July 22, 2023
I have yet to know the
direction this blog will take. It is starting as part of an assignment in a
condensed summer course for BYUI. The posts will largely be focused on my
lessons learned and needed on my entrepreneurial journey. I completed reading
articles and watching videos as an intro to the course. It appears that the course
will be more of a self-discovery path than a how to start a business course. I
am excited about that. I have taken several ‘how to start a business’ classes.
I have found in myself and in others, just knowing the steps that are needed to
start does not mean you will take the step.
Just this week I was at a water
park. There was a woman on a high platform that was prepared to take the leap
into the deep end of the pool. The platform was high, so high you needed to
sign a waiver before attempting the leap. Many people of all sizes and ages had
completed the leap before her. I had observed as she took a hesitant leap off
the average high dive. My son had mentioned, it looks like it has been a few
years since that mom jumped off a diving board. That is why I was a bit
surprised to see her on the platform, several feet higher than her last jump.
She had a husband and a son cheering her on with cameras aimed at capturing her
brave leap. She tried a running start a few time and a just step off the edge,
with nose pinched, she tried to summon the courage a few times but failed to
gather the courage each time. She allowed others to go before her, her husband
climbed up and offered to jump with her, even teasing to push her in.
Ultimately, he jumped alone and she climbed back down the stairway and exited
the platform on sure ground.
As I read and watched the
articles today, my thoughts turned back to her and identified with her. I have
two strong business ideas. I know the next steps to take, yet I am hesitant to
take that leap. I can feel the exhilaration and I am certain the woman did on
the platform, running to the edge and then stopping. As an onlooker, I was
thinking, "just do it." I am sure the people I have shared my ideas with
are thinking the same of me. Yes, it is a great idea. Start! Move!
I am reminded of a thought by
Patrick Overton about faith:
When you walk to the edge of all the light you have
and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown,
you must believe that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid for you to stand upon,
or, you will be taught how to fly.
We each started Earth life as entrepreneurs. We each
came to the end of all the light we knew. Through time, each person has had to
create a path, build a form of self-reliance, and take a leap.
Some life path entrepreneurs stop at the basic diving
board or one step up high dive. They are content with staying in that realm of
what they know. Others keep pushing to the edge of all the light they have and
expanding it.
In an article called Living Life as an Entrepreneurial
Hero Jeff Sandefer said:
"All good
stories have endings. And the climax is usually a surprise. In life, you don’t
know exactly where the story is going, and that’s part of the mystery.
I do know, from talking with many entrepreneurs
who are further along in their journeys, that near the end, you are likely to
ask three questions:
1. Did I accomplish something meaningful?
2. Was I a good person?
3. Who did I love and who loved me?
Nothing about money, or fame, or power. Because money
will come, and if you are lucky, you will make it your servant, not your
master, and avoid the ruin that chasing after fame and power bring. I know that
none of us will ever stop looking for that next challenge. Because, unlike so
many who are resentfully stuck in the past, entrepreneurs long for the future,
act in the present, and learn from the past."
In this blog over the next 7 weeks or beyond, I will
attempt to share the challenges I am seeking, the lessons I am learning that
propel me forward, and what gaps in my understanding or faith I identify as
holding me back.
I invite you to take a brave step into the darkness with
me as I extend the barriers of light I know.
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