The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

July 25The Razor's Edge

We take everything heartily and naturally in the right way,—for even mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.

James Russell Lowell—Literary Essays: A Moosehead Journal (1890)

The metaphor of the knife or razor's edge certainly applies to the inherent risk involved in seeking to become a self-reliant entrepreneur.

The epigraph from W. Somerset Maugham novel The Razor's Edge contains this translation from the ancient text of the Katha Upanishads:

Rise, wake up, seek the wise and realize. The path is difficult to cross like the sharpened edge of the razor (knife), so say the wise.

That sort of sums up this journey, doesn't it? Merely accepting the reality that we must grow is hard enough, but we're also asked to choose perhaps the hardest path in order to achieve that growth. To kick fear to the curb and risk failure, or something like being cut to pieces.

Oh, and let's add this to the mix: by taking this risky path, you may arrive at a destination, but you will probably never arrive at “the” destination. And you must be okay with this.

On this trek you will need to embrace continuous learning and unlearning, acceptance and rejection, and wonder, lots of wonder, about the light and the dark and the celebration of magic that you find out there on the road.

Challenge Question

1. What's the goofiest thing that's happened to you on your entrepreneurial journey? Does it make you smile?