Ordinary vs. Extraordinary

Delivered May 2, 2025 @ 5:00pm ET

Weather in Bloomington, Indiana - Partly Sunny, 23⁰ C / 74⁰ F

Table of Contents

• Doriot® Product Innovations

• Ordinary to Extraordinary

• How to Face Everything and Rise: A Simple 3-Step P …

  • 1. Identify the Fear

  • 2. Acknowledge the Ego’s Intent

  • 3. Choose the New Response

My name is Gerry Hays, and for lack of a better description, I’m the custodian and convener of Doriot® (pronounced “Doe-ree-oh”), a movement to break open the gates of venture and expand innovation and wealth beyond an elite few.

Democratize Venture is my platform to explore the venture markets and share the insights, strategies, and frameworks I bring into the classroom. It’s where education meets execution—for anyone ready to play the startup game.

Doriot® Product Innovations

VentureStaking™ - a zero-to-one innovation in venture investing — designed to put the smallest investors on the same playing field as the largest.

FantasyStartup® - #1 global startup investing simulation with more than 14,000 downloads worldwide. Learn how the power law of venture works.

QAI - Qualified Accredited Investor™ - An exam and certification program for anyone serious about launching a venture-backed company or investing in high-growth startups. QAI teaches you what top VCs know about how the game is played — from term sheets to founder psychology. Since launching in 2023, more than 350 individuals have been certified worldwide.

Ordinary to Extraordinary

Last week, I wrote about the Growth Mindset and the importance of persevering through resistance. But as I continued to reflect, I realized something important: one of the greatest points of resistance I personally have face over my lifetime isn’t external — it’s internal. It’s fear.

So this week, I spent a good amount of time digging into my own fears. And in doing so, I came across a quote that struck a deep chord:

This quote reminded me how universal fear is. We're all human. And many of us carry deep-rooted fears — some of which trace back to early childhood. Think about it: we enter this world with nothing but our bodies and our life force. Maybe we inherit some emotional patterns, maybe not — but let’s just say we start out relatively fresh.

As we grow, we develop our ego — a natural survival mechanism. It tells us what’s safe and what’s not. It houses our “fight or flight” response — the one that once saved us from predators like saber-toothed tigers.

But today, we’re not being hunted. Instead, our ego tries to protect us from emotional threats: rejection, judgment, failure, or feeling like we’re not enough.

Early experiences that cause us pain — feeling excluded, ignored, or unworthy — get stored deep within us. Our ego quietly builds a program around those memories to protect us. Don’t go there again, it warns. That hurt last time. That’s the birth of fear.

Over time, these fears grow stronger and become embedded in our identity. Like an Instagram filter, they subtly distort how we see ourselves — shaping the stories we tell about who we are, what we can do, and what we should avoid. And just like Sisyphus, endlessly pushing his boulder uphill, we repeat those patterns again and again — all in the name of avoiding pain.

But here’s the catch: fear often causes us to shrink. To play small. To stay safe. And as Marianne Williamson says:

She’s absolutely right. We only get one shot at this life — so why play small?

For most of us, when fear shows up, the default response is the easy one: Forget Everything And Run. As long as we stay in our “swim lane” and let fear steer the course, we get by. There’s no immediate crisis — and we avoid creating one by dodging bold moves that carry uncertain outcomes.

But that’s not growth. That’s what I’d call ordinary.

But if we want to live extraordinary lives, we have to do something extra. And that extra isn’t complicated. It’s this: Face Everything And Rise.

How to Face Everything and Rise: A Simple 3-Step Practice

If you want to begin stepping into this mindset, here’s a process that helped me — and might help you too:

1. Identify the Fear

Get specific. What is the fear that keeps showing up when you want to grow? Is it rejection? Failure? Looking foolish? Bring it into the light — name it honestly.

Tip: Journal your thoughts. Often, what feels like a giant fear becomes more manageable once it’s written down.

2. Acknowledge the Ego’s Intent

Instead of fighting your ego, recognize that it’s trying to help. It’s working with old programming based on past pain. Say to yourself: “Thank you for trying to protect me. But I’m safe now.”

Tip: Speak to yourself like you would to a younger version of you — with compassion.

3. Choose the New Response

Now that you’ve identified the fear and honored the ego’s role, you have a choice. You can respond from a place of growth, not protection. Take the bold step — even if it’s small — toward the future you want.

Tip: Ask: What action would the ‘rising’ version of me take right now?

And once we’ve made peace with our fears — and acknowledged that our ego was only trying to protect us — something amazing happens: the fear loses its grip. It quiets down. And in that space, boldness has room to grow. You begin to expand, to step fully into who you’re meant to be.

That’s the moment you stop living small — and start becoming extraordinary.

Have a great weekend! -gerry ([email protected])