The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

May 27Your Special Place

Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important in some respects, whether they choose to be so or not.

Nathaniel Hawthorne—Passages from the American Note-Books, Vol. 1 (1887)

Kind of tricky waters here—do successful entrepreneurs (you get to define that) ever choose to be important, or do they choose to be themselves and in doing so become important—to someone—most notably themselves?

Let's start by acknowledging the idea that you have a place to fill in the world through the words of the world's greatest cheerleader of being uniquely ourselves, Mister Rogers:

You've made this day a special day, just by being you. There's no person in the whole world like you, and I like you—just the way you are.

Kind of makes you feel warm and vulnerable all at the same time, doesn't it?

Go ahead, let yourself be vulnerable and you'll find that you'll immediately become more self-reliant and less dependent on what others think. This is when you'll start to do your most important work.

Or as Brené Brown, author of the Power of Vulnerability, sums it up: “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” (For some further inspiration today, hunt down her TED Talk on the subject.)

Challenge Question

1. What's one thing you could share that makes you feel vulnerable?