When entrepreneurs start their journey with me, the first thing I ask them to discover is themselves. I want them to get to know the person that is doing the pursuit as opposed to the opportunity they are chasing. Often than not, entrepreneurs get so overwhelmed by the idea of success that they forget why they are actually doing what they are doing. Why are they running after a goal that maybe out of sync with their character and what can be done to make the alignment between the person and the business.
Now you might ask, why is that of any importance. Business is business and an entrepreneur needs to follow a plan that can lead to monetary wealth. Well, that’s partially true but the reality is, you don’t want to be doing something that is out of character because those who pursue a dream that is not in sync with their personality will eventually give up. Let me explain.
Unlike Hollywood that tries to sell images of entrepreneurs as being glamorous and without paint, reality is far from it. An entrepreneurs day is long, hard, challenging, often lonely at the beginning and stressful and if you are not ready for the ups and downs of this reality you wont be able to sustain forward motion over a long period of time. In addition, you won’t be able to inspire your team to follow your lead either. For this reason I always ask entrepreneurs to first define themselves before they begin to define their business and for that I ask them to fill in the blanks on these 4 lines that took me many years to figure out.
The sentence goes as follows:
When I look in the mirror I see _____________________ (e.g. an Engineer)
who is inspired to ______________________________ (e.g. build homes that cost under US $10,000)
so I can ___________________________ (e.g. make home ownership affordable for everyone)
in order to _________________________ (e.g. help millions of people have a roof over their head)
Here’s another example,
When I look in the mirror I see _____________________ (e.g. a stay at home mom)
who is inspired to _____________________________ (e.g. make healthy eating delicious)
so I can ___________________________ (e.g. inspire other moms to make meals for their kids)
in order to _________________________ (e.g. reduce the risk of obesity in children around the world).
Once you are able to understand your purpose in life, and you are clearly able to define your mantra and your higher calling then and only then will you be energized and determined enough to take on the challenges of what the world (the universe) will throw at you and still love it, day in and day out.
If you are reading this post and you are keen on becoming an entrepreneur I highly recommend you taking the time to fill in the blanks on this short sentence. It’s my way of asking you to do some “soul searching” in order to define yourself, your purpose and your higher calling. Be as clear as you possibly can by staying away from generalizations. You may need a few days to think it through. It’s not as easy as it may look. Go deep.
