Absolutely NOT An Entrepreneur!
Don’t take this the wrong way, but…
I had to laugh. I was sitting in the car on the way home from Paris talking about my future plans when the person next to me says:
“Don’t take this the wrong way…”
You absolutely know that what’s coming next will start with “but…” and will almost certainly be open to ‘being taken the wrong way’…
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…
you’re absolutely NOT an entrepreneur.”
OK, well, err, nice, thanks. That’s what friends are for, right? We know we can count on our nearest ‘n’ dearest to offer us unconditional support. Or brutal home truths maybe.
But I laughed because the situation was straight out of any of the hundreds of self-help books and articles I must have read over the years.
“People will criticise you”, they tell us. “They will shoot you down. They will sneer and scorn. They will shake your confidence and sabotage your enthusiasm, pouring freezing cold water on your most ardent plans and dreams.”
Exactly! “These barbed comments will often come from those closest to you.” Yep.
“Their sly observations will be based on a huge number of factors”, they warn, such as:
? jealousy over your initiative;
? insecurity about their own position;
? worries about your stability or security;
? resentment because they don’t feel part of it;
? a wish for you to remain the same;
? a fear of the unknown;
? a desire for you not to succeed where they have failed.
That sounds about right.
They recommend we don’t listen to these nagging naysayers. Luckily I’ve got this skill (almost) down to a fine art.
They tell us to remove ourselves from such energy-draining situations. Sure, but not at 70 miles an hour on the freeway.
They suggest we surround ourselves with positive thinkers and encouraging influences. Easier said than done, but in the end not so difficult to do after all.
I’m doing it. It must be one of those funny laws of the supernatural world, even though I’m not a woo-woo kinda guy, that if you put out enough friendly feelers you generally come across some interesting things.
To quote one of my current favourite mottos, from one of my Sabisms posts:
Every time you take ACTION, you create a reaction and it’s usually a useful one.
Doing nothing, on the other hand, results in exactly that: precisely big fat nothing at all.
Which would YOU prefer?
For example, maybe you’re familiar with the Meet Up web site. It allows you to create groups of people in your town who share the same interests as you for next to nothing.
I’ve just created three this week and each has already got around 50 members. Positive and productive meetings should follow, all for the price of a drink and a day or two wangling the web. An instant support network of like-minded souls; it’s quite mind-boggling really.
The Paris-based groups I’ve created specifically around my main professional interests at the moment, and which I warmly invite you to visit, are:
Brain-Friendly Teaching & Learning ~ to bring together educators, both teachers and students, who want to learn and help others to learn in modern ways, scientifically proven to be more effective than more traditional, classroom-based methods.
I Create Therefore I Am ~ to meet anyone who wants to chat about creativity in any field and how to stimulate and channel it; also to encourage cross-pollination of ideas from diverse disciplines.
Creative Coaching Club ~ to create a friendly, supportive and non-judgemental environment for current coaches, future coaches and potential coachees to come together and share ideas, experiences and plans.
How easy was that? Of course, if you don’t want to go the bother of setting up your own group you could join one of the hundreds that already exist in any big city on almost any topic you can imagine.
Here in Paris about five to ten new groups pop up every day so what’s stopping you?!
Of course, I may be an incorrigible dreamer with my head in the clouds, as my partner was reminding me, but I’m not altogether out of touch with reality. I know I can’t do it all on my own. I know I have my limits and there are certainly aspects of business which attract me more than others.
And I know that there are reasons why the person next to me in the car said that she has difficulty seeing the entrepreneur in me.
But that’s fine. She has her own point of view on things and her own perception and definition of what an entrepreneur is and, quite frankly, she’s welcome to them.
She’s an office administrator. Or a personal assistant to some manager. Or something. But whatever she is, she’s coming at creativity and innovation from a very different place to me.
She wants to start work at 9ish and arrive home around 6. In fact, she’s not too wild about working but considers it a necessary evil. The mortgage gets paid. The pension plan chugs along. The boat is stable and relatively watertight. The retirement years should be comfortable enough.
How many million miles away from my state of mind could this be? Even the concept of ‘retirement’ is anathema to me. I feel I haven’t even scratched the surface of my potential. I’m forging ahead, getting stronger and more motivated day by day.
I’m looking to squeeze in quick training sessions on basic accounts and legal issues as part of an incubator project to get my company going, in between studying to become qualified in psychopedagogy and coaching.
Whatever I’m doing, I’m not standing still, although sometimes it looks like I’m always ‘playing on my computer’ in the glancing glares of others.
To the doubters and the detractors, to all of them, I am tempted to say, like the old joke: “Take it personally? No, I’ll get my secretary to take it…”.
Or what about:
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…
I don’t give a damn what you think.”
Or variations on that theme.
So don’t let anyone tell you you’re not an entrepreneur – What do they know? – prove them wrong!
They can’t see inside your head, they can’t truly experience your hopes and dreams and they’re approaching life from an entirely different angle – theirs, not yours.
Let them say their piece if they must. Smile, thank them. Appreciate their interest and, perhaps silently, welcome them to their cherished entrenched beliefs.
Take the best bits of what they’re saying, as an intelligent entrepreneur open to all ideas and ways to improve, but don’t let their negative emotions swamp your soaring spirit.
Seek out support and encouragement, it’s everywhere as soon as you start looking and talking about your project to people with ears open and ready to listen.
Oh, and don’t take this the wrong way, but… you’d be an idiot not to follow your passion and go for it with all your heart – now create something amazing you do give a damn about!
Notes
Sab Will writes about creativity in business and life.
As well as Creative Business Mind (this site!) and his new Creative Leap Year project described in the article above, he runs I Create Therefore I Am (general creativity), Mind Map Mad (mind mapping & visual problem solving) and Fun English Lessons (an on-line language learning site).
Sab is available for training in innovative thinking, creative problem solving, mind mapping and professional English language training. Please get in touch here to find out how increased creativity and innovation can help boost your business.
P.S. To discover (almost) everything Sab is up to on a day by day basis, visit the Sab Lab!
© 2016 Sab Will / Creative Business Mind