My father once spent two years building a model of Barcelona's Estació de França train station. Not a kit. Not a simple hobby project. A 25-square-metre recreation that consumed two rooms of our garage.
He built mountains from cement and painted them green. He created a lake with epoxy resin. He constructed tunnels, added trees, bushes, even tiny animals on the mountainsides. The station itself was built entirely from wood - his own calculations, his own measurements, no instructions. It looked exactly like the real thing.
The tracks worked. Real model locomotives running on 12 volts. A control desk in the corner let him switch trains between tracks, operate signals, manage the entire system. He was obsessed.
When it was finished, it stayed in the house for a year or two. Eventually he sold it to someone from Madrid.
I tell this story because of what happened next.
Another project my father started was building me a den in the forest behind our house. This was going to be something special - a proper structure with cement foundations, brick walls, electricity, and running water. A place I could actually live in.
He laid the foundations. Built up the walls. Installed the water pipes. Got to the point of putting the roof on.
Then stopped.
The motivation disappeared. Maybe summer ended and it got cold. Maybe something else demanded his attention. Maybe he simply waited too long to push through to completion.
That was thirty years ago. The den is still there in our forest. Half-built. Covered in foliage and trees now. A monument to motivation that faded before it could be fulfilled.
Same person. Same capability. Same creative drive. Completely different outcomes.
In my family, we have a phrase for this: "le da la vena."
It translates literally as "he has the vein" - but it actually means "he has the urge." A spontaneous impulse to do something, often without much planning or clear reason. Acting on gut instinct in a way that seems irrational to others.
Maybe the name comes from that feeling when you want something so badly your veins are bulging. Or maybe it means the desire is in your blood, part of who you are. I am not entirely sure of the etymology. But I remember the saying being used frequently about my father.
And I have inherited it.
Over the years, I have come to understand that motivation is not a constant resource you can draw on whenever convenient. It is perishable. It expires. Strike while the iron is hot, as they say - but the iron cools faster than you think.
I have learned to recognise when three conditions align:
One: Capacity. You have the time and resources to carry out the idea. You are not in the middle of something else. You are not overcommitted. There is actual space in your life for this project.
Two: Motivation. You have a peak level of desire to bring the idea to life. Not mild interest. Not "that would be nice someday." Genuine, burning motivation that makes the project feel urgent.
Three: Timing. The idea feels right. It feels like the right moment to act. Something intangible but real tells you this is the time.
When these three align, you must act.
Not next week. Not when things calm down. Now.
Because as soon as one fades - as soon as another project demands your attention, or the burning desire cools, or the timing no longer feels right - you will struggle to ever complete it.
My father had all three when he started the train station. He maintained them for two years until it was finished.
He had all three when he started my den. But somewhere along the way, one or more slipped. And thirty years later, it remains unfinished.
I think about this constantly in my own work.
When an idea grips me - when I feel that urge, that vena - I evaluate the three conditions immediately. Can I do this? Do I genuinely want to do this? Does it feel like the right time?
If all three are yes, I start. Even if the idea seems excessive to others. Even if the scope feels ambitious. Even if conventional wisdom says to wait and plan more carefully.
Because I have learned that waiting is the enemy of completion.
The projects I have finished are the ones I started when all three conditions aligned. The projects I never completed are the ones where I hesitated, waited for a better moment, or let one of the conditions fade before beginning.
Building circle.cloud happened because the conditions aligned and I acted. I did not wait for the perfect moment. I did not wait until I had more experience or more resources. The motivation was there, the capacity was there, the timing felt right. So I started.
The same pattern repeated with We UC. The same pattern repeats with every significant project I undertake.
There is a difficult truth here. Sometimes you cannot act.
Sometimes you have the motivation but not the capacity. Sometimes the timing is wrong for reasons beyond your control. Sometimes life genuinely prevents you from pursuing the idea when the urge is strongest.
This is painful. Watching motivation fade while circumstances prevent action is one of the most frustrating experiences I know.
I have no perfect solution for this. But I have learned to be honest with myself about it. If I cannot act now, I acknowledge that the project may never happen - at least not in its current form. The motivation that exists today will not exist in the same way six months from now.
This honesty helps me prioritise ruthlessly. If something truly matters and the conditions align, it must take precedence. Because the alternative is not doing it later - the alternative is likely not doing it at all.
My father's train station was a masterpiece. The scale, the detail, the craftsmanship - it represented two years of focused obsession channeled into something tangible and beautiful.
My den is a ruin in the forest.
Same person. Same creative capability. The only difference was whether he followed through on the motivation when it was at its peak, or let it fade before completion.
I think about that contrast often.
Motivation is not a renewable resource that replenishes on demand. It arrives unpredictably, peaks briefly, and fades whether you use it or not. The question is whether you act while it is there.
Le da la vena. The urge arrives.
The only question is what you do with it.
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