A prologue to "The Alpha Engineer's Final Evolution: Entrepreneur"
They tell you to work in silence. To keep your dreams close to your chest. "Don't announce your moves before you make them," they whisper, as if your ambitions are secrets to be hidden away.
I choose a different path.
When I declared my intentions to the world, to evolve from Alpha Engineer to Queen Bee, to build something that would disrupt the status quo, the reactions were immediate. Some offered genuine support. Others watched with thinly veiled skepticism. A few openly doubted.
"Who does he think he is?"
"Another dreamer who thinks they can disrupt the status quo."
"Let's see how long this lasts."
Each whisper, each sideways glance, each dismissive comment, I collected them all. Not as wounds, but as fuel.
The conventional wisdom says that announcing your plans invites negative energy that will derail your progress. That skepticism will weaken your resolve. That you should emerge only when victory is assured.
But I am not conventional, and neither are you if you're reading this.
Muhammad Ali, my fourth horseman alongside the mentors I've previously written about, never silenced himself. He proclaimed "I am the greatest" before the world agreed. He invited the pressure. He faced the skepticism. And when the bell rang, he delivered.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Ali didn't just fight in the ring, he fought the expectations that a champion should be humble, silent, grateful just to be there.
As Alpha Engineers charting our path to becoming Queen Bees in our industries, we don't need to hide our ambitions in darkness. We can:
- Transform the weight of others' doubt into the resistance that builds our strength
- Use public declaration as commitment, a line drawn that we refuse to retreat behind
- Watch closely who celebrates your ambitions versus who diminishes them—this is the filter that reveals your true allies
When I shared my entrepreneurial journey publicly, something remarkable happened i.e. the negative energy clarified my vision. Each doubt became a checkpoint to prove wrong. Each dismissal sharpened my focus.
In the colony of success, those who rise to Queen Bee status aren't those who worked in perfect, protected silence. They're the ones who declared their intention to rule, weathered the resulting storm, and emerged stronger for it.
So speak your ambitions loudly. Let the world know what's coming. And when the negative energy flows, as it inevitably will, don't run from it.
Harness it. Transform it. Use it to fuel your ascension.
Because in the end, the Alpha Engineer doesn't just succeed despite the noise.
They succeed because they learned to convert noise into power.
My fascination with Ali deepened after watching "Facing Ali," a 2009 documentary film directed by Pete McCormack based on the book "Facing Ali: The Opposition Weighs in" by Stephen Brunt. The film portrays Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky) through the perspectives of ten opponents he faced during his career: George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, George Foreman, "Smokin'" Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes (also a former sparring partner of Ali), Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Ernie Terrell. Witnessing how these formidable opponents spoke of Ali's psychological warfare, his loudness, his proclamations, his unwavering self-belief cemented for me that his approach wasn't just showmanship. It was strategy. A strategy that transformed external pressure into internal power.
This is why Ali stands as the fourth horseman in my journey. Not just for his athletic prowess, but for his mastery of converting negative energy into unstoppable momentum.
Now, let's continue the journey we started..at the end of the day, the noise shouldn't hinder your transition to being the best you can be.