling in the pit in your stomach telling you that you are not doing everything you want to be doing, address it now!

We can have all the knowledge, tools, and relationships in the world, but it all comes down to one decision: the decision to
act
and
take your first step
toward doing what you love and living life on your own terms.

And of course doing cool shit is entirely up to your interpretation. The goal here is to find your most authentic voice and give you the motivation to act.

The only way I could have ever gotten here was by acknowledging that I wasn’t doing everything that I wanted to and by articulating what I wanted to be doing, so I made a decision to act on making what I wanted to be doing a reality. I realized that at the end of the day, the only person who will be answering to me is
me
.

So go out and do what you believe will fulfill your innate being.

Ask yourself, “What aren’t I doing that I want to be?” and realize that there is no time like the present to start doing it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M
iki Agrawal is a serial social entrepreneur. She is a recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award and was named one of
Forbes
magazine’s Top 20 Millienials on a Mission in 2013.

Miki is the founder of the highly acclaimed farm-to-table pizza restaurant
WILD
(www.eatdrinkwild.com), which she opened at age twenty-six in New York City. She partnered has with Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh and is opening
WILD Las Vegas
.

She has also partnered with her twin sister, Radha, to launch the Super Sprowtz (www.supersprowtz.com), a multimedia company to get kids excited about eating their vegetables, as a response to the growing obesity pandemic among US children.

Her latest undertaking is THINX (www.shethinx.com), a high-tech underwear solution that is leak- and stain-resistant (and breathable and washable) for girls to wear during their “time of the month.” Millions of girls in developing countries drop out of school because of their periods, so for every pair of THINX underwear sold, the company also funds the production of seven washable, reusable cloth pads for girls in developing countries.

Most important, Miki holds the world record for most Wookiee Punches in fifteen seconds, which was broadcast live on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
(see the video at recordsetter.com/world-record/punching-wookiee-the-stomach-15-seconds/20056#contentsection).

Miki lives in New York City with Radha.

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CREDITS

Cover design by Jarrod Taylor

Creative direction for illustrations by Radha Agrawal. Illustrations courtesy of Guillaume Bracquemond.

DO COOL SH*T.
Copyright © 2013 by Miki Agrawal. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Agrawal, Miki.

Do cool sh*t : quit your day job, start your own business, and live happily ever after / Miki Agrawal.—First edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-06-226153-3

1. Career development. 2. Young adults. 3. Job satisfaction. 4. Entrepreneurship. 5. New business enterprises. 6. Success in business. 7. Agrawal, Miki. I. Title.

HF5381.A535 2013

658.1'1—dc23

2013010176

EPUB Edition JUNE 2013 ISBN 9780062261564

13 14 15 16 17
OV/RRD
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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