The Entrepreneurial Fire of Growth
I am becoming more clear and certain that there is something special about the entrepreneurial journey that makes it a catalyst for personal transformation. There is a powerful combination of risk that you can feel to your bones, intensity that comes from a desire to win or create, and an open ended-ness that can easily lead to burnout. One of two things tends to happen – either the person is transformed through that fire to a higher version of themselves who can thrive in the midst of that unique environment; or, the person barely keeps their head above water, and significantly struggles to just keep up as their own mind/body/spirit health deteriorates. Importantly however, I’ve learned through my own experiences that one can take steps to steer towards the better of those outcomes.
What can we do to ensure that we are forged by this fire rather than burned by it? How can we make a big impact in our organizations and on the world, while transforming to a higher version of ourselves?
I have shared the comprehensive framework for the shifts that are needed to make this happen. Today I’d like to share three specific items from within that framework that seem to be very salient for me as of late.
Lean into acceptance of what is. The entrepreneurial journey is about creating something new; it’s about moving beyond what is, to higher ground. So inherent in this journey is a dissatisfaction with the current status quo. And that’s okay. But when this turns into impatience, and impatience turns into being short with ourselves or with our team or partners, and impatience turns into criticism as we hope people are something other than who they are, that is not okay. We can simultaneously coach people to hire ground while still staying in a fundamental state of acceptance of who they are and gratitude for their gifts and contributions. Acceptance of the reality in front of us is always the right foundational step, in my experience.
Do not skip morning and night rituals. The open ended-ness of never ending opportunity and problems requires discipline of mind, discipline of identity, and discipline of action. We need morning and night rituals that encourage the mind to slow down while telling it that it has completed its work of problem solving and it is time for it to rest. We also need to spend time every single day as the human that we are, and not as the professional person that we are, preserving our broader identity. We need to have proactive actions that help us make these transitions out of the work mode in both mind and body. Meditate, workout, take a walk, play, get off the screens, pay attention to your food.
And finally, the third thing I want to remind us of is to place our passion in the process and not the outcome. It is fine for the desired outcome to be a point of focus and drive the energy for action. But we must set the plan for action that gives us a good chance of achieving that outcome but then open ourselves up to the many possible outcomes. We do not have ultimate control.
May we all embrace our calling for entrepreneurship as simultaneously a calling for accelerated growth and transformation. That is essential to let that fire forge us into steel and avoid its devouring burn.
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