Yes, my little entrepreneurial chickadees, it does take one to know one. I do understand what it is like to live with a brain that keeps churning out an endless stream of ideas for business and pleasure. I suspect true entrepreneurs are born and not made and that it simply will not be possible for people wired this way to control their flow of ideas. Nor should they.
There is, however, an art to recognizing which ideas are simply bright and shiny distractions and which are actually worth pursuing. I offer you a few points for consideration to help you on your way:
Be honest with yourself and your feelings about success. Entrepreneurs can be incredibly resistant to commitment, always wondering if a better, cooler, more fun and interesting idea is about to come along. Is it possible you may hold yourself back from commitment because success in one arena may limit your ability to play in other areas of your creative sandbox? What has been the payoff in not letting any of your ideas take the lead position? What will help you pick the "right" idea to put your energy behind?
On this last point, I'd suggest giving serious consideration to the idea that has been coming up over and over again in every list, journal, and master plan you have written down in the last ten or twenty years. You know the one. It may appear in different clothes from time to time, but the basic idea or theme always shows up. Maybe you want to promote wellness in some form or fashion. Maybe your interest lies in the arena of social change. Maybe you are always making order out of chaos and like creating environments to suit certain needs. Maybe you are forever pulling together events or creating experiences for people.
What is it that always gets relegated to the realm of hobby that you keep going back to no matter how many new things have been added to your life? What is so easy for you to do that you simply refuse to respect it?
Remember the Myth of Commonality. Many would-be entrepreneurs and small business owners fail to value what they are brilliant at precisely because they accomplish it with such ease. We assume that whatever is easy for us must be easy for everyone. Ironically, the easier something is for us, the less value we place on it, all the while admiring others who exhibit the apparent ease that comes with mastery, such as icons Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Carlos Santana.
Article comments
1 - alessandro nicolo
Great thoughts. Couldn't agree more. I decided to become who I am at 33. It's easy to regret not seeing it earlier - especially with instability at its height.
2 - Laura Young
Well, if it's any consolation, Alessandro, you may be ahead of the curve. I know many people who are just asking themselves the question of "So who am I really?" in a serious way when they are in their 40s and 50s. We joke a lot about people needing to find themselves, but it's true, it's very hard to get a clear view of ourselves. And we get such varied reflections back from our relationships across our different roles, it can be like living in a house of mirrors.